The word "tip" is not an acronym. I throw in this fun fact for those who want to argue that tips shouldn't be expected. "Tip" does not stand for "to insure promptness," "to insure performance," "to insure prompt service" or any other combination of words. The word “tip” dates back several hundred years, long before acronyms became popular.
Holiday tip amounts typically reflect the frequency and duration of the service, along with your relationship to the service provider. Those who provide regular but brief service, for instance, often get $10 to $30. Examples include:
- Newspaper deliverers.
- Parking or garage attendants.
- Trash collectors (if they still load your cans by hand; if they use a mechanized arm, no tip is expected).
- Any regular delivery person, such as food, laundry, messages, etc. (Some package delivery services limit or forbid tips, so ask first.)
The range is wider for building supers ($20 to $80) and doormen ($15 to $80; if there are multiple doormen, $15 or more each is appropriate, according to the Emily Post Institute). For buildings that still employ elevator operators, a $15 to $40 tip is customary.
Holiday tips for people who provide more extended services normally equal the cost of one visit or session. If your visits are sporadic, you can tip less. If you've used the same people for years, going above the usual limit is a nice gesture, or you can consider adding a gift to the tip (since you probably know the service provider well enough to select an appropriate present). If a team of people provides the service, such as a lawn-care crew or beauty salon staff, the cash equivalent of one visit customarily is divided among them. Service providers include:
- Hairdresser or barber
- Manicurist
- Personal trainer
- Massage therapist
- Regular after-hours babysitter (not your nanny or daycare worker)
- Private tutor
- Part-time house cleaner
- The lawn-care crew
- Pool cleaner
- Pet groomer
- Dog walker
- Housesitter
People who provide intensive personal services deserve special consideration. These folks include nannies, live-in or full-time help, nursing home employees, private nurses and home health workers. But tipping can be tricky.
Cash tips often aren't appropriate, and may even be forbidden, in many health care positions, the Emily Post Institute warns. A thoughtful gift may be a better fit for a private nurse; a present that can be shared, such as fruit or flowers, might be suitable for nursing home employees. If home health workers are employed by an agency, check there to find out if tips or gifts are allowed.
With other service providers, a generous tip is customary. Nannies and others employed more than a couple of days a week are usually tipped the equivalent of one week's pay, although the amount can grow larger the longer the employee's tenure. Nannies and baby sitters also typically receive a small gift from their charges.
If your children are tended by a daycare center, ask the director about appropriate tips; accepted amounts can range from $25 to $70, plus a small gift from each child.
Navigating the holidays without cratering your budget isn't easy. But acknowledging the people who make our lives function more smoothly is a worthy task. If you can't be as generous as you'd like to be with cash or gifts, you can still be generous with your praise and thanks.
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Liz Weston is the Web's most-read personal-finance writer. She is the author of several books, most recently "The 10 Commandments of Money: Survive and Thrive in the New Economy" (find it on Bing). Weston's award-winning columns appear every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. Join the conversation and send in your financial questions on Liz Weston's Facebook fan page.
