How to Split the Bill for Friendsgiving and Holiday Dinners

Holiday dinners go wrong over money when half the table thinks it's a potluck and the other half thinks it's a split. Pick one in the invite:

• Potluck. The host makes the main, everyone brings a dish, nobody settles up. The easiest version, as long as the dishes are roughly even.
• Host shops, everyone splits. One person buys everything and the groceries are divided evenly, the host included. Best when you want one menu instead of four mac and cheeses.
• Dinner out. A restaurant, one check, and each person pays for what they had. The usual December party.

Sam is hosting Friendsgiving for eight, Sam included, and does all the shopping: one trip to the grocery store and one to the wine shop. Tax is already in each receipt's total.

Everyone eats the same meal, so an even split is the fair one. Nobody needs to itemize the cranberry sauce.

Some people brought a dish. The cleanest rule is that a dish counts as your share. Friends who brought the pie or the green beans are square, and the host's receipts are split between everyone else.

Some people don't drink. Wine adds up fast. Split the food between everyone and the wine between the people drinking it. Our non-drinkers guide has the numbers.

Several people shopped. Each shopper adds up what they spent, and the group settles the differences once, instead of five people paying each other back in circles.

It's a December party at a restaurant. Treat it like any big dinner out: one check, one card, and each person claims what they ordered so tax and tip follow the food. Check the receipt for an included service charge before tipping. Our large group guide covers the rest.

1. Photograph every receipt into one bill. tidytab takes more than one receipt photo, so the grocery store and the wine shop land on the same bill.
2. Choose “Split evenly” and set the number of people to everyone eating, you included. For a restaurant dinner, choose “Pick dishes” instead and let each person tap what they had.
3. Share one link in the group chat. Guests open it in the browser, no app and no account.
4. Everyone pays you with Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, PayPal or a bank transfer, and the page shows who has paid and who hasn't, so you don't have to ask twice.

For a friend group that hosts every year, a tidytab group saves everyone's payment details, so next year's split starts with the group already there.