Brings nothing but drama and that’s why I only go out with my close friends who are not cheapskates, because God knows, I have friends who love splitting checks and leaving a 10% tip on the mark despite exceptional service.

When you go out with friends, there’s always that one person that wants to get into splitting checks; that not only wastes time and makes it cell phone calculator time (I hate that), but it also aggravates people. Not to mention how it makes you look to the waitress (cheap) and how it makes her/him feel after breaking their back serving all of you. In addition, not all restaurants have those PC’s that break down the check for you person for person. Many waiters have to separately calculate these bills and the tips which can be time-consuming.

I think the only time where there should even be a split-check discussion is if someone orders way more than the others. Let’s say you have to pay more than $15.00 or $20.00 on a bill than you were supposed to, then you have an argument. No one’s going to knock you for arguring about the bill in these down economic times.

But, if your main concern is being budget conscious, go on a one-on-one dinner with your friend. There you can look at the check and say this is me and this is you or just switch taking bills. But don’t go out on a group dinner where everyone is there to enjoy themselves and pull that nonsense. That’s socially unacceptable. Its funny because at group dinners you already know who’ll be pulling that just by what they order at the beginning. Once that happens, your night is soured because you know the dinner will end with confusion about who should pay what.

What some people fail to understand about split checks is that some restaurants don’t have that policy. If they won’t split checks, its because they have rules against it. But some restaurants do it because the “customer is always right.” If you want a check split, you have to ask from the beginning and you will then receive your meals seperately at different times because that’s how the kitchen would treat those orders. When a group orders together, the meals come out at the same time. Comprende?

So, at the end of the day, here are the three strategies to avoid this drama:

1. Show up late and order nothing.
2. Show up late and order dessert.
3. Split the bill evenly.

It’s really that simple…