How to split the cost of Friendsgiving
Someone always fronts the turkey. Here's how to share the cost of the night fairly, so the host isn't out a hundred dollars and nobody does math at the table.
Three ways to split it
Everyone brings a dish, and the host covers the rest. The classic potluck, and the simplest. It works when the dishes cost about the same, but they rarely do: the turkey and the groceries for the sides can easily come to more than everything else put together, and that lands on the host.
Everyone adds what they spent, and it evens out. The host adds the turkey, Sam adds the wine, Leo adds the rolls. Add it all up, divide by the number of people, and whoever spent less than their share pays the difference to whoever spent more. It's the fairest way when one person brought a $9 bag of rolls and another $54 of wine. The card above does exactly this: change what the turkey cost and watch who pays whom.
Pool it up front. Everyone sends the host the same amount before the shopping. Easy to understand, but someone has to chase the money, guess the total in advance, and sort out what's left over.
How to do it without a spreadsheet
- Start a Friendsgiving potluck and drop the link in the group chat. Your friends tap it and pick their name: no app to download, no account.
- Everyone adds what they bought as they go, while the receipt's still in hand.
- After dinner, it shows the fewest payments to square everyone up. Pay each other however you like, and mark it settled.
A few things that keep it friendly
- Decide how you'll split it when you send the invite, not after dinner. "Let's all add what we spend and even it out" takes one message.
- Not everything has to be split with everyone: the wine can be split between the people who drink it.
- Count what was bought, not what was made. Ingredients go in; the hours over the stove don't.
- Settle up within the week, while everyone still remembers the pie.
Questions
Should the host pay for the turkey?
Only if they want to. Hosting is already a lot of work, and the turkey is usually the biggest cost of the night. Add it like any other expense and it's split with everyone.
What if someone doesn't drink?
Split the wine between the people who drink it. In Potluck you choose who each expense is split between, so the others don't pay for it.
Someone made their dish from scratch. What do they add?
What they spent on the ingredients. The time in the kitchen is their gift to the table.
Do my friends need to download an app?
No. They tap the link in the group chat, pick their name and add what they spent. Nobody makes an account.
Is it free?
Yes, with no limit on how many things you add.