Holiday tipping

Who do you guys tip for the holidays? Also if you don't mind me asking how much do you tip them?

I tip my hairdresser $50.00 and I give my neighbor a $35.00 gift card for helping me take my trash can to the curb. I can't think of anybody else. I used to tip the bus driver when I worked and the guys in the mail room. I don't have a paper delivered anymore. I don't tip the mail or trash people. I think they get paid for doing their job why should I have to tip them? 

We tip our mail carrier because he always goes "above and beyond" to protect delivered packages just in case it might rain. We usually just give $10 in a card with an appreciative note, but I do hope it brightens his day a little.

I usually give my hairdresser the cost of a color touch-up because that's what I get every month. It's $60, so she gets that as her tip. Just did that last night, as a matter of fact.

That's pretty much it these days. We used to give something to our mail carrier before she retired. Since then we get different carriers all the time, so we don't really know them anymore.

Does work count? ------ There are four of us in our department here at work (plus our boss). We each give $35 toward the cost of something for our boss....he's a sweetie and he gives us each $100.00 in vouchers for local stores in town. He believes in shopping locally whenever possible; he eats in local restaurants in the area and tries to stay out of chains. Our town has a "Keep It Local" thing where you can go to any of the participating stores, buy a coupon(s) in your desired amount and then the coupons can be used at any participating store in town. It's really kind of neat in a way. (I always spend mine at the local bookstore; there's always a cookbook there with my name on it. My boss knows that, too; my card usually says something like "For your last cookbook purchase of the year!" or something similar. And then I always bring in what I bought and show it to him; sometimes he'll then go in and buy the same cookbook for his wife as she likes to cook, too.) To be honest, I'd kind of like to give a bit more because he is very generous to us, but one of my co-workers has kids, and he's on the low end of totem pole pay-wise, so to speak. Another one is pretty much living paycheck to paycheck. I hate to push it. I just feel guilty, although our boss makes quite a bit more than we do....that's why he's the boss! 

Australians don't really tip.. it's not part of the culture.  But I give my mowing man a big fruitcake and a $40 hardware voucher at Christmas.. it tends to go up a little each year.  He's a really great guy and I appreciate the work he does.

We usually tip the mail carriers and the guy who delivers the morning paper about €20 ($21) apiece.

Is that still the norm anymore?

I don't have a regular hair person- I go to whoever is available. I have no idea who my mail carrier is or if it is even the same person every day. The lawn service is covered under the HOA fees and it's done by a service. When they come by there's like 5 guys with the big mowers, 5 guys with blowers and 5 guys with weed wackers. Which one should I tip- the best looking out of all of them?     

I get the digital copy of the Orlando Sentinel every day. No "paper boy". 

I guess I am a Grinch. I have gotten to the point I don't tip.  I don't have a hair person, or a lawn person, I have no idea who my mailman is, my barrista has one job when I see her, I purchase a cup of coffee, and she makes it, I am not sure what about that warrants a tip, at a restaurant I tip according to the service I receive and not the amount of my bill... and to be honest, I really don't like eating in restaurants all that much anymore because I know servers rely on tips... but restaurants charge plenty enough for the meal that they can afford to pay their servers, and also so many places require all tips to be pooled and split.. and not all the employees with their hand in that pool are putting forth equal effort.  I did tip the cable guy $10.00 the other day... but again, it was for service received.  He was at my place for 2 1/2 hour and fixed things with out being asked... gave me some tips to improve my service... just did an above and beyond job. So, if its warranted, tip what's in your heart. If your heart isn't in it... don't tip.

I do not give an huge tip to my hairdresser. I have been going to her shop for over 40 years. I know her, and some of her family. The place is just family friendly. Her clients do give her a lot of small gifts of appreciation.. 

One year, when she was extra special to me, I gave her a bottle of Moet Champagne.. she was very shocked and told me not to do it anymore.. 

I usually just get a small gift and a large tip... This year, money is an issue, so I got her just a small gift in appreciation. 

There are 2 others in her shop. One is a full fledged hairdresser, and the other a fledgling one.. 

Both of them have helped with my color and shampoos.. and I have known them for a while.. I got each of them a small gift.

I am thinking of giving my paper guy a $10 tip. I never see him because I live in an apartment building, but the paper is always there on Sundays.. the only day I get it...

And my super gets a tip/gift.. a gift card and a bottle of wine..I do not give extravagant gifts.. I cannot afford it, and I never did..

When I go out to eat, I do give a 20% tip.. and include the drinks in it, so it is more like 25%...

There are a lot of rules for US mail carriers/postal workers getting tips. Not supposed to accept cash (though most will still take it---shhh!) or alcohol, or gifts worth more than $20. It's complicated, and mail carriers do get paid decently so I wouldn't consider it a must. Cookies and candy are nice!

I don't really have anybody to tip. I don't have a regular hair person. The garbage service I currently pay for is contracted through the city, so how would I tip him? Tape a $10 to the garbage can lid? :lol3: I do like to tip well at restaurants and I usually throw my change into the tip jar when I get coffee (just because I don't like to carry change).

I give my mail carrier $15, he's awesome and we get along great- he understands the care my reef/coral packages needs.

I give my maint. guy $25 gift card.

no one else really to tip. 

I tip my trash guy. And I send it to the office to make sure my regular guy gets it. 4 cats mean some pretty heavy bins even if they do have wheels plus I have never ever been charged the contract fee for extra bags.  I generally tip all year long and don't feel the need to give extra at holidays.  I have considered giving the staff at our local post office reading glasses. Might help to get the mail in the right boxes...

Kittens Mom said:

 
I tip my trash guy. And I send it to the office to make sure my regular guy gets it. 4 cats mean some pretty heavy bins even if they do have wheels plus I have never ever been charged the contract fee for extra bags.  I generally tip all year long and don't feel the need to give extra at holidays.  I have considered giving the staff at our local post office reading glasses. Might help to get the mail in the right boxes...

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They changed our trash cans out so we have the ones that the truck picks up. the guys don't do that anymore. They just pick up stuff left next to the bins like large branches and whatnot

Reading glasses!    My mail carrier could use some too. One day I received SIX packages that belonged to other addresses. They were not close to mine at all. 

I do gift cards for my house sitter and the kids Sunday school teachers.  Usually I include some cookies or a gift if I see something that I know they will like.  I usually aim for $15-20.  I always tip at the time of service when DS gets his hair cut but I've never done a holiday one.  I don't get my own hair cut more than twice a year so I guess it never crossed my mind.  My mother goes to the same salon (probably twice a month) and she's always bringing baked goodies and things like that in.  

We pay for our trash pickup and they have a truck with an arm on it that picks up the can.  The recycling truck is the same way.  I don't know how we'd figure out who to tip. 

I've never tipped our mail carrier. She's kinda grumpy when I do see her but she's usually here and gone very fast.  My mother always tipped ours when I lived at home because she was just great. Very personable and she even knew the dogs by name. She'd bring Tasha a new tennis ball a few times a year.

We're rural and while the truck picks the bin up they have to wheel it to the truck. Just a lay of the land thing. Plus when I leave out extra they have to take it by hand to the truck. I used to tip or regular waitress at our favorite diner but I haven't had the same one twice it seems in years. As a general rule I tip at the time of service when appropriate. I do need to pick up a little something for our most excellent cat veterinarian. Even if it's just a really nice Christmas card.

I hate tipping with a passion. I don't tip my hairdresser because she owns the place. I always sent my mail carriers $25 at Xmas because they have gone out of their way to help me. But now I have a new person so won't be sending her anything. She's not going to be the helpful type I can tell.

That's about it.

Always have tipped the mail carrier, it's good insurance that our mail will be delivered through rain, sleet or snow.   I also tip the hairdresser and when our kids were younger we would make a holiday gift basket for the pediatrician's office.  We gave a gift to our favorite vet before he retired.  As for restaurants, 20% unless the service is exceptionally poor.

I always try to tip waiters/waitresses at least 20%. The only time I don't tip is when the service is REALLY BAD. I understand that sometimes people have bad days and it might reflect on their work a bit. So even if my waiter/waitress seems frazzled or they aren't in the best of moods, I still tip because why make someone's bad day worse?

I have worked in the restaurant buisness for 10 years and I understand how awful customers can be sometimes.

MollyBlue said:

I guess I am a Grinch. I have gotten to the point I don't tip.  I don't have a hair person, or a lawn person, I have no idea who my mailman is, my barrista has one job when I see her, I purchase a cup of coffee, and she makes it, I am not sure what about that warrants a tip, at a restaurant I tip according to the service I receive and not the amount of my bill... and to be honest, I really don't like eating in restaurants all that much anymore because I know servers rely on tips... but restaurants charge plenty enough for the meal that they can afford to pay their servers, and also so many places require all tips to be pooled and split.. and not all the employees with their hand in that pool are putting forth equal effort.  I did tip the cable guy $10.00 the other day... but again, it was for service received.  He was at my place for 2 1/2 hour and fixed things with out being asked... gave me some tips to improve my service... just did an above and beyond job. So, if its warranted, tip what's in your heart. If your heart isn't in it... don't tip.

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Yeah, it sucks that the tips get pooled and split at some restaurants.

About the amount that restaurants charge for food:

The cost of the food has to cover: actual food cost, hourly pay for chefs, managers and hosts, utility bills for the building + make some sort of (small) profit on top of that. If servers were to make hourly pay, the food cost would go up even higher than it already is and restaurants would then lose customers.

One of my friends was a single mom to 3 kids while putting herself through nursing school by waiting tables.  I think of that when I'm tipping while eating out.  There has only been one experience so bad that we did not leave a tip and believe me it felt extremely justified.  We had eaten there many times before but something changed the last 2 times we went in.  

I tip 20% unless it comes to under 5 dollars. That is the minimum I tip.

At restaurants, we always tip at least 20%; during the holidays, we give more because it is the season and we know servers can always use the money. We figure if we can afford to eat out, then we can also afford to tip. When the pizza guy delivers, we always try to give him a good tip, too, because we appreciate not having to go pick up the pizza. 

Now if the service is really bad, we'll still leave something, but it won't be 20%. We rarely have really bad service, to the point where Rick won't leave anything and we try to consider that s/he might be having a bad day or something else is going on. If the service is simply horrid, no tip....that may have happened to us only once or twice, where it was that bad that Rick didn't tip something.