Mother-in-law

[Cooking Goddess]

...It seems my husband is intent on dying penniless... Any time we go out to eat with others, he grabs that check before it even hits the table, even if we have paid the past 5 times. No wonder people like to go out with us. LOL I am very frugal....always looking for a way to save a penny.

When my parents would go out with his sister and BIL they almost always paid the entire bill. Mostly my Dad's doing. My aunt always kept a small pad of paper in her purse and jotted down every penny they spent when they went out - meal costs, tax, tip, then whole ball of wax. I don't know if Dad grabbed the check because he felt sorry or was annoyed, but he did. Turns out when aunt and uncle moved from their house (which might have been a rental, I don't remember) to an apartment they got one along Cleveland's "Gold Coast", a nice upper-level unit overlooking Lake Erie. Guess they weren't so poor after all.

 

[Mad Cook]

I want to go to dinner with Carol and Dawg and see who of our three husbands is quicker! When I go to lunch with my Tues. Lunch Bunch of women, we ask for separate checks.

There's a thoughtful commercial on tv right now with two couples at dinner. The man of the younger couple grabs the check and the older man doesn't want him to pay because he's worried about him having enough money for his future. The younger man is worried about the older man having enough money to last him. They are father and son. It's about planning for the future.

When we go out in a group we always split the bill equally by unspoken agreement. We never get involved in the "I didn't have coffee and you had dessert" argument.

 

[Kayelle]

When we go out in a group we always split the bill equally by unspoken agreement. We never get involved in the "I didn't have coffee and you had dessert" argument.

Most of the ladies I've been having lunch with for the last 20 years are now on a fixed income, with little money to spare. One may order a dinner salad for lunch, and another a steak, so separate checks only makes sense. Few waitresses balk at the separate checks, and if they do we split it up and tell the manager when we leave that we'll never be back and why.

 

[Dawgluver]

Most of the ladies I've been having lunch with for the last 20 years are now on a fixed income, with little money to spare. One may order a dinner salad for lunch, and another a steak, so separate checks only makes sense. Few waitresses balk at the separate checks, and if they do we split it up and tell the manager when we leave that we'll never be back and why.

We had the good luck of showing our favorite part of Mexico to a couple who live next door to us. We went out to dinner together every night, and everything worked by splitting the bill in half. We all seemed to have mirror images of what we ate and drank!

When I go out with colleagues, we get separate checks.

 

[taxlady]

When we go out with friends, it's either an invitation with implication that one couple is paying or it's separate bills. The exception to that is usually with Indian food or Chinese food, where we order a number of dishes to share. Then it's split it by the number of people.

 

[Andy M.]

We mostly ask for separate checks when we go out. I have a friend who does not drink and eats lightly. A 50/50 split would not be fair. With my sister and BIL, we have to argue over the check because he hates separate checks.

 

[cave76]

This is probably a generalization in some quarters----- but when eating out a lot in San Francisco with other people who loved to eat out the men would 'fight' for the privilege of paying the check for the entire table. It may have something to do with the male ego or one of the hormones that men have.

(Can I say the word 'testosterone'? or is that too risque?)

I never saw women doing that---- unless perhaps a business lunch and the 'boss' was paying. Or the sales rep.

 

[Mad Cook]

I go out regularly with two very good friends (a married couple) that I have know since I was at school. I used to find it very embarrassing that the husband always insisted on paying the whole of the meal including mine. I would rather split the bill and I make sure my choices compare well with theirs as far as price is concerned but very discretely so they don't realise I'm doing it so the split is fair - but he still did it.

I didn't want to create an embarrassing fuss in the restaurant so I eventually had to speak to the wife and we came up with the idea that I would give my share of the bill to her and she would give it to her husband when they got home. It took a while for hubby to get the message but we now have developed a system were he pays the bill in the restaurant and we settle up when we've left. Both his and my egos are therefore placated!

 

[CarolPa]

I think my husband does that because he always told me about his mother and her sister who would go out to eat and then bring out their calculators. LOL

 

[taxlady]

I think my husband does that because he always told me about his mother and her sister who would go out to eat and then bring out their calculators. LOL

I've been known to do that when one or more people have ordered lots of extras or more booze or far more expensive food. Often those are the folks who didn't want the separate bills.

Seems to me I remember one dude who always ordered extra for himself when a group was splitting the bill. One time someone was obviously tired of this and started sharing this guy's appetizer with the rest of us.

 

[Addie]

I worked at a restaurant where the owner's sister used to come in every day for the ninety-nine cent luncheon special. Fine. Was never charged for the meal. Then one day she wanders in with five friends. They order off the menu and not the luncheon specials. Each one got a separate bill. The sister was highly indignant and embarrassed that we had the gall to charge her friends. They each paid their bill. We never saw the sister again for the luncheon special.

 

[Kayelle]

I've been known to do that when one or more people have ordered lots of extras or more booze or far more expensive food. Often those are the folks who didn't want the separate bills.

Seems to me I remember one dude who always ordered extra for himself when a group was splitting the bill. One time someone was obviously tired of this and started sharing this guy's appetizer with the rest of us.

I hear you there Taxi. We had a moocher couple we would go to dinner with many years ago. This dude always found a way to stick us somehow with splitting the bill unfairly. He happened to be a business partner of ours who ultimately gave us the ultimate stick of embezzling an obscene amount of money from our company.

People show their true colors early on.

 

[Roll_Bones]

RB, I'm glad you got this worked out and that she was the one to bring it up. Makes you wonder if she's been reading DC! LOL

God, I hope not!!!!

(Can I say the word 'testosterone'? or is that too risque?)

You already did and you are still here. So, I guess it was okay to say!

I go out regularly with two very good friends (a married couple) that I have know since I was at school. I used to find it very embarrassing that the husband always insisted on paying the whole of the meal including mine. I would rather split the bill and I make sure my choices compare well with theirs as far as price is concerned but very discretely so they don't realise I'm doing it so the split is fair - but he still did it.

My last boss was the company president. He would never let me pay ever. Even after hours when we would go out with our wives.
Very generous man. But smart enough to know that more than one person meant it was a business meal and therefore a tax deduction.

I think my husband does that because he always told me about his mother and her sister who would go out to eat and then bring out their calculators. LOL

My ex BIL is a math genius. We would go out in fairly large groups and he could take the check, look it over and tell each person at the table exactly what they owed.
Turns out he was never wrong. Even with a calculator, he was faster than me. We had a bet on it and he won. I miss that guy!

 

[Aunt Bea]

My last boss was the company president. He would never let me pay ever. Even after hours when we would go out with our wives.
Very generous man. But smart enough to know that more than one person meant it was a business meal and therefore a tax deduction.

My last boss always made me pay because he was the guy that approved my expense report, when he paid he had to submit his expense account to his boss and get quizzed about where the money went and why!

 

[Addie]

When I worked for the engineering company, I was the one to check all expense accounts before they were submitted for payment. The biggest problem area was meals. They were allowed only a certain amount for their meals. And if they were at a business meal, they had to list names. Even there they were allowed just so much if they picked up the check. No matter what the reason for the meal, they had to attach a receipt. I was forever chasing down the receipts. "Oh, they are in my car. I will get them for you tomorrow." I always tried to get them into the system as fast as possible. And it would irritate me to no end to have one sitting on my desk for more than two days. At the end of day three, I would submit it without the receipts. Then when it became payday, and their paycheck didn't reflect the amount they had submitted, they would start to yell at me for making a mistake. "Did you ever bring me the receipts?" That ended the argument. They made sure they submitted them in time for their next payday. It took a few months for the engineers to get the message, but no receipts, no payment. And you do have a time limit.

 

[Roll_Bones]

My last boss always made me pay because he was the guy that approved my expense report, when he paid he had to submit his expense account to his boss and get quizzed about where the money went and why!

My boss had no boss. He not only was he the President, he owned the company.

When I worked for the engineering company, I was the one to check all expense accounts before they were submitted for payment. The biggest problem area was meals. They were allowed only a certain amount for their meals. And if they were at a business meal, they had to list names. Even there they were allowed just so much if they picked up the check. No matter what the reason for the meal, they had to attach a receipt. I was forever chasing down the receipts. "Oh, they are in my car. I will get them for you tomorrow." I always tried to get them into the system as fast as possible. And it would irritate me to no end to have one sitting on my desk for more than two days. At the end of day three, I would submit it without the receipts. Then when it became payday, and their paycheck didn't reflect the amount they had submitted, they would start to yell at me for making a mistake. "Did you ever bring me the receipts?" That ended the argument. They made sure they submitted them in time for their next payday. It took a few months for the engineers to get the message, but no receipts, no payment. And you do have a time limit.

I could never understand why it was so hard to keep records of expenses.
I turned in a monthly expense report with a list of where, what and with who, with all receipts.
I used a company credit card for these expenses and just had to keep the receipts.
I kept a record of all daily events/reports. So it was very easy for everyone concerned.

 

[Andy M.]

...I could never understand why it was so hard to keep records of expenses.
I turned in a monthly expense report with a list of where, what and with who, with all receipts.
I used a company credit card for these expenses and just had to keep the receipts.
I kept a record of all daily events/reports. So it was very easy for everyone concerned.

Not everyone is detail oriented. When I worked in accounting, I found sales/marketing people were the worst, closely followed by engineers (!).

I suspect you lose the receipts if you don't want accounting to see what's on them.

When you pay a restaurant bill with a credit card, they bring you an itemized bill. You review it (maybe) and give them your credit card. They come back with the completed transaction for you to sign and a summary bill (not itemized) for you. That's in case you have to fill out an expense report. You attach the summary bill so accounting can't see there was booze on the bill because booze isn't reimbursed in many companies.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I think keeping track of expenses is a habit like any other.

I keep track of every penny I spend in an inexpensive notebook. It only takes a minute to make a notation and tally them up every week or so. I have detailed information going back over several years and I find it helpful in planning for future expenses.

"A look to the past is a window into the future"

I also saved a few "extra" restaurant tabs/receipts to replace those that ended up in the laundry or at the dry cleaners. They came in mighty handy when completing my expense report.

 

[Andy M.]

...I also saved a few "extra" restaurant tabs/receipts to replace those that ended up in the laundry or at the dry cleaners. They came in mighty handy when completing my expense report.

That's not nice.

 

[Aunt Bea]

That's not nice.

It's not nice when you don't get reimbursed for legitimate expenses either.

Right was on my side!