How to Split the Bill When You Are Having Lunch With Friends
We’ve all been there. When you’re on a tight budget, you settle for a group dinner ordering soup and salad while your friends share snacks, order main courses, and sample trendy new cocktails. You watch helplessly as the bill comes in, and your friend’s boyfriend you never loved says these five dark words: “Maybe we should just share it?”
Welcome to Cheap Chow Week ! Food is now more expensive than it ever was, and it might seem like the only cost-effective options for you are fast food or instant ramen. But it doesn’t have to be that way. This week, we’ll show you how to buy, prepare, and eat food in a cost-effective way without sacrificing pleasure or taste.
For someone who makes a lot less money than their friends, this can lead to weeks of buying up pennies to catch up on a single dinner. You didn’t want to look cheap, but shouldn’t your friends understand that money isn’t enough for some?
If this sounds like you, here are some tips to keep in mind when your money situation is different from that of your friends.
To stay home
Yes, this is the least interesting option. But you have to have a budget for eating out, and if you think this place is going to be too expensive then take your time.
“Be honest with your friends about what you can really afford,” says Dara Luber, family finance specialist at TD Ameritrade. If they are truly your friends, they will be receptive to what you say and won’t be offended if you need to miss one or two events.
It will be difficult at first, especially when you are young, but ultimately it is the right choice. And skipping a dinner or two isn’t the end of the world (if your friends are constantly eating in expensive places that you can’t afford, perhaps consider making new friends). Just remember to suggest an alternative, less expensive meeting on another day, or explain to a friend why you can’t go. If they really want you here, they will be more considerate.
Ask for separate checks before dinner
Let’s say staying at home isn’t an option – you’ve already left, you had a cola and an app, and now your friends expect you to split everything (snacks, desserts, and three bottles of wine) in half, or it’s your girlfriend’s birthday and you really are want to be near her. What can you do?
“If you’re having lunch and someone orders a lobster and someone else orders a salad, don’t be afraid to say or say something when the bill arrives,” says Luber. “It may be embarrassing, but real friends will understand.”
Better yet, Chantelle Bonneau, a welfare advisor at Northwestern Mutual, advises asking the friend who organizes the lunch to check in separately before it starts. Then you can avoid the awkwardness and pressure that comes at the end of a meal.
“Don’t be afraid to be honest. Sometimes people in less stringent financial conditions don’t even realize that budget containment requires pressure, ”Bonneau says. “Transparency can force them to be careful when planning more accessible situations in the future.”
You can also ask a close friend to speak up for you at the end to ease potential awkwardness.
Take a hit
If you haven’t asked for individual checks ahead of time, consider whether the difference is worth the effort when it comes time to pay. If the difference is a few dollars, then you can let it slide.
Set in your mind a dollar amount that you cannot exceed. You can still ask for a separate check at the end if you have a really tight budget. Just be honest with your friends. It can be awkward for a few minutes, but chances are that everyone will soon be forgotten and we can all be more honest about our money.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you end up paying more than your fair share, try not to push it to the server by shorting the tip. This is how they make a living, and it is not their fault that you and your friends split the bill like you do. If this really is a problem, ask a friend who ordered more than you to tip a higher one to make up for the difference.
Bring cash
You don’t want to look like Scrooge, but on the other hand, you also don’t want to pay for steak and wine for everyone else when you have homemade salad and seltzer water. If you have a limited amount of cash and not a card, then you might even better just pay your share. Make sure you have multiple invoices so you can deposit the exact change (plus tip) for the food.
You can also just use an app like Venmo to pay your share, although that might make you mean.
Suggest Potlak
If your friends usually go out to eat out, invite them over or offer a group dinner elsewhere. It’s more intimate and probably cheaper. You can also offer a BYOB restaurant to cut your drinks costs.
And if you’re really worried about paying more, be honest with your friends. Tell them you are on a tight budget and ordering so much on purpose and it would mean a lot to you if everyone could pay as they want in the future. Your friends will understand.