Holiday Tipping Overview

Consumer Reports recently did a short piece on holiday tipping in hard times. Two parts of the article stood out to me. First, they offered these suggestions for those who want to tip this season and yet still need to control their costs:

• Give cash or a check to people you think need it most.

• For others, consider giving soaps, a candle, or baked goods. Unless you know the person well, try something unlikely to offend or cause allergic reactions.

• If your budget is very tight, handwrite a note of thanks. "Something is always nicer than nothing," Post says.

Second, they also list the average gift for various service providers as follows:

• Cleaning person - $50
• Child's teacher - $20
• Hairdresser - $20
• Child-care provider - $38
• Manicurist - $20
• Newspaper carrier - $20
• Barber - $15
• Bldg. superintendent - $25
• Pet-care provider - $25
• Mail carrier - $20
• Lawn-care crew - $25
• School-bus driver - $15
• Fitness instructor - $25
• Sanitation worker - $20

Holy cow! No wonder this is such a big issue. If you have all these people in your life, then tipping during the holidays is a fairly big expense. My suggestion: you could probably save a boatload of money each year by cutting some of these areas back (not the tip for this year, but cutting the service altogether) -- but that's for a different blog post.

For us, we don't have a cleaning person, manicurist, barber (cut my own hair), building superintendent, pet care provider, etc. In fact, of the fourteen groups listed above, we only have five of them. We tip them all about what's listed above except for our top babysitter -- she gets a bit more (got to keep good sitters happy.) ;-)

Comments

Sorry but this is just ridiculous. The notion that I need to tip all these people is just beyond me. There are only two I'd tip on that list, the child-care provider and the cleaning person. Beyond that I see no justification for it. And have never heard a good one beyond "Be nice" or "Everybody does it".

[guinness416]

Wow, who does this list apply to, Tony Soprano? It's kind of sad to imagine that the average person really never pops down to the corner shop to pick up the newspaper, never mows their own lawn, lifts weight without someone standing over them, or walks their own dog. No wonder people aren't getting ahead (and are getting fatter!)

Assuming you tip your barber/hairdresser as you visit during the year, is this an additional Xmas tip? I've never done that.

[SAHM]

WHAT??? OK, maybe I'm too cheap, but why in the world would I give people that I am already paying generously an extra tip just because it is the holidays? I have no problem tipping extra when you receive service above and beyond or giving something special to someone that is special to you. But, c'mon, I'm not giving my sanitation worker(s) (whichever ones decide to come out to my house when they decide to come out to my house) a tip.

Before someone calls me super cheap and stingy, I can see the reasoning behind giving something to the child's teacher, babysitter, and a few others. But, c'mon, this is ridiculous. Where is my tip for keeping my kids from running through your perfectly manicured lawn? Where is my husband's end of the year bonus/tip for working hard and not killing his overly annoying co-worker?

I'm sorry but this is ridiculous. I'd rather give that money to charity. But, I guess if you have the kind of money to have all of these services, then you have the kind of money to give all of these extra tips.

[Robin]

I can kind of give an opinion from the "other side of the fence." I am a personal tutor. Some kids I meet with as often as every week. If I get a holiday tip, I am pleasantly surprised, but I certainly don't expect it. When I set my rates, I set them because that is what I think is fair. And people shouldn't feel obligated to pay me beyond that.

I've never tipped our mailman, but I'm considering it this year, since I order a lot of packages. We'll see.

[Kevin M]

My wife gets a ton of gift cards and Bath & Body baskets for her holiday gifts/tips - she is a preschool teacher. Most of the gift cards are nice, but the lotions, soaps and stuff we usually just re-gift or donate.

I've never thought of tipping the mailman - do people really do this? I'm not sure our mailman is even the same from day to day.

[rwh]

I'm sure I don't make any more money than our mailman, and he has a much more generous pension. No way I'm tipping him.

The sanitation workers are city employees with benefits and probably don't earn much less than me. I'm not going to tip them either.

I never tip my barber; he owns his own place. We do tip the hair cut people where my wife and daughters go since they are employees and not owners.

My kids each have at least 6 different teachers at school. We don't plan to tip them.

The only others on the list that I deal with are tutors. That's a good idea, particularly my daughter's math tutor. She has saved her from failing and my daughter will probably earn Cs or even Bs the rest of the year.

I think regular tipping should be reserved for those few occupations where the person has to earn their livlihood from tips, like a waiter or bartender. Holiday tipping should be reserved for those other service occupations where the person has no benefits and doesn't make much money.

[Tim]

i hate the notion of tipping for the sake of tipping and tipping when a person is merely doing their job. i also wonder why we tip: to get faster service, to get in line quicker, to ensure you get into something, to what exactly? personally I can wait or find some other alternative. I tip or give a bonus if someone goes above and beyond, but everything else is ridiculous.

[SUSAN]

Wow - I'm cheap! :) My hair cut costs me $30 every 4 months. I usually tip her $6 for cutting my hair. If I go in December, I give her a $10 tip and I think that's being nice. But apparently, I'm cheap.

One year I did all our holiday shopping on the internet and the UPS man was there every single day. He left packages in our garage for us (which he definitely didn't have to do), so he got a nice tip that year (he really went above and beyond for us).

But beyond that, I clean my own home, walk my own dog, do my own nails, and I am our child care provider, superintendent, doorman, and fitness instructor. :)

[Mary@SimplyForties]

I'm surprised by all the comments about not tipping service people. I think it's more about sharing the season, etc., than the money. I get a lot of Fed Ex deliveries, UPS deliveries and USPS deliveries in support of my freelance life. During the month of December I keep baked goods by the front door and hand them out to all those delivery guys. Yes, they are well paid but they're nice guys and they work hard and I'm in a good holiday mood. My mediocre generosity really pays off throughout the rest of the year. They're willing to make all sorts of delivery exceptions for me that help make my life easier.

My hairdresser is the shop owner so I don't tip him but again, I bring him baked goods when I come in during December, same for public school teachers, when they were a part of my life. I don't use any of the other service people listed but would probably do the same for them if I did.

Basically I think it's about acknowledging the service people in your life with a little kindness, which lets them know that you are aware of how hard they work. I do give small gifts to all of my clients but that's another story!

[indio]

In NYC, the doorman expect a big tip and they belong to a union. On avg, it's a $100 tip and everyone that works in the bldg expects a tip from the super to the various doorman shifts.

[Lauren]

I don't give a tip to our mail person because they never deliver things on time and don't bother knocking on our door to give us packages.

When I was a teacher, we got lots of lotion and bath stuff (mirroring the poster above me whose wife got a ton). Baked goods, bath things - we appreciate the thought, but we don't eat all the food and we regift the lotion. Sometimes a card that says "thank you for helping my kid" is the best gift of all.

How about bosses? Does anyone get presents for their boss?

[Margo]

I've been on the receiving end of holiday tips in a couple jobs listed:
Newspaper carrier - in 1998-2000 I was getting 10-25 per townhouse. I had to get of the car and walk to throw the papers. The Washington Post is a pretty heavy paper! One or two houses also gave me chocolates which I loved because I was a teenager. I'm not sure how necessary it is to tip the carriers if you're in a house and it's a "tube" route where no paper-throwing is involved, but they'll appreciate it.

Tutor - I had a regular client whose mom gave me nice soaps, a tin of cookies and $20 for my holiday tip. I was totally surprised! But she was grateful I accepted her son as a student and I was giving them a cut-rate on my in-home price. Good karma all around. It definitely made me more willing to make last minute scheduling changes for them because I knew that I was *valued*. They stood out as the kind of family a tutor WANTS to work with.

If you value your student's tutor, here's what I'd recommend as a tip: an extra hour's pay plus a well-written, typed recommendation letter that she can give to prospective clients. Put it in business format, with your title if you're in a particular position of influence, and make sure you sign it. Make it qualitative and quantitative - if you can explain the impact on your student's motivation and confidence and follow it with a numeric score change, then you'll help your tutor land new clients in the future.

[Jane]

I am planning to tip my pet sitter and more than consumer reports suggests. BUT that is because I appreciate what she does and I feel she could probably charge me more for the service, I think she goes above and beyond. It's really just a yearly bonus in my mind. If I felt she didn't deserve it, she wouldn't get it. On the other hand I'm not planning on tipping anyone else.

[Amber]

I can not believe the average american tips all these people. Prices are high enough and most of these people make more money than me. Tipping is soo out of control these days...everyone expects it and you are treated bad if you dont tip.