In a now-viral TikTok, a woman revealed that her ex-boyfriend forced her to split the bill for almost everything throughout their four-year relationship.
The video featured TikTok user Joyce (@joycehasatiktok), who shared how her ex-boyfriend of four years went “fifty-fifty” on every date after their first one. Her boyfriend was five years older than her and dating her while she was a “broke college student.”
“This man bought me a Fiji water bottle on our first date at the Getty Museum, and after that point, we split everything,” she told her 52,000 followers. Then, she unveiled her Venmo transaction history with her ex, showing the name of the transaction and how much she paid. Some of the transactions included $8.50 for Thai food, $35 for sushi, $6 for In-N-Out, and $5 for parking.
“Yeah, I was insisting on paying him, but he could’ve been just like, ‘No, it’s on me,’” she said. The content creator said it got to the point where she got a part-time job at the UCLA library to pay for their dates. To add insult to injury, her ex had a “full-time career.”
The one thing Joyce refused to split was the cost of alcohol. She pointed out a $13 transaction for “Pizza – [beer emoji]” and explained that since she was 19 at the time, she couldn’t buy herself drinks. “He would just buy beer for himself because he was able to drink,” she said. “And I would know in that moment, like, ‘Joyce, don’t pay for his drink.’”
Throughout their four-year relationship, Joyce said the only things he paid for entirely were “a couple of coffees” and “a couple of birthday dinners.” “But we split everything,” she said. “We split our anniversary dinner.” At the time, she thought it was normal for couples to go fifty-fifty on everything.
However, the experience drove her to a point where she refuses to split the bill anymore. “Ya i dont believe in going 50/50 hell no,” she captioned the video.
@joycehasatiktok Ya i dont believe in going 50/50 hell no #datinginmy20s #greenscreen ♬ original sound – Joyce
“Going Dutch,” also known as “splitting the bill,” became a trend in 1914 where a “group went to a place of entertainment or refreshment, each person would pay his or her own way.” As finances changed, that meant going Dutch on dates, too. However, there are still mixed opinions on whether couples should do this in a relationship. According to Yahoo Finance, 38% of people surveyed believed that everything should be split evenly in the initial stages of a relationship. On the other hand, 31% thought whoever makes the most money should pay for most things.
The Daily Dot reached out to Joyce via email, Instagram direct message, and TikTok comment. The video amassed 654,000 views as of Oct. 19, and many viewers expressed shock at the TikToker’s experience in the comments section.
“If I have to go 50/50 [I’d] rather just be single,” one viewer wrote.
“Back and forth with paying is ok, but splitting the bill on every…H*LL NO,” a second agreed.
In addition, others shared their similar relationship experiences.
“My ex would venmo request me $2.50 per seltzer i drank,” one user commented.
“My ex would add items for himself into our Costco trips and still made me pay 50/50. Now I have someone that provides as his love language,” a second stated.
