Do you give a holiday present (tip) to the service people in your life, and if so, how much?

yes they each get a bottle of johnny walker.

Even though I tip him at every appointment, I gave my hairdresser an extra $50 today, up from $40 at this time last year. I think he’s wonderful, I want him to be happy, and I want him to want me to be happy. I also gave $10 tips to three other people at the salon.

I usually tip the postman and the newspaper carrier. How do you tip the garbage men?

I prefer to give cash. I’m a bit sensitive on the subject of giving liquor because some people just need to stay away from it, and you don’t necessarily know who they are.

@Jeruba yeah true, but I’m not into giving cash unless it’s a waiter or hairdresser or something like that. If they don’t like it they can regift it. We’ve done it for years so yeah, they can regift it I guess

@Jeruba : i tip the garbage men by putting the money in a Christmas card, signed with my name and address, and watch out for them on the day they are scheduled to come. i usually run out and give it to them. by handing it to them personally i think makes a better impression. another common way is for people to tape it on the underside of the garbge pail lid, but i don’t like that way because to me, there’s no guarantee that they will get it. i live in a great neighborhood but a few years ago there was a person or persons driving around in the middle of the night taking the tips off the underside of the garbage pail lids. i think it’s better, anyway, to give it to them personally. some people say they get better service from the garbage men where they live if they tip them, like the garbage men don’t throw their garbage pails, but where i live the garbage men are privately contracted so they give good service anyway. i just tip them because i feel like i should.

I was wondering how much to tip my housekeeper and babysitter. I’m glad you asked this question.

Our garbage collectors come at the merest crack of dawn, and they never handle the garbage or recycling cans. They drive a truck that reaches out with a pair of big grabbers and raises the specially shaped cans to tip them into the top of the truck. The guys don’t even get out of the truck. I’m going to assume they’re not expecting tips.

I tip my hairdresser, and give cash and a Starbucks card to the mailman. I also give my landlady a small Christmasy gift. Aside from tipping up in restaurants, that’s about it.

@ Supacase: I don’t have a housekeeper or babysitter but I imagine they make your life really, really good. Plus, you know how little they make and they probably don’t have health insurance. Maybe 50 for housekeeper and 100 for babysitter?

@Astrochuck: What percentage of people on your route tip you?

My hairdresser is my best friend and seeing as I am always bailing her out money wise I think she gets enough from me!!!! Of course she will get a Christmas present though! As for the other “service people” in my life. I’m not sure I have ever met them! The dustbin men (garbage collecters) come once a week when I am at work and likewise with the postman. It’s possible that my landlady will tip the postman though.

I think it’s more common to tip people in America than it is here in the UK. I usually tip waiters when I am in a restaurant if I feel that the service and food was good but other than that we don’t tip much at all.

i am wondering what is an appropriate amount to pay babysitter. she babysits 3 days a week at $60 per day. Last year i gave her a gift card for $30. I am wondering if that’s a good amount. i know people will give a teacher a small gift ($10–15) so i thought $30 was good, but am not sure.

My housecleaner cleans for me once every two weeks, for $80. I am wondering if $30 is good for her, or should i give her more?

the babysitter is more valuable than the housecleaner, because the babysitter takes good care of the baby, although i do value both of their services. I don’t want to/can’t afford to overtip, but want to be appropriate.

@andrew- I’ve never figured out what percentage of my cusomers tipped ne. I’d have to guess it’s fairly small. I have about 450 stops on my route, a good 75% of those are single home deliveries, the other quarter of my route is a mixture of businesses and apartments. I don’t usually get much from the latter two. Overall I average around $300 in cash, about $60 or so in various gift cards, about 15 lbs. of candy (mostly See’s!), a few cans of almonds, homemade goodies, and the odd wrapped gift.

i had a good friend who went out with a garbage man and she told me they don’t call in sick between thanksgiving and new year’s because they get about $5000 in cash during that time. this was about 10 years ago. i found it hard to believe, until i was at her house about two weeks before christmas, and he came home with pockets full of cash and checks, (a whole large bowl full) and cases of beer and potato chips and stuff like that, too. he didn’t even have a route in a particularly affluent area, either.

Let’s do some math using @andrew‘s numbers. 450 stops – 75% of which are single family homes. Say 50% of those poeple tip the average amount of $20 (as listed on ‘how much to tip sites’). That’s over $3,300 total. Is it worth that when garbage men already make a good salary? That’s debatable. Does it ensure they will not throw your trash cans or will pick up the trash that’s not inside a closed can? Probably.