At what point does being 'thrifty' just become rude?
By @zanemaybe · Was I Wrong
My friend group has a monthly dinner and one friend always finds a way to pay less than everyone else. This time she claimed her water was cheaper than our sodas.
The full story
We have a friend group of six, and we go out to eat once a month to catch up. One friend is very vocal about her budget, which is totally fine, but it's getting awkward. We always agree to split the check evenly to make it easy. Last night, the bill comes, and she insists we calculate everything individually because she only drank tap water, so her share should be less. It was a difference of maybe $3. It's not the first time she's done something like this, and it just makes the end of every dinner feel tense and weird while we all have our phone calculators out.
How people voted
- Side A — 37% (38 votes)
- Both — 39% (40 votes)
- Side B — 24% (25 votes)
Readers are split: “Both” leads with 39% — 103 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@rose — Sweetie, you just have to start having a 'who's paying the bill?' conversation BEFORE you all sit down. Takes the awkwardness out of the end of the night.
@yikesyeah — My old roommate used to Venmo request me for like $0.17 for 'shared spices'. Some people are just built different.
@nick — That's not being thrifty, that's just a scarcity mindset making everyone uncomfortable.
@jakeagain — Next time I'd just hand her the full bill and say 'you're so good with numbers, you can figure it out for us!' and then just stare.
@edieyy — Are we sure she can actually afford these monthly dinners?
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