I have eaten with a lot of chislers in the past. Now, I get a separate check especially if I am eating with people I know to be chislers. Isn’t it funny how often the total for the check is under when people all “put in their share”. One would expect it to be over just as often as under if it were truly random.

If the check is split, everyone at the table should keep everyon else’s wallet in mind. Why should I pay for some people’s very expensive meals? Furthermore, why should I make someone else pay for mine?

If you have friends and truly enjoy their company does that mean you should expect to get shafted? I do not think so. Treat your friends like you would want to be treated. Know which people you can deal with on which level.

Yes, family and some friends are different. I will go further and say I often extend the benefit of the doubt to strangers. Often, doing so is a good way of knowing who would make a good friend.

Sadly, generosity is often taken advantage of. Therefore, be wise and think about the outcomes of your actions.

I would rather give a friend $100 dollars than lend him $1000, but the donation should not be forced on me.

To me, it’s even worse when you’re out to dinner with someone who is so minutely money conscious that they figure out the bill down to the last penny. People who want to haggle over a dollar drive me crazy.

And if I’m short cash or not hungry, I don’t want to sweat what everybody else is eating.

How to handle the bill depends on who you are eating with. If you don’t know them or you know you dine among flakes, split the check. If you eat with good people, everyone can do their own math and round up to a decent tip.

Regardless, don’t decide to use the pile as an ATM or more typically, to pad the miles on your credit card, until you have counted the cash in the pile a made sure it adds up.

I just pay the bill and am grateful that I have a family to have dinner with.

Be grateful that you could afford to pay whatever part you paid.

Just remember that there are a lot of people that cannot even afford to eat out, let alone paying for part or all of someone else meal.

Be thankful for what you have and not what you spent on someone else.

Yeah its from Versailles. Click on the image next time :P Brings you to the Yelp review.

I have dined with my share of flakes in the past and was left paying for someone else’s over-indulgence so I adopted a policy of telling the waitress up front to separate the checks, that way we can avoid those awkward uncomfortable feelings later when someone “forgets” to bring enough money for their meal.

Secondly, seperate checks or cover the whole bill. I despise splitting checks. Seems to bring out the worst in people.

Mostly my friends and I trade off..I get it this time, you the next.

Works for me!

On topic: In my city, all the local taxes come up to about 12.5% and I tip 20%, so a total of 32.5% that I round up to 35%.

So basically, I add on $3.50 for ever $10 of the menu price. I really suck at math so this system helps.

My advice is to let it go. A friendship isn’t worth getting upset over a few bucks. Yes, everyone in theory would do what you suggest, but it just never happens that way.

Paying for friends at dinner is a joke, you lose money and they don’t even care much whether you pay or not.

And if they do actually care, they forget you paid 10 min. later. We have learned this time and time again.

Yeah, I’m not Jodi R anymore :-)

-Jodi
http://www.confessionsofarunner.com