History Main / ShockinglyExpensiveBill

See also ForgotToPayTheBill and RidiculousFutureInflation.

* In the WebAnimation/YouTubePoop video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y30qnY7Nfqg Wallace and Gromit: The Hearse of the Square Babbit]]'', the [[WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit titular duo]] charge ridiculous fees for their rabbit catching business: one poor sap is charged £25,000 for a ''single'' rabbit. If the clients can't pay, Wallace and Gromit will cheerfully release the rabbits and drive away.

* An old Turkish folktale tells of a poor boy who asks for some food from an innkeeper, promising to pay him back when he can. The innkeeper gives him a bowl of boiled eggs, for which the boy is grateful. Many years later, the boy is now a rich merchant, and returns to the inn to ask how much he owes for the eggs. The innkeeper tries to charge him 10,000 akches, reasoning that the eggs would have hatched into hens and grown up to produce more eggs and more hens if they hadn't been eaten. When the merchant refuses, the innkeeper takes him to court. The folk hero, Nasreddin Hodja, comes along and promises to represent the merchant. At the trial, Hodja comes in late and declares that he's had a genius idea: instead of eating his boiled corn for breakfast, he planted it so he'll harvest it and get rich. The innkeeper scoffs, "That's ridiculous! You can't grow corn from boiled kernels!" Hodja then asks, "Then how can you hatch chickens from boiled eggs?" The judge rules in favor of the merchant and makes the innkeeper pay a fine for wasting his time.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', Al's method of paying bills consists of crying, screaming at the total amount, banging his head on the table, getting depressed or suicidal and ultimately just waiting for Peg to finish signing the check for the bill.
* In ''Series/{{Community}}'' season 2, Abed stages a ''Film/MyDinnerWithAndre'' dinner with Jeff (at the same time as Jeff tried to do a ''Film/PulpFiction'' dinner for Abed). During the credits stinger, Abed and Troy get the bill from the waiter. While we don't get a figure, Abed's eyes pop out of his head and Troy briefly breaks down in tears. The two decide to run.
-->'''Troy:''' They said it was market-price! What market are you shopping at?!
* Mike from ''Series/{{Suits}}'' is panicked when SmugSnake Lewis runs up a ridiculously large bill on wine at his dinner. Naturally, Jerkass with a HiddenHeartOfGold Harvey pays it off for him.
* Several instances on ''Series/SquareOneTV''.
** One time on ''Mathnet'' George was working undercover as a diner cook, and had to deal with a patron who didn't expect tax on his bill. "I didn't order tax on my hamburger, just ketchup!" Of course this was just an excuse to deliver some Educational Programming about tax and percentages. The bill wasn't that much bigger than he expected, but it was bigger.)
** In a "Dirk Niblick" animated segment, siblings Fluff and Fold have three dollars to spend on birthday presents for a set of quadruplets, and they estimate that their four toys cost the full three dollars. However, because Fluff has rounded her prices up and Fold has rounded his prices down, they are four cents short.
--->'''Fluff, Fold:''' ''Three dollars and four cents, [[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud question mark, exclamation point,]] [[WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma question mark, exclamation point?!?!]]''\\
'''Cashier:''' That's right, three dollars and four cents, period.
* In one episode of ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', Michael calls his father on the phone in the hotel room where he's waiting for his fiancee, to prove to him that he's not afraid of intimacy. After his father tells him to put her on, Michael claims she's in the shower, to which George Sr. replies that he'll wait. They end up waiting through to the following morning, and anybody who's ever seen the overpriced phone rates at hotels can anticipate Michael's reaction to his room charge that morning:
-->'''Michael:''' Oh, ''[[BorrowedCatchphrase come on!]]''
* ''Series/HappyDays'': in episode "Goin' to Chicago" the high school choir goes on a field trip to Chicago. Richie, Potsie & Ralph sneak out of the hotel room they're staying in to go to a nightclub, where all checks are $36. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk1mH_dc-hw#t=4m58s Link.]]
* On ''Series/ChappellesShow'', Dave Chappelle is getting a haircut when the TV in the barber shop reports that he just signed a contract for his show paying him millions of dollars. Cut to everyone at the barber shop looking at him and the barber announcing that the bill for the haircut is $11,000.
* ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' had an absurdly large bill come at the end of the Emergency Room version of the restaurant sketch.
* Earl from ''{{Series/Dinosaurs}}'' is shocked at the high number on his phone bill, until Francine points out it's their phone number. Earl is not as shocked when he sees the actual bill, although he does admit it's pretty high.
* On ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', upon receiving a plumber's bill:
-->'''Dawn:''' That's a weird phone number. Oh, wait... Is that the bill?!
* PlayedForDrama on ''Series/TheSopranos''. Chris is the low man on the totem pole when the crew goes out to dinner, so he's constantly stuck paying the tab. This starts a vicious feud between Chris and Paulie about respect, which culminates when Chris is saddled with a six-figure restaurant bill from Atlantic City. He can barely cover the cost of the check, and when the waiter follows him into the parking lot to demand a tip, Chris murders him.
* The Aliens in ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'' thought the bill was the population of Cleveland. When informed of its true nature, they used a [[HollywoodHacking modem]] to redirect the bill to one of the actors visiting the same hotel, namely Creator/GeorgeTakei.
-->'''George Takei:''' (looking at his bill) $3,000? That's all right, I can afford it. I'm a famous actor.\\
'''Desk Clerk:''' No, that's $30,000, Mr. Takei.\\
'''George Takei:''' [[CatchPhrase Oh, my!]]
* One episode of ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' features this, prompting both a SpitTake and a successful sneak out from their teacher. Unusual in that they already knew the restaurant was expensive and had ate there before, but [[ButtMonkey Robbie]] had asked for a big bowl of caviar putting the price beyond what they could afford. Granted, the waitress ''never'' told Robbie that would be an extra charge, so she's kinda to blame too but nobody points that out. After explaining they didn't have enough money, the restaurant manager decides to call the police, making Sikowitz [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere run away unnoticed]] while the students are left to protest and argue with the staff.
* In ''Series/CSICrimeSceneInvestigation'', the mobster Lou Gedda ran an extortion racket in his strip joint where high rollers would receive absurdly large bills. Anyone who objected would be strapped into a barber chair in the back, beaten, and then threatened with a straight razor. Two corrupt cops on his bankroll kept the police at bay.
* ''Series/TheRedSkeltonShow'': {{Invoked|Trope}} [[PlayedForLaughs for laughs]] in "The Cop and the Anthem". Freddie the Freeloader is trying to GetIntoJailFree, so he convinces the staff of a [[FrenchCuisineIsHaughty high-end French restaurant]] that he's an EccentricMillionaire and orders a lavish dinner. When the bill comes, he reads off a list of expenses that covers the front, back, and ''edges'' of the paper, then blithely admits that he doesn't have a penny to his name.
--> '''Freddie:''' My compliments to the cashier!
* At the end of one episode of ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'', the boys have come home from an unauthorized skydiving trip that went very wrong. They're in the clear up until the angry instructor comes at their door and sticks Walter with a $400,000 repair/replacement fee for them crashing the helicopter. Knowing that he'll ground them for it, the boys do it themselves and go to their room while he's trying to process it.
* On ''Series/{{Friends}}'' when Joey decorates his new apartment, he goes overboard with his credit cards, prompting the company to send "Envelope 1 of 2."
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'':
** In "The Friar's Club", Jerry briefly ends up losing a New York Friars' Club jacket when one of the members of a magic show he was watching throws it into the audience. He tries to get a replacement, but it would cost $800 to do so.
** In "The Mom & Pop Store", Kramer points out to the owners of the eponymous store that their ceiling had faulty wiring and advises them to get it fixed. However, it turns out their shop is so out of code that to bring it up to code would cost $4000, and are put out of business as the electrician has no choice but to report them.
* In one episode of ''Series/TheWeirdAlShow'', Al, in order to maintain a CelebrityLie, looks up how much it costs to hire John Tesh for an afternoon. At first he thinks it's only $300, but then the Guy Boarded Up in the Wall reminds him to count the zeros. "Ah, three hundred zero zero! ...''Thirty thousand dollars?!?''"
* ''Series/OddSquad'':
** In "O is for Opposite", Oprah's MirrorSelf ends up doing a DineAndDash, eating five egg salad sandwiches and a tub of egg salad at Delivery Doug's back-alley restaurant before suddenly disappearing when Olympia and Otis catch up to her and the former attempts to get a selfie with her. Upon them finding out she left, Doug sticks them with the bill totaling $500, much to their shock. The reason it's so high is because Doug uses goat eggs instead of chicken eggs for his egg salad, which are stated to be hard to get. Olympia and Otis end up leaving without paying the bill at all.
** Subverted in "Overdue!" when Orla goes to return an ExtremelyOverdueLibraryBook to Octavius, the Odd Squad Librarian in charge of the organization's Main Library, and is told that the overdue fine she'll have to pay for a book taken out 400 years ago is no more than $10.
* ''Series/YoungSheldon'':
** This trope plays a crucial role in "A Computer" where when Mary decides to buy the $1200 Tandy XL Computer Sheldon always wanted, she realizes that the family is always low on cash because of how much money George spends on Lone Star beer. Sheldon calculates if George switched to Hawaiian Punch they could afford a bigger house.
** In "A High-Pitched Buzz", George is shocked at the repairman announcing it'll be $200 to repair the refrigerator Sheldon disassembled (and failed to reassemble). George angrily strikes enough fear into Sheldon to convince the latter to immediately take up a job as a paperboy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/CloseEnough'': "100% No Stress Day" had Emily freaking out over the ham being stolen because that means no food in the house as well the montage of stressful moments in Emily's life, one of which includes an absurdly long student loan bill and the reason they can afford the condo in Southern California is because they share it with a divorced couple.
* This is a common gag on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In "The Dad Who Knew Too Little", PI Dexter Colt charges Homer $1000 for expenses, including a $40 steak. Homer flees, refusing to pay, and Colt swears revenge.
** One time, they were checking out of a hospital and:
--->'''Homer''': Is that the bill or your phone number?\\
'''Nurse''': That's the phone number. ''That's'' the bill.\\
''[Homer faints]''
** In "Two Cars In Every Garage, Three Eyes on Every Fish", Burns asks Smithers how much it would cost to bring the power plant up to code. Smithers calculates that it would be about 56 million dollars.
** In "Brother From Another Planet", Marge finds a $378 phone bill for calls made to the Corey hotline by Lisa.
** In "Bart vs. Australia", Bart makes a collect call worth $900 to Australia.
** In an ''Itchy & Scratchy'' short in "Lisa the Vegetarian", Itchy tricks Scratchy into [[{{Autocannibalism}} eating a piece of his own stomach]], which he keeps trying to eat as it keeps popping out of the hole he cut it from. Itchy later gives him a bill of $100, which causes Scratchy's [[YourHeadAsplode head to explode]].
** In "Catch 'Em If You Can", the kids chase their parents presumably around the world, using Rod and Ned's credit cards, respectively. At the end of the episode, they both freak out at their hefty credit card bills.
** In "Mypods and Boomsticks", Lisa accrues a $1200 bill from [[BlandNameProduct Mapple]] for downloading 1212 songs from [=iTunes=]. Lisa tries to appeal the bill by visiting Steve Mobs, but is promptly ousted.
** In "The Old Man and the Lisa", Homer has a heart attack. After receiving medical care, he says [[ItMakesSenseInContext he wishes Lisa hadn't turned down a check for 12 thousand dollars]]. Lisa tells him that the check was really for ''12 million dollars'', making him suffer another heart attack.
** In the "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS27E5TreehouseOfHorrorXXVI Treehouse of Horror XXVI]]" segment "Wanted: Dead, then Alive", during Bart's DeathMontage, he asks Sideshow Bob how much power the Reanimator he has created is using; instead, Bob hands him an electric bill that says that Bart's "current billing period" is "$3,205 due", causing Bart to suffer a HollywoodHeartAttack and die.
** In "22 Short Films About Springfield", Moe tells Barney that he once had NASA calculate the drunk's bar tab, [[NotHyperbole and the bill is in]]. He read off 70 billion dollars, but [[SubvertedTrope that turned out to be]] for the Voyager spacecraft. The actual result was only [[DoubleSubversion 14 billion dollars]]. (For comparison, assuming that he drinks five pints of beer a day at 2.50 a pint, he'd hit that sum in a little over 3 million years.)
** Subverted in "Husbands and Knives", where Homer goes to a plastic surgeon for an experimental procedure and attempts to anesthetize himself by looking at his bill. However, he finds that the price is fairly reasonable, and ''that's'' what knocks him out.
** In "The Winter of His Content", Grampa and his friends move into the Simpson house. After using a defibrillator on Old Jewish Man and Jasper when they have heart attacks, Homer has one himself on seeing his $2,467 electric bill, so Marge revives him.
* One ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode has Bender WorkOffTheDebt at Elzar's restaurant because the crew didn't expect the bill to be so high. (They didn't expect it because Elzar had ''blinded'' Leela earlier and led them to believe the meal would be free.)
** In the DVD commentary, producer David X. Cohen says this was based off a real-life incident that happened to a writer on ''The Simpsons''; he (the writer) and a group of 10 friends went for a meal prepared by a shared acquaintance who was a chef. The chef told them he would "take care of" the meal, which they all assumed meant the meal was on the house. After a lavish meal which included wine, champagne and cigars, they were shocked to receive a bill for $3,500.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': In "Hypno Birthday to You", Mr. Giggles, the clown hired for Jimmy's many birthday parties, thanks to his Hypno Beam so he could obtain a new chemistry set, charges the Neutrons $1,695.00 for his services. Hugh [[{{Fainting}} faints]] at the sight of it, and Jimmy is punished by having to WorkOffTheDebt by scrubbing floors at [[SummerSchoolSucks summer school]].
-->'''Jimmy:''' No one with a genius IQ should have to scrub floors to pay off a clown! How long does this go on for?\\
'''Sheen:''' Forever, trust me.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': when Timmy was momentarily a grown-up. Eating at a restaurant and is surprised at the bill, saying "This is more than I get for my allowance- I mean, more than I make in a month!" [[WorkOffTheDebt Cut to him washing dishes in the back.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
** In "Krusty Love", Mr. Krabs is shocked at the cost of the bill ($100) for his fancy dinner with Mrs. Puff. The waiter apologizes and brings him the real bill, which he finds even more shocking (''[[FromBadToWorse $100,000]]''). [=SpongeBob=] himself [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it.
** In "Krusty Towers", Mr. Krabs is initially shocked at his hospital bill ($15,000) but decides to send [=SpongeBob=], Patrick, and Squidward to med school to get in on the racket. Earlier in that episode, Mr. Krabs turned his restaurant into a hotel after learning how much the last hotel he was a guest at charged for a hamburger. His earlier reaction was getting his claw inside his mouth to retrieve the hamburger and give it back to avoid paying for it. Surprisingly, aside from being covered in saliva, it had no sign of being a previously eaten hamburger.
** In "Whale of a Birthday", Mr. Krabs gives [=SpongeBob=] his credit card to buy birthday presents for Pearl. At the end of the episode, he's bought a mountain of presents and hired the boy band Boys Who Cry, then gives Mr. Krabs the bill for all of it. We don't get to see the total amount, but Squidward did mention that the bare minimum cost of hiring Boys Who Cry just to show up is $1,000,000, and Mr. Krabs wasn't too happy with how much [=SpongeBob=] had charged him.
** In "Le Big Switch", the French chef that Mr. Krabs got as part of an exchange program gives him a massive bill for his services after Mr. Krabs has been forced into bankruptcy due to the chef's extravagant demands.
** In "Tutor Sauce", Mr. Krabs is handed a bill for all of the damages to the Krusty Krab that [=SpongeBob=] incurred with his driving, which included rebuilding the entire restaurant after it was destroyed in an oil tanker explosion. When [=SpongeBob=] drives into the side of the building, the contractor takes the bill and adds onto the total amount.
** In "What's Eating Patrick?", Patrick is unsure if he can compete in a Krabby Patty eating competition since it requires him to eat the patties whole if he wants to win, meaning he can't taste them. Mr. Krabs threatens to charge him for all of the patties he ate while training, and the bill has an impossible amount of zeroes.
** In "Drive Happy", [=SpongeBob=]'s [[AIIsACrapshoot snobby new self-driving car]] takes them to a fancy mechanic place and sticks [=SpongeBob=] with an enormous bill.
** In "Plankton's Old Chum", Plankton makes up the holiday Chum Day to get [=SpongeBob=] to hide his chum throughout the town, which results in Bikini Bottom being covered in chum the next morning. While everyone is enjoying it and Plankton takes credit for it, the health inspector charges him $1,000,000,000 unless he eats it all. He complies, ending up very obese at the end of the episode.
* At the end of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Roger Rabbit Short|s}}'' "Tummy Trouble", Roger does a WildTake and faints at the sight of his hospital bill.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Classic Disney Short|s}}'' "The Trial of WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck" has Donald going into a fancy restaurant to get away from the rain and orders a small cup of coffee. After being served a thimble-sized cup, he gets angry and decides to eat his packed lunch at the table. The maitre'd is outraged, so he decides to charge Donald for his own lunch. Unable to pay the bill with the one nickel he has on his person, he is sentenced to pay it off washing dishes... a decision the maitre'd regrets after he breaks most of the restaurant's flatware in the process.
** In the ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseWorks'' short "Donald's Dinner Date", Donald takes Daisy on a date with the promise of keeping his temper under control. In the end he does manage to do so, even at the hands of Goofy as his waiter, but Daisy winds up losing her self-control over how Goofy handled their service, despite Donald trying to console her. After Goofy hands him the bill however, which simply shows the total at "REALLY Expensive!", he goes '''[[HairTriggerTemper completely nuts.]]'''
** In another "Mickey Mouse Works" short, "How To Wash Dishes", Goofy becomes tired of his same old job as a dishwasher, so he decides to go on vacation with the help of a narrator--and a shiny new credit card! The entire short shows him going on vacation including buying plane tickets, clothes, and souvenirs all with his credit card, to which he simply tells the person involved in the co-payment to "Charge it!" As the short ends, he is dining at a fancy restaurant when his credit card is declined due to a racked up bill, leaving him back at square one working off the debt by washing dishes.
* ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'': In "Rock TV", Luigi reminds Mario of "the trouble we got into with that 'Speak to Santa' hotline", where they managed to rack up a phone bill of $1,295.31. The flashback has Luigi handing Mario the bill, and the outcome for Mario is that he faints upon seeing it. This episode provides the page image.
* In the second episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Birdz}}'', Eddie runs up a [[EleventyZillion nine gazillion dollar]] charge on his father's credit card buying gifts for his friends.
** In "To Beak or Not to Beak", the bill for [[spoiler:Eddie's beak surgery]] is "$$$ A LOT".
* The ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "Porky Pig's Feat" had WesternAnimation/PorkyPig and WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck being stuck with a huge bill after staying in a fancy hotel that even charged them for air and sunshine. (The situation wasn't helped by Daffy gambling away all their money either.) They frantically try to fight off the hotel manager and run out on the bill, but are eventually caught for good and confined to their room until they can pay off the debt. A few weeks later, they get the bright idea to call WesternAnimation/BugsBunny and see if he can give them any advice, only to reveal that Bugs is confined to a nearby room himself!
** If you do the math for the hotel bill Porky got, you would realize that it should be $20 more than what was listed on the bill.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' episode "Labor Day", Jenny has an accident that wrecks half of Tremorton. Skyway Patrol sends Mrs. Wakeman the bill for the damages, which is totaled to;
-->'''Mrs. Wakeman:''' ''Three hundred million dollars?!'' That's a lot of zeroes!
-->'''Skyway Patrol officer:''' We'll mail you the ''rest'' of the zeroes on the separate cover!
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'', Pleakley discovers credit cards but doesn't realize that they have to be paid off later. At the end of the episode, Nani presents him with all the bills that have arrived for him.
-->'''Pleakley:''' Is that a balance due or an intergalactic ZIP code!?
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Brickleberry}}'' episode "Crippleberry", lawyer Malloy gives Woody the bill for how much to pay to make Brickleberry handicapped accessible just for Steve.
-->'''Woody:''' Why do I have to call a phone number to find out how much I owe?\\
'''Malloy:''' Uh, that is not a phone number, that is the amount due.
* Taken to a ridiculous extreme in the cartoon "Whining Out" from the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' episode "Life in the 90's". After tying down the waiter to get some service at a very snooty restaurant, Buster, Babs, Plucky, and Hamton each end up getting a tiny stale piece of cheese in gravy, each item costing tens of thousands of dollars and totally to "Everything you own and your first born". They pay the bill using Montana Max's student I.D.
* On ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', Hank received a $900 Army haircut bill when Bill cuts his hair at the base after Hank's barber went insane. He wrote a letter to his congressman in response. The Army gave him a $3,900 check and a crystal award as a percentage share of eliminating government waste resulting in Bill losing his job.
* This happens to WesternAnimation/MightyMouse in one episode of ''Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures'', when he gets a doctor's bill.
-->'''Mighty Mouse''': [[PunctuatedForEmphasis EIGHT...HUNDRED...DOLLARS?!!]]
* A ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode has this when Stan was repeatedly yelled at by his dad for spending in-app purchases on a Terrance and Phillip {{Freemium}} mobile game and develops an addiction becoming like his grandfather.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' episode "Just the Two of Pus", Sperg goes to the hospital for a [[RiseOfZitboy horrible case of acne]] and Dr. Ted is otherwise completely ineffective at doing anything about it, giving him [[BrownBagMask a paper bag]] to hide his face. After spending the episode trying to get rid of the acne by rubbing his face with Grim's bones after a mystic tells him to, Sperg gets rid of it with [[CordonBleughChef Billy]]'s caustic batch of stew, which also [[WipeThatSmileOffYourFace causes his mouth and nose to disappear]]. Sperg goes back to Dr. Ted to fix his mouth, but he just assumes the bag worked and charges him $16,000 for it, which Sperg can't object to.
* In ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' episode "Green Thumbs Down", Jon buys groceries delivered to his house. When handed the bill, he screams at the total amount due, then shoves the money right into the deliverer's mouth and angrily gives up buying groceries altogether because he thinks paying $1.93 for tomatoes is outrageous. He buys gardening supplies to grow his own vegetables -- [[WasItReallyWorthIt and ends up spending $200 per lettuce leaf and $300 per radish]].
* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife''
** In "Rocko's Happy Sack", Rocko gets to the checkout lane right before the 90% off sale at the supermarket ends, but Filburt is going so slow that the sale ends and Rocko's total goes from $1.50 to $150, leading to Rocko yelling at Filburt to change it back.
** In "Junk Junkies", a pizza place charges Rocko with $500.95 in unpaid bills. He has to sell things from his garage to pay them off so he's not forced to pay by making pizza deliveries.
** In "Boob Tubed", Rocko is charged for an extravagant television when he wanted to buy something less expensive. According to Heffer, the TV will cost him a dollar a month for the next 632 years, meaning that it's about $7,584.
** In "Floundering Fathers", Rocko's ancestor tells Ed that when his ancestor John Quincy Bighead bought the land that would become O-Town from Native Americans for $2.98 and a pack of breath mints, he shorted them 29 cents. 200 years later figuring for inflation, Ed now owes their descendants $37,000 and two tons of breath mints (which could actually cost close to or more than the 37k).
* In the ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' episode "The Matchmaker", when Sylvia is charged a large amount for her and Wander eating at a diner, it's followed by her reaching into her wallet and pulling out a sizable stack of money. The OnceAnEpisode titles become a RunningGag in this episode, and when Sylvia pays there's one that reads "The Overpriced Lunch".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball''
** In "The DVD", Gumball and Darwin go out of their way just to get the $25 restocking fee for a DVD they dropped in the garbage disposal. After Nicole pays for it herself, she gets charged $700 for the time Gumball and Darwin had it. [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere They decide to cut and run]].
** In "The Finale", the Wattersons are charged $800,000 in damages done to Elmore.
** In "The Points", Tobias spends $15,000 in microtransactions on a {{Freemium}} game. He initially exaggerates how much he spent and says that it's numbers they haven't been taught in school yet.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "Mr. Greg", Greg decides to spend some of [[RagsToRiches the ten million dollars he got in royalties at the end of "Drop Beat Dad"]] on a trip to [[BigApplesauce Empire City]] with Steven and Pearl. After throwing money around at a fancy hotel, the rather lengthy bill Greg gets [[UndisclosedFunds apparently put enough of a dent in his money]] to put him off any spending sprees for a while.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation L.I.Z.Z.I.E.", after an IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight fails, it takes a brainwashed Numbuh 1 to receive an extremely expensive restaurant bill to make Lizzie's [[MindControlDevice Boyfriend Helmet]] on his head go haywire and explode, returning him to normal.
-->'''Numbuh 1:''' [[BigWhat WHAT?!]] How can you charge that much for a lousy '''''STEAK?!''''' UGH!!!! It's-it's-it's- IT'S '''''HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!!!!'''''
* In ''[[Series/MrBean Mr. Bean: The Animated Series]]'' episode "The Visitor", Bean has to get rid of [[TheThingThatWouldNotLeave Harry]] and decides to "treat" Harry to a free dinner. Harry having eaten lobster, chicken, fries, chocolate cake, wine and more at a restaurant ends up screaming in shock at the bill's final amount but relaxes because Bean promised to pay… not realizing Bean snuck out. In the end, Harry has to wash dishes, crying while doing so. Roll the credits!
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Rupert}}'' episode "Rupert and the Temple Ruins" begins with Mr. Trunk giving Rupert's father Mr. Bear a bill for his plumbing repairs. [[UndisclosedFunds We do not see what the price is]], but Mr. Bear's alarmed reaction makes it clear that it must be pretty steep.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Joker's Millions", Joker is willed $250 million by a rival gangster, seemingly as a hatchet-burying gesture. After Joker's gone a little spending spree, a man from the IRS tells Joker he has to pay inheritance tax and gives him a sum that sends Mistah J [[FaceFault flying off of his chair.]] The real kicker is that most of the money Joker received was fake, but admitting it would be telling the world he got played by a dead man. And the balance due?
-->'''Ernie:''' 137 million?\\
'''Joker:''' Yes, and if I don't pay up, I'll go to jail for tax evasion! [[IntimidatingRevenueService I'm crazy enough to take on Batman, but the I.R.S.? Nooo thank you!]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': In Episode 64, Stumpy has to pay for a meal that he bought at Mr. Cat's new fast food restaurant. He takes one look at the bill and [[PrecisionFStrike drops an F bomb]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E10TheSaddleRowReview The Saddle Row Review]]", the interviews between the journalist and the cast take place in a café. When BigEater Pinkie Pie is presented with the bill for the mountain of food she has eaten, she looks shocked at it for a moment, then with a sheepish grin on her face passes it to the journalist.
** {{Subverted|Trope}} in the episode "Point of No Return". Twilight worries that the late fee on her overdue library book will be huge, but it turns out the library caps its fees after one month late and it's only 28 bits.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheCrumpets'' episode "My Family's Full of Losers", Uncle Hurry charges his TV game show viewers fifty quid[[note]]Fifty British pounds. The pound sterling is sometimes mentioned in the English dub besides the euro.[[/note]] per second for any phone call deciding which Crumpet family member should be disqualified.
** In "Sound the Alarm", when Caprice calls the phone service while trying to cancel the delivery of her typo-ridden text to Marylin, she receives a message relating to payment.
---> Please repeat your request clearly. Press one to pay more. Press two to double your monthly tariff.
* In ''WesternAnimation/FrostyTheSnowman'', Karen finds out that sending Frosty to the North Pole by train isn't cheap with the total bill coming to $3,000.04 including tax.
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. After getting his hospital bill Peter cracks an angry joke at the receptionist if this was his bill or his phone number. She replies it actually is his phone number.
-->'''Peter''': ({{Beat}}) Well it's still pretty high.
* One "Sonic Says" subject from ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' is about false advertising. Tails watches a commercial for a toy robot priced at $9.98, only to find out it actually costs $99.98 with all the bells and whistles thrown in.
* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce''
** In "Kidney Car", after Shake completely pulverizes Carl's CoolCar in a demolition derby, Meatwad gets a repair estimate for it from a towing company that, due to his bizarre demands such as an exorcism for the apparently haunted air conditioner, totals out to $32,724.51.
** "Boost Mobile" opens with Frylock opening the mail and finding a $2,600 electric bill caused by Shake charging his giant Boost Mobile phone.
** In "Grim Reaper Gutters", Shake purchasing Frylock's computer cost over $3,000 bucks on the bill. Shake then hides out in Mexico until Frylock chills out.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'': In "Keeping Up With the Boneses," the Ghost With the Most tries to one-up the Boneses couple by getting a credit card and going on a shopping spree. Once he gets his first bill and finds he doesn't have a cent to his name, the creditors keep Lydia as collateral until he either pays the bill or gives back everything. He gives back everything but is now left to pay the interest on the charges.
* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'': Appropriately named "Dexter's Debt", Dexter finds himself saddled with a bill from NASA from having them monitor his lab that's worth 200 million dollars. The episode focuses on Dexter's frantic attempts to try and make enough money to pay off the bill before they appropriate his lab as compensation. In the end, Dee Dee wins a sweepstakes with the prize money being exactly what Dexter needs, but in exchange for letting Dexter use it to pay off the bill, Dexter has to turn over part of his lab over to her.
* At the end of "I Dream of Duffy" from ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats2021'', Drew tells Stu not to worry, that he'll pay for everything that Angelica ordered using Duffy. He asks Duffy for the total and as Duffy gives the total (which we don't hear), the scene [[ScreamDiscretionShot cuts to the exterior]] and Drew's scream of pain and anguish.
* The animated adaptation of ''ComicBook/FatherChristmas'' has a downplayed example of this when Santa, who has been enjoying the hospitality of [[BlandNameProduct Nero's Palace]], Las Vegas for most of the summer season, gets his hotel bill. He's visibly discomfitted, but has no apparent difficulty paying it despite his [[WorkingClassHero seemingly humble lifestyle]]: One can only surmise that the job pays well, even if this is the first real vacation he's found time for in ages.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'', when Psycrow tries to force the President to surrender control of the United States to him, Jim thwarts him by showing him a parchment, which frightens Psycrow to the point of bolting right through the wall. When the President asks what it was that scared him, Jim tells him that it was the national debt. One look at said debt then scares the President enough to do the same exact thing.
** In another episode, when Peter calls a fortune teller, she tells him that his future reveals "a very large phone bill." Jim then draws his blaster and shoots the phone.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'': In "Rock TV", Luigi reminds Mario of "the trouble we got into with that 'Speak to Santa' hotline", where they managed to rack up a phone bill of $1,295.31. The flashback has Luigi hanging Mario the bill, and the outcome for Mario is that he faints upon seeing it. This episode provides the page image.

* ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'': In "Rock TV", Luigi reminds Mario of "the trouble we got into with that 'Speak to Santa' hotline", where they managed to rack up a phone bill of $1,295.31. This episode provides the page image.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': when Timmy was momentarily a grown-up. Eating at a restaurant and is surprised at the bill, saying "This is more than I get for my allowance- I mean, more than I make in a month!" Cut to him washing dishes in the back.

->''"He had been extremely relieved when their mother, horrified by the huge bill she had suddenly received from the Rat Office, had canceled the job."''
-->-- '''Stanley''' describing a Message Rat, ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'' Book #1: "Magyk"

* In ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'', Urumi is blackmailing Onizuka, and orders him to take her and some of her classmates to an expensive sushi restaurant, where they order several platters of expensive fatty tuna. Eventually, Onizuka snaps and buys ''[[RefugeInAudacity five more servings]]'' for '''himself''' and starts eating like there's no tomorrow. Cue heroic music. [[SerialEscalation Then he orders five more servings of abalone and sea urchin.]] And a sashimi boat. [[OverlyLongGag And 10 MORE servings]] of salmon roe, ark shell, and sweet shrimp. His plan from the beginning was to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere dine and dash]], which he does, still clutching the sushi boat, with his students running behind him, pursued by the chef. Then he gets hit by a car and forces the driver to pay his bill. And then ''goes back to the same restaurant and orders '''more''' food''. The bill (which the driver has to pay) ends up being over 200,000 yen[[note]]More than $1800 in 2021 currency[[/note]]

** When a British woman on holiday in New York ended up in intensive care, eventually losing a leg, following a vehicle crash, some British newspapers and media sources focused less on the horror of the incident or the loss of a limb, as on the fact it had happened in the USA. The ''really'' horrific thing was the size of a padded-for-profit American medical bill that the poor woman was sure to get. Speculation abounded as to if it could be kept under seven figures in $US.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':

* In the WebAnimation/YouTubePoop video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y30qnY7Nfqg Wallace and Gromit: The Hearse of the Square Rabbit]]'', the titular duo charge ridiculous fees for their rabbit catching business: one poor sap is charged £25,000 for a ''single'' rabbit. If the clients can't pay, Wallace and Gromit will cheerfully release the rabbits and drive away.

->''He had been extremely relieved when their mother, horrified by the huge bill she had suddenly received from the Rat Office, had canceled the job.''

* ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'': In "Rock TV", Luigi reminds Mario of "the trouble we got into with that 'Speak to Santa' hotline", where they managed to rack up a phone bill of $1,295.31. Provides the page image.

-->-- Stanley describing a Message Rat, ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'' book #1: ''Magyk''

* In the ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' Land of Sound filler arc, Jiraiya visits a bar and is presented a ridiculously large bill. When he notes this the bartender calls in a number of armed thugs since he's being "unruly".
* In only the fifth episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' titled "Showdown in Pewter City", Ash and Misty discuss the upcoming Gym battle with Brock over a meal. After Ash refuses help from Misty, she angrily leaves the restaurant and Ash is left to stare at the bill and subsequently yell for Misty to come back. The bill originally read ¥1150, which [[http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=1150+yen+in+dollars just barely qualifies]] for this trope, but the Creator/FourKidsEntertainment dub changed it to a dollar sign without bothering with exchange rates (or even just adding a decimal point to make it $11.50 since assuming "1 yen = 1 cent" will almost always get you in the ballpark), which makes it [[ExaggeratedTrope a rather more potent example]].

* {{Fainting}}

* An old Turkish folktale tells of a poor boy who asks for some food from an innkeeper, promising to pay him back when he can. The innkeeper gives him a bowl of boiled eggs, for which the boy is grateful. Many years later, the boy is now a rich merchant, and returns to the inn to ask how much he owes for the eggs. The innkeeper tries to charge him 10,000 akches, reasoning that the eggs that would have hatched into hens and grown up to produce more eggs and more hens if they hadn't been eaten. When the merchant refuses, the innkeeper takes him to court. The folk hero, Nasreddin Hodja, comes along and promises to represent the merchant. At the trial, Hodja comes in late and declares that he's had a genius idea: instead of eating his boiled corn for breakfast, he planted it so he'll harvest it and get rich. The innkeeper scoffs, "That's ridiculous! You can't grow corn from boiled kernels!" Hodja then asks, "Then how can you hatch chickens from boiled eggs?" The judge rules in favor of the merchant and makes the innkeeper pay a fine for wasting his time.

* An old Turkish folktale tells of a poor boy who asks for some food from an innkeeper, promising to pay him back when he can. The innkeeper gives him a bowl of boiled eggs, for which the boy is grateful. Many years later, the boy is now a rich merchant, and returns to the inn to ask how much he owes for the eggs. The innkeeper tries to charge him 10,000 akches, for the eggs that would have hatched into hens and grown up to produce more eggs and more hens if the merchant hadn't eaten them. When the merchant refuses, the innkeeper takes him to court. The folk hero, Nasreddin Hodja, comes along and promises to represent the merchant. At the trial, Hodja comes in late and declares that he's had a genius idea: instead of eating his boiled corn for breakfast, he planted it so he'll harvest it and get rich. The innkeeper scoffs, "That's ridiculous! You can't grow corn from boiled kernels!" Hodja then asks, "Then how can you hatch chickens from boiled eggs?" The judge rules in favor of the merchant and makes the innkeeper pay a fine for wasting his time.

* An old Turkish folktale tells of a poor boy who asks for some food from an innkeeper, promising to pay him back when he can. The innkeeper gives him a bowl of boiled eggs, for which the boy is grateful. Many years later, the boy is now a rich merchant, and returns to the inn to ask how much he owes for the eggs. The innkeeper tries to charge him 10,000 akches, for the eggs that would have hatched into hens and grown up to produce more eggs and more hens if the merchant hadn't eaten them. When the merchant refuses, the innkeeper takes him to court. The folk hero, Nasreddin Hodja, comes along and promises to represent the merchant. At the trial, Hodja comes in late and declares that he's had a genius idea: instead of eating his boiled corn for breakfast, he planted it so he'll harvest it and get rich. The innkeeper scoffs, "That's absurd! You can't grow corn from boiled kernels!" Hodja then asks, "Then how can you hatch chickens from boiled eggs?" The judge rules in favor of the merchant and makes the innkeeper pay a fine for wasting his time.

* Asking if they got the [[OhWaitThisIsMyGroceryList wrong check]]

* Asking if you have the bill or the establishment's telephone number

* Asking if they got the wrong check

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': In "Hypno Birthday to You", Mr. Giggles, the clown hired for Jimmy's many birthday parties, thanks to his Hypno Beam so he could obtain a new chemistry set, charges the Neutrons $1,695.00 for his services. Hugh [[{{Fainting}} faints]] at the sight of it, and Jimmy is punished by having to scrub floors at [[SummerSchoolSucks summer school]] to WorkOffTheDebt.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': In "Hypno Birthday to You", Mr. Giggles, the clown hired for Jimmy's many birthday parties, thanks to his Hypno Beam so he could obtain a new chemistry set, charges the Neutrons $1,695.00 for his services. Hugh [[{{Fainting}} faints]] at the sight of it, and Jimmy is punished by scrubbing floors at [[SummerSchoolSucks summer school]] to WorkOffTheDebt.