Who did you tip this year? Who did you leave out?

[CJ2008]

-Gave a little something ($15 to the regulars and one girl I don't see too often $10) to the coffee shop girls in a card. I snuck an extra $5 to the one girl I really like. I gave it to her in her hands because I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings since I always give everyone the same but it was really what I felt like doing. Some of the girls I see only on weekends and rarely take care of me I didn't give them anything.

-I plan on sending $20 to our pet sitter.

-I gave a $5 tip to the pizza delivery kid from Domino's last night even though he was really late and the pizza was cold. This kid looked like he couldn't have been more than 17 or 18. And I didn't mention anything about him being late. I figured that was also a little gift since he was probably expecting a complaint.

-I do not plan on tipping extra for my hairdresser (I tip her 20% each visit).

-My manicurist, if I see her soon, I will probably give her a little more than I usually do, because I really like her. So like instead of $8 (about 20%) I might give her $10.

These amounts are just what feels comfortable for me, even though I know they are not super generous.

Who did you tip?
Did you leave anyone out or give anyone extra because of how you feel about them personally? Or did you tip regardless, because it's the "right" thing to do?

 

[missy]

CJ good question. I usually tip because I want to and not because I have to but I guess there is a bit of each involved since I do feel we need to tip certain people regardless of whether I want to or not...We have tipped so far the following people.

Our NYC apartment building staff of 9 including super, maintenance men and doormen. They each get b/w $50-100 depending. It is costly. I have been doing this since I moved to this full service building in 1995. Don't want to think about the total cash in tips I have given out since then lol.

Our 4 garage attendants who each get $40-50.

Our mailman at the beach whom we give $40.

Our cleaning woman in NYC. I give her a day's pay. We don't tip the beach cleaning crew because we only use them during the spring/summer and fall and they charge 2.5 times what we are paying the NYC woman. Ridiculous amount of money and since they are more than fairly compensated and since we don't use them all year I am OK with not tipping them. So this is a case where I don't tip because I don't want to and don't feel obligated to tip.

That's it. I only see my hairdresser 3 times a year or so and he is the owner and I never tip him. He charges a lot so I feel he is well compensated by me.

We always tip take out or waitstaff at restaurants. About 25% is what we give depending on the level of service.

I don't have a manicurist or any other extra service people in my life. I am a pretty basic individual that way.

Not sure if I left anyone out but that is all I can think of right now.

 

[CJ2008]

Thanks for participating missy!

*I* don't want to think about how much that adds up to for you. But that is very nice of you guys and I am so glad you're able to do it.

We tip our Friday pizza night takeout place $3 every time which amounts to about 10%. Sometimes during the week if we go for something small - like a chicken parm - we'll give $2 which is more like 20%.

For waiters/waitresses at sit down restaurants though, definitely 20%, sometimes more if we really like them - like for example, I have a soft spot for older people working in diners - or if they do anything extra nice or generous.

 

[sgirl]

I tipped my house cleaners and gifted gift cards to all my kids teachers but that was it this yr. I may tip the trash men if they come today. I will miss them tomorrow.

 

[Queenie60]

My housekeeper, nail person, hair dresser, lady who waxes my brows and my gardener! Well deserved by all of them.

 

[jaysonsmom]

My cleaning ladies, my gardener, my kids’ piano and drum teachers.

 

[luv2sparkle]

I didn't tip anyone except restaurant staff. My daughter does my hair-I pay her but don't tip her. She comes from AZ to do her clients every few weeks and I spend the week babysitting for 12 hour days for her, not to mention all the ways we help the kids. I didn't see anyone else too tip.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I tipped a plummer. WOT you say?

Not my plummer, but the young fella who comes to help my Mother. He always under chargers her and vacuums her house and moves her furniture, etc etc. No kidding. He likes to help "elderly" folks (he says that to my Mom and we LOL). I happened to be there when he came for "toilet" duty (Saturday and long weekend no less) and when I paid his bill, I was embarrassed to see the (low) sum. As I paid in cash, I gave him a Benjamin for his wonderful service. I just love the guy--he is worth his weight in gold.

cheers--Sharon

 

[marcy]

I tipped our 2 cleaning ladies.

 

[Elizabeth35]

We tip our mail carrier and our UPS deliverer--they take good care of us.
I give my hairdresser tip equaling my cut/color-she is the owner but, again, she takes care of me and my hair.
Pizza guy gets $5 min. Per delivery which is 20+%.
Manicurist I tip 30% per visit. Don't do annual tip as I see multiple people during the year.
Newspaper delivery person gets $20 (we only get Sunday paper).
Do not tip our driveway plower but he does our commercial property as well and is well compensated.
I am the cleaning lady and my tip is one extra vacation per year with the $ we save (probably $150/week) Totally worth it!

 

[t-c]

Our NYC apartment building staff of 9 including super, maintenance men and doormen. They each get b/w $50-100 depending. It is costly. I have been doing this since I moved to this full service building in 1995. Don't want to think about the total cash in tips I have given out since then lol.

Thanks, @missy Tipping is like salaries around here — no one wants to get into specifics. How much to tip is always a big issue so this is good to know.

I’m in a full-service doorman building so this year we gave $250-350 each to building staff (9 people); about 3 days’ pay to our cleaning lady; $100 to stylist, $20 to shampooer, $5 to coat check; $5-10/day to hotel maid service; standard 20% at restaurants; 15% for delivery (more if the weather is inclement). 10-20% for taxi/car service, which I avoid using. End of the year can get expensive.

 

[kenny]

Besides restaurants, I can't think of a single other service I've purchased in 2017 that anyone would tip for.

Let's see, what did I spend money on in 2017 ... and did I tip?
Paying for groceries?
Paying for gas?
Buying a new car?
Paying my utility bills or mortgage?
Buying some tools at Home Depot?
Pet supplies?
Guitar strings?

All the usual stuff that anyone tips for, I do myself.
No servants.
Live in a single family house, so there is no building staff.
No cook.
No manicurist.
I'd never trust anyone to 'sit' my pets.
No masseuse.
Never use a taxi/uber.
No landscape person.
Wash my own car.
No tailor.
Nobody waxes anything on my body.
No valet parking, actually never in my life.
In 2017 I've seen maybe 20 mail carriers deliver to our house so it seems absurd to tip the one who happens to deliver mail on Dec 24.
I cut my, and our dogs', hair.

I guess I'm just not good for the economy.

 

[TooPatient]

Besides restaurants, I can't think of a single other service I've purchased in 2017 that anyone would tip for.

Let's see, what did I spend money on in 2017 ... and did I tip?
Paying for groceries?
Paying for gas?
Buying a new car?
Paying my utility bills or mortgage?
Buying some tools at Home Depot?
Pet supplies?
Guitar strings?

All the usual stuff that anyone tips for, I do myself.
No servants.
Live in a single family house, so there is no building staff.
No cook.
No manicurist.
I'd never trust anyone to 'sit' my pets.
No masseuse.
Never use a taxi/uber.
No landscape person.
Wash my own car.
No tailor.
Nobody waxes anything on my body.
No valet parking, actually never in my life.
In 2017 I've seen maybe 20 mail carriers deliver to our house so it seems absurd to tip the one who happens to deliver mail on Dec 24.
I cut my, and our dogs', hair.

I guess I'm just not good for the economy.

You aren't alone, Kenny. Except for getting my nails done twice and my hair cut once, everything else is the same as you. We do most everything ourselves. I cut DH's hair and would do mine if I could see out of my other eye well enough to manage.

Hair cut: I tipped at the time of service $30 on a $70 visit as she went above and beyond.

Full set of nails: tipped $25 on $60 visit because of great service and beautiful results.

Remove set & add do standard polish: tipped $20 on $35 visit as it was the same person as before and the set had been even better than anticipated. Great service again and beautiful results.

 

[Ally T]

I gave a Christmas card to the window cleaner. Does that count?

 

[FinleysMom]

I leave a tip in hotel rooms. Housekeeping has to be a lousy job esp when dealing with slobs and messes. I actually pick up after myself before I check out. Not a big deal and hopefully makes their day more pleasant.

I Tip my hairdresser 20% each time for any service. I hand it to her in cash vs. adding it to the bill. I do hate it when another hairdresser is hanging around the checkout desk when we are settling the bill. Drives me nuts. Why would anyone hover during a transaction? My gal is ALWAYS apppreciative and thanks me.

Otherwise, and besides wait staff in a restaurant, I don’t tip. As articulated by a previous post.

FM

 

[missy]

Thanks, @missy Tipping is like salaries around here — no one wants to get into specifics. How much to tip is always a big issue so this is good to know.

I’m in a full-service doorman building so this year we gave $250-350 each to building staff (9 people); about 3 days’ pay to our cleaning lady; $100 to stylist, $20 to shampooer, $5 to coat check; $5-10/day to hotel maid service; standard 20% at restaurants; 15% for delivery (more if the weather is inclement). 10-20% for taxi/car service, which I avoid using. End of the year can get expensive.

You're very welcome t-c and I know. Tipping can be top secret but if I can help people by sharing I am happy to and the staff all seems pretty happy with what we give them every year. The thing is, which perhaps I should have mentioned but it didn't cross my mind at the time I was posting before, is our building staff already gets a bonus from us, the shareholders,(we live in a Co-op) so we are actually tipping twice every Christmas. The shareholders all contribute based on the number of shares we own in the building towards the staffs bonus and each staff member gets 2 weeks extra salary at Christmas time. Over their normal raises etc. Yes we are actually tipping twice. Nuts I know but it's just what many of the shareholders here do and I appreciate our doormen and super and maintenance men and that is why we tip in addition to the holiday bonus we already contribute to every year. And that is why I am good with the amount we give as well and that amount hasn't changed very much since I first moved here.

As for the mail person we know him and see him when we are at our beach house @kenny but I agree with what you wrote above. If we didn't know him or see him we wouldn't tip him. In our apartment building we don't know the mail person/mail people so we don't tip that person/people. But it's a different story at the beach house. Again mainly we tip because we *want to* and not because we have to. Mainly.

Generally if we see someone often and they provide a helpful service to us we tip at the end of the year. The doormen and maintenance men and super who serve us every single day don't accept tips throughout the year and so I am happy to provide them with a small cash gift as a token of my appreciation in addition to their bonus which we are already contributing to. It is the price we pay for a full service building. I love having a staff here who accepts all of my packages and someone who is there if I need them at all times of day. It is a luxury and I am more than happy to show my appreciation with cash. Money talks and everyone could use money.


If I am seeing someone less often and already compensating them more than what I consider is a fair amount I am good not to tip at the holidays. That is just how I feel and you may or may not agree. That is OK. Tipping isn't mandatory under most circumstances and we each do what we feel is right or best.

If someone goes above and beyond to help me out I appreciate that and that is another circumstance I happily tip. At the time of that service though and I don't wait for the holidays.

I remember (and this is a funny story) when I was in my twenties and I had an emergency patient come in with a foreign body in his eye. I took him right in to the exam room as I was free at the time and removed the fb from his eye. This gentleman was so grateful he tried to give me a $100 cash tip. This was in the early 1990s. LOL I was shocked and dismayed and horrified. I mean we don't get tips in my profession and it is my job to serve my patients even and especially the emergency patients. I refused the tip so he gave it to my staff and they ordered lunch for everyone that day. It was funny and it was my first and only experience with someone wanting to tip me.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

I tip people who provide services for me when they provide the service. Aesthetician, hair stylist, nail stylist, masseuse, restaurant/bar staff. I do not tip public employees (I am one, we're not allowed to accept them) and I don't have any other service staff (garage, house cleaner) that I would tip. It's business as usual.

 

[Tekate]

tipped the sunday paper delivery lady 25.00$ tipped my stylist a little more additional 25.00$ I always tip her 25%, post lady refuses tip. Always tip wait staff more around Christmas if we are out, it's hectic. No lawn guy, no cleaning lady (yet )

 

[PintoBean]

I tipped my reflexologist - she's got her own practice and i usually don't tip. I also prepay for bundles of 6 sessions at a time. I tipped her for a session in a holiday card. I go to her every 4-5 weeks regularly.

I also tipped my new cleaning lady. Normally I'd give a session's pay but this was only going to be her second cleaning session with me, so I gave her a holiday card with half a session's pay.

 

[anne_h]

I do not use personal services regularly, but do give tips when I do (at point of service, not at holiday time).

Like some of you, I also live in a (small) co-op. We have a live-in maintenance person who is provided with a rent-free 2 bedroom unit. I did not give him a tip, but did give him & his family a small gift. It never even occurred to me that some may tip, until I saw this thread.

Anne

 

[CJ2008]

I'd never trust anyone to 'sit' my pets.

I know. This is always super hard. I love our pet sitter though, and I do trust her. BUT I never have that 100% trust feeling with anybody. I always "know" that people can have many sides to them.

How does your SO compare to you? Does he have any "service" people? Or is he like you doing everything himself?

 

[CJ2008]

no cleaning lady (yet )

hehe I know right me too!

I've only had a cleaning lady like once or twice in my life and it was nice (although I always have that feeling I could have done a better job - but I imagine that goes away when on a week to week basis your house just looks better in general because someone is DEFINITELY cleaning every week where sometimes life gets in the way and you don't do everything you want to do).

Anyway I remember smelling bleach while I was on the computer it was awesome LOL

 

[CJ2008]

I sent $20 to my pet sitter in a Christmas card. She sent me a really nice email to say thank you. She sounded super grateful. She really is a nice person.

 

[737liz]

I don't live in a tipping culture. We gave 2 hours pay to our long suffering cleaning lady (50 bucks), and when I see our buildings concierge maintenance guy, he will get a box of chocolates. And in a similar vein, even though it has nothing to do with tipping or the holidays, I give more to buskers and homeless organisations when it is very cold. I don't have a very luxurious lifestyle, as I am super stingy; cut my own hair, paint one nail once a month... all so that I can spend more on my rock collection!

 

[t-c]

You're very welcome t-c and I know. Tipping can be top secret but if I can help people by sharing I am happy to and the staff all seems pretty happy with what we give them every year. The thing is, which perhaps I should have mentioned but it didn't cross my mind at the time I was posting before, is our building staff already gets a bonus from us, the shareholders,(we live in a Co-op) so we are actually tipping twice every Christmas. The shareholders all contribute based on the number of shares we own in the building towards the staffs bonus and each staff member gets 2 weeks extra salary at Christmas time. Over their normal raises etc. Yes we are actually tipping twice. Nuts I know but it's just what many of the shareholders here do and I appreciate our doormen and super and maintenance men and that is why we tip in addition to the holiday bonus we already contribute to every year. And that is why I am good with the amount we give as well and that amount hasn't changed very much since I first moved here.

Faced with working through the weekend once again, I’m currently fantasizing about having a job where I won’t have to deal with work once my day is finished. I think it would be nice to be a doorman in our building.

I do not use personal services regularly, but do give tips when I do (at point of service, not at holiday time).

Like some of you, I also live in a (small) co-op. We have a live-in maintenance person who is provided with a rent-free 2 bedroom unit. I did not give him a tip, but did give him & his family a small gift. It never even occurred to me that some may tip, until I saw this thread.

Anne

Yes, I always tip at point of service, but give extra during the holidays for those I see regularly.

Our super gets a pretty cushy deal as well. If I remember correctly, all initial buyers were assessed a fee that went towards the purchase of an apartment for the super (valued at over $800K). And his salary is pretty nice.

 

[RetroTreeGal]

@737lizakg you paint one nail once a month? Is it always the same nail or do you rotate through so that each nail gets repainted every 10 months?

 

[737liz]

@737lizakg you paint one nail once a month? Is it always the same nail or do you rotate through so that each nail gets repainted every 10 months?

It is always just my left ring finger! So one lucky nail to make all the others jealous. I am too lazy to paint more. And it is always because I want it to complement whatever ring I am favouring... I am a bad partner and only occasionally wear my diamond engagement ring. More often, it will have a colored stone ring. And even worse, I will just keep topping up over my chipped old nail polish... to create a nice thick patina of dubious aesthetic value. I have a manicurist friend who actively avoids looking at my nails when we hang out. Yep, I am definitely winning at life.

 

[RetroTreeGal]

Dubious aesthetic value! Hahahaha!!!!!! That’s awesome.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

I want to point out that the cushy job that the super has is not so cushy. He doesn't own the apartment, that is purchased really for the benefit of the residents. He is on call 24 hrs a day for emergencies, even if he has a day off. Day and night he is available to the residents.

A building is complicated to run. He is the most important member of the staff to see that everything maintenance wise is kept in tip top shape. He"s crucial to the building. And he won't have an apartment to sell on his retirement.

Annette

 

[anne_h]

Hi Smit,

Speaking only for myself, I don't feel our building's maintenance person has any sort of amazing package... but I do find it very fair. He's paid a salary, and doesn't pay rent. There are also some other aspects of the arrangement that seem to work well for everybody involved.

Totally agree this is a crucial role. And our co-op's maintenance person is great. I've been told he's been here ten years, I hope he continues to choose to stay.

Anne