Woman asks if she's wrong for refusing to split the bill equally with friends after having just a soda

Hanging out with friends over meals often ends up with everyone splitting the bill, or in some cases, someone volunteering to pay for the whole lot and give others a free treat. The understanding is that everyone needs to come to a mutual agreement about splitting the bill and ordering roughly the same amount of food. u/moonstone_magic on Reddit found herself in a tricky situation after her friends requested they split the bill evenly. The lady turned to the community asking for some advice and opinions on whether or not she was in the wrong for refusing to pay $45 for a soda and half an appetizer.

She started the post by mentioning how she had to face an issue after she went on a weekend trip with her friends' group. They rented a van and visited a few breweries. "When we got back, we stopped at a pub to hang out for a bit before going home. There were about 12 of us so they seated us at a table. People ordered food and drinks. When the check came, one of the guys quickly gave his card and after signing, looked around and said okay everyone Venmo me $45," the post continued.

This threw off the woman because many others had ordered meals, sides, drinks and shots whereas she had ordered a Diet Coke only. "I shared an appetizer with my husband. I went home and asked my husband if we could each Venmo him for what we ordered and he seemed annoyed. The guy sent everyone a pic of the receipt and had everyone Venmo him for what they got. For context, I'm fine splitting the bill evenly when everyone orders roughly the same thing. But also if I ever put my card down, I always ask everyone if they want to split it evenly or not, not just assume," she expressed her frustrations.

"My husband thinks I'm being cheap and should've just split the bill evenly with everyone. I know I'm more money-conscious than others so I'm wondering am I in the wrong? We were expected to pay $90 (including tax and tip) for me and my husband since my husband did have a drink and a shot in addition to what I had, the actual total we ended up paying came out to $53 (including tax and tip)," the post concluded. The community dived in to dissect the situation and figure out if the woman was wrong for doing what she did.

u/Encartrus wrote: "This is not a 'you're cheap' but a 'he's greedy' situation. I bet he ate more than 45 dollars worth of food. In general rule, anyone who offers to pay for the entire table without being asked and without there being a need is either covering everyone and being super generous or pulling some kind of stunt like this. The only benefit to paying with one tab when everyone was prepared to pay separately and then doing Venmo after is to farm credit card benefit points and try to get your bill free/steal a small amount from everyone at the table."

u/BreadlinesOrBust quipped: "I can't stand people who do this. The guy orders half his body weight in food and alcohol and then gets to look all magnanimous by putting the bill on his Credit One card even though he's using his friends as coupons." u/UnhappyCryptographer commented: "You aren't cheap. You aren't willing to pay more for others who might take advantage of splitting evenly. Those who want to split evenly are usually those who get the most drinks and order the most expensive food. That way they can save some bucks and others don't want to speak up because they will be called cheap by exactly those persons."