So this is a simple life hack I’ve been using for a year or two, but seems to be pretty uncommon. Let me set the scene. You and your 6 best friends go out to dinner, and have a grand old time. After 3 hours eating, drinking and chatting it up, the waitstaff comes to you all with the check, and what do you know? 5 of the 6 people whip out credit cards. The waitron is irritated cause they have to remember 5 credit card values, odds are, some of them will be off as two cards accidentally get swapped, and then you guys have a hard time determining if you left enough tip, because person 6 left cash, and the waitress left with the cash.

Well, here is what you do:

  1. You’re carrying a pen, right? If not, ask the waiter for one.
  2. On the back of the reciept, write down each person’s credit card, and the total amount of cash put in.
  3. Hand the waitperson the credit cards, and show them the receipt with the values for each card on them.
  4. Ask them to bring that receipt back with the credit card slips so you can make sure the bill is totaled correctly.

The bills won’t get screwed up, the server will really appreciate it as it makes their job a little easier.