Whenever you go out to a meal with a large group, it’s almost inevitable that at the end of the day there’s not going to be enough to cover the bill. It doesn’t matter if you decide to split the meal evenly or along cost. The situation is only compounded if tip is not already included in the bill. I don’t believe there’s anything nefarious going on. While there may be a few individuals who feel like they might be able to get the best of their friends and acquaintances, most people are trying to chip in what they think they owe. The problem of course if that they owe more than they think.

I often get the bill for the meal and think, “wow, that’s more than I thought it would be,” and it’s often just for me and my girlfriend. In a large group the underestimation becomes compounded. People forget about the appetizers, or that they ordered three drinks not two. Mistakes are easily made.

So how do you avoid these sticky situations when a solicitation is made to table for more money? Those solicitations are often answered by those who already paid too much, and ignored by those who think they’ve paid “just right.” Somebody just has to take firm control, take the check, and collect specifically from each individual. If you’re worried about shortchanging, be that person! This of course is much easier when the bill is split evenly. Even when the bill isn’t, the actual act of collecting individually from people rather than passing the bill around is quite effective. When a bill is passed, people end up slouching as they do in a game of tug of war. Social loafing happens on subconscious level. Making people hand out a given figure vocally prevents that from happening.

Personally, I’ve found that as I’ve gotten older, I’m in fewer situations where I find the tab underpaid. If anything, we often have too much. This I imagine is the consequence of people overcompensating for dealing with years of being short on the tab. It’s much more pleasant to hand out money to people than to ask them for more.