Holiday Tipping without Breaking the Bank

If you've been wondering what to tip/give the service workers in your life for the holidays, this piece from MSNBC is for you. It starts with this basic overview:

Many of the nation's service workers — from waiters to doormen, barbers and manicurists — make do because of tips. So it's especially important to remember them at the holidays. Unfortunately, there is no simple formula for holiday gratuities because what you give and when you give it varies by geography as well as your temperament and budget.

Then it gives some practical advice:

There are, of course, two basic ways to reward those who have provided good service through the year — cash or presents.

Cash or gift certificates may seem somewhat impersonal, but they're appreciated by people who rely on tips rather than on salary for their livings. Presents, especially those that are homemade, can be more appropriate for salaried professionals such as teachers or nursing home workers.

If you're uncertain how much to tip a particular person, such as your hairdresser, "ask the shop owner what she would recommend," he said.

In many cases, Post suggests people tip a worker the equivalent of what they'd pay for a day or a week or even a month of service. If a personal trainer charges $50 an hour, you should tip the trainer $50 for the holidays. "There's nothing that says you can't give your trainer a $25 gift," he said. "It's always an individual decision."

Here's what we do:

1. Babysitter -- If we've had a very good and loyal sitter throughout the year, we give her a nice cash gift -- both as a thank you plus to encourage her to keep watching our kids when we need her. We give $75 to $100.

2. Postman -- We give $20, usually in gift certificates. Last year we gave Bob Evens certificates.

3. Newspaper boy -- We have quite a bit of turnover in this job, so if someone's rather new, we don't give anything. However, if they've been doing it for a good part of the year and doing a great job (like the carrier we had a couple years ago), we usually give $25. We gave more last time since the carrier's family was down on their luck.

4. Teachers -- We usually give a card the kids have made plus a Christmas CD. So much for our kids getting ahead based on the gift to a teacher. ;-) (And before I get "why does the teacher get rooked" comments, we give to the teachers in other ways throughout the year to help them out.)

5. Garbage men -- Something trivial -- and they're lucky to get it based on the service they give. We're in an on-going battle with them about how to handle our trash and nothing ever seems to change, so we're not as generous with them. And no, it's not related to giving a smaller gift. We have treated them well in the past with little appreciation or change in otherwise bad service.

Comments

[Ironman]

Good suggestions all - for what to tip people in other professions, you might consider these suggestions:

http://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2005/10/tipping-guidelines.html

[Mark]

How about the mechanic?

[walter connery]

If your in the suburbs with a private residence and placing out cans of trash 2x a week, along with other miscelaneous other pieces of trash, you certainly should tip. Depending on your "output" a range of $10-20 would not be out of line.