Kitty / splitting bills on tours

[Spook1969]

I have a connected question on the touring side of this. What do people do for food/beers etc? Do you have a kitty and how does it work? We have had a kitty for ever and quite honestly it does not work.

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I have started you a fresh thread.

Richard

 

[glenn2926]

I have a connected question on the touring side of this. What do people do for food/beers etc? Do you have a kitty and how does it work? We have had a kitty for ever and quite honestly it does not work.

No kitty here. We just share the bill for food and beers whilst eating. Everyone has a similar amount to drink and eat so no drama there. We tend to split into groups of three or four and buy in rounds if just drinking. We did have one lad that took the piss with the eating and drinking, he just didn’t come again.

 

[grantmac]

I have a connected question on the touring side of this. What do people do for food/beers etc? Do you have a kitty and how does it work? We have had a kitty for ever and quite honestly it does not work.

Just as @glenn2926 says....everybody generally eats drinks the same...sure maybe 1 more or less beer or expensive starter....split the bill and keep it amicable.

However my Cloggie Club riders are a different breed....I now know exactly where the expression ´´Going Dutch´´ comes from. You keep a tab on what you order for food and drink and then you use an app on your phone to split it all later. 1 bod pays for the lot then it gets split according to what is consumed, the app then sends a whats app meessage for any balance to be paid to whomever.
Useful but just tedious...

 

[Wapping]

When we go to Le Mans and other race meetings, there might well be more than just a couple of us and often with more than one person in a car.

We use the very simple and excellent Tricount app. Have in mind that on trips like this the bills might total several hundred pounds, once the tickets, ferry crossings, fuel, accommodation, meals, drinks etc are all taken into account.

The app is very simple to use. It can deal with different currencies and cater for odd entries. An example of an odd entry might be, if there was five of us on the trip, but say only four on the first night, it’s easy to leave the fifth person out of that bill.

It’s also useful in that the app stays ‘open’ until the last debt is settled. When we go to Le Mans, one person might buy all the entry tickets in say, November, for an outlay of £500. That debt stays live until everyone settles, which might not be until race day itself, the following June. In the meantime, someone might have bought a sea crossing ticket, in say January for himself and his passenger. The app can deal with that.

Obviously, everyone on the tour needs to have the app and it helps greatly if everyone knows - and trusts - each other.

On my phone, I have tricounts live for:

Le Mans 2026

Spa In September 2026

The Goodwood Members Meeting, next spring

Le Mans 2027



When all the bills are in, you push a button and it gives a spit of who owes who what. It’s all completely transparent and works well.

For simpler events here in the UK, like just going to the pub, we either just lob in £30 each and use that as a float, with any surplus going towards a curry later in the evening, the bill for which we just divide equally then and there. Or, if there is just say two or three of us, going out for a drink (as we did last night) we just take it roughly in turns to go to the bar. Nobody keeps a track. It probably all balances out in the end.

For the last UKGSer Christmas meal, I simply paid all the bill on behalf of the table and sent a round robin PM the next day, with my bank account details. By the end of the day, I’d been repaid in full.

 

[Traffic893]

As a group we usually pair up into 2s and take turns. When it’s my turn to pay I have salad, when it’s his turn, surf n turf….LoL, he’s a veggie so no steak for him.

 

[zerax9]

We usually use the "Splitwise" app... super easy to use and it usually settles out at the end of the trip... 6 people for 2 weeks is a lot of settling up otherwise... We even use it for fuelling up too... makes it far easier/quicker too...

 

[wessie]

Like others, my touring group splits the evening meal bill equally on trips I organise. On a recent trip where a dozen of us went to a restaurant in St Omer it was agreed in advance we would each have the 3 course set menu and then split the drinks bill. The bill was then split 11 ways as they insisted I dined for free as the DFV (organiser aka dumb fuck volunteer). This was a one off, travelling to Sedan for a weekend function.

On my longer tours we have done much the same. Pre-covid when we were a larger group everyone tended to pay by cash. More recently, we are 3 or 5 of us (1 or 2 couples and a single) so it is a lot easier to sort. One older couple still likes to pay cash so I pay the bill by card and they pay me cash. I then dump the cash back in later in the week when someone else pays the bill. I'd rather do it this old way than try to teach a 76 year old to grasp using Wise etc.

 

[Wapping]

In short OP, use whatever method or methods suit you and your chums best.

 

[grantmac]

Splitwise is what we use although many banking apps now offer the same service

 

[Blue]

Kittys work its just that some people dont fit the bill.

 

[DrFarkoff]

I have a connected question on the touring side of this. What do people do for food/beers etc? Do you have a kitty and how does it work? We have had a kitty for ever and quite honestly it does not work.

======

I have started you a fresh thread.

Richard

@Spook1969 Pay your own way End of!!

Get your Own stuff! Fuel, Beers, Split rooms if sharing

Ask for the Minibar to be emptied before occupancy !!

Too many people take the Piss, Negate the possibility by not giving them opportunity !

You all know someone that I am talking about !! The one that orders a starter, Steak and desert and then says will we split the Bill

The chancer that gets nothing or just a beer on their round but a Gin and Tonic on your round

Then again I now travel on my own and its so much more satisfying than watching some cockwomble take kindness for stupidity !

 

[Guru Gora]

Pay your own way.

I don’t drink and don’t eat a huge amount so I don’t really want to spend 50 quid on a pizza.

Call me tight fisted but paying your own part of the bill is simple and fair.

 

[Doc]

Yup if I'm with the lads we pay for our own food and drinks.

 

[G&T]

I’m a decent drinker but not like the lads I was with on a recent trip - didn’t affect them one iota either. So we all paid our own bills save the ice cream/coffee round during the day.

 

[Pale Rider]

Pay your own way.

I don’t drink and don’t eat a huge amount so I don’t really want to spend 50 quid on a pizza.

Call me tight fisted but paying your own part of the bill is simple and fair.

Easier said than done sometimes. We had a group of 9 on a trip to Spain this year and most restaurants woulde'nt split bills and got very agitated if pushed on the subject.

 

[wessie]

Easier said than done sometimes. We had a group of 9 on a trip to Spain this year and most restaurants woulde'nt split bills and got very agitated if pushed on the subject.

it is not compulsory to sit on the same table or even in the same restaurant. When I have had larger groups, up to 12, we have not always dined in the same place. I've had one veggie, a pescatarian, a gluten intolerant and one downright just awkward! More recently, we have had the fat jab brigade who only want a single chicken nugget served on a single leaf of baby gem. Maybe someone took a day off riding and had food & drink during the day when others went for a ride and just had an ice cream. It's not always possible to find somewhere with a menu to suit all.

 

[fatbaldbob]

I have no mates, so no clue what you’re on about

Guess I shouldn’t be concerned then, as only myself to please and pay for.

 

[Engineer]

We usually use the "Splitwise" app... super easy to use and it usually settles out at the end of the trip... 6 people for 2 weeks is a lot of settling up otherwise... We even use it for fuelling up too... makes it far easier/quicker too...

Splitwise works very well - hey we agree on something

 

[the woodster]

Our 'whip' used to cover coffee and buns only and meals/booze were paid individually. As the drinking contingent has increased in number it has morphed to include meals and alcohol. The drinkers generally put more in on occasion but it's a bit adhoc and probably not fair overall. They are good friends of mine so I'm not concerned. If I was teetotal I'd probably just insist on paying my own way.

 

[grantmac]

I have no mates, so no clue what you’re on about

Same here… I just invite cnuts who I tolerate and who tolerate me….