Absolutley nobody. I pay taxes on the money I earn, and very few people claim their tips on their taxes and if they do, they only claim a small portion of it. I think people tip way too often for crazy things. The paper boy. The milk man. The hair dresser. The dog groomer. All people who chose to go into their jobs knowing the income they're making. They're doing a service. Just like the clerk in the grocery store. The truck driver who brings good to the grocery store. The warehouse person who puts the goods into the truck that gets to the grocery store.... I could go on.

Why do people tip? Instead of giving people tips who already earn a living, why not give the money to a charity instead? Why not use that money to buy food and deliver it to the nearest food bank? Or buy toys for under privileged children. Give your money to those who truly need and to people who will appreciate it.

This is the only kind of Christmas giving Hubs & I do. The family is so large with grand & great grand kids. I prefer to remember each family members birthdays throughout the year. We tip or what we call gift, to the guy in our building who cleans off and moves our car for plowing after a snow storm, the people who deliver our paper, the carryout lady at our grocery store (she always goes the extra effort for me) and this year, I'll give some extra in the envelope for the lady who comes in once a month to clean. I'll also do some baking to take to our car guy, who always goes the measure for us.

No one. No one does things for me at Christmas time outside of the family.

Sue

My dog groomer and my mail man. Just wondering, Debby, do you tip when you go out to eat? Because those people truly don't make a living wage and rely on tips for their livlihood.

I don't have a regular hairdresser, otherwise I would tip that person, too. I clean my own house, wish I didn't, but I would tip that person too.

Nail Salon - tech who does manicure and pedicure, and woman who does massages.
Hair salon - woman who does my hair.
Newspaper delivery person - had a lot of problems with late or missing deliveries, papers thrown in puddles, etc. They were let go, and new person who has the job is great - deserves a tip in recognition.

I would never tip/gift our mailman. He's a government employee, very well paid and not legally allowed to accept.

We tip when we eat out.. Most of the time we get great service... I tip my hairdresser, too. If I have a large grocery order and get help with taking it out I will tip.

I do gift my mailman, hairdresser and a few wonderful neighbors that help when help is needed.. When my hubby is gone my neighbors take good care of me...

My hairdresser/manicurist, tho I usually give her a gift card or a gift, have done so for 23 years! We don't 'tip' anyone else but we do give them small gifts. The mailman, trash men, plowguy, valet at the club, the folks that perform a service for us all year, get a box of candy or bottle of something.... My cleaning lady usually gets cash, but she mentioned a couple of things she wants so she is getting a really nice food processor.

My DH is not overly generous....feels the same as some of you about the mailman. He's a government employee and gets paid very well with great benefits. He does tip the garbage men. We pay extra for them to come down the driveway and we have a very, very steep driveway. They bring a special truck when they come to our house....not the great big one. It's a privately owned company....and of course, there's the debate over the hairdresser. I'm thinking of it more as a gift than a tip.

Only 2. Our newspaper person, she has done it for years and does a great job esp since I had newspaper people who were HORRIBLE before that. And the garbage men (2 guys). Frankly they have an awful job but I'm glad they do it because I wouldn't want to. And the first year I gave the guy an envelope, before he looked in it, he shook my hand and had such gratitude I thought he was going to cry (seriously).

When I lived in Hawaii, for some reason, (??) it was tradition to leave the garbagemen a case of beer by the curb. Everyone did it? That was about 30 years ago-Seems so weird and sterotypical now!

The mailman the garbage men, drop off candy at the post office for the gals leave some boxes of candy for the staff at my local Golden Corral the day of their Christmms party.
My family doesn't exchange Christmas gifts anymore so it the least I can do

I do tip the usual 20% when we eat out. Sometimes it's more if we've had extraordinary service. If I stop at the local coffee shop for breakfast and my meal is less than $10.00 I leave double the tip. It just seems awfully cheap to leave $2.00 for a breakfast.

Postal Carriers are permitted to accept non-cash gifts with a value of less than $20.00. I still don't tip mine. They do make a decent wage.

I tip when we eat out, of course. The time or two I get a haircut, I will tip about 15-20% - but I go to the Super-cut or whatever, so that's about $2 at the most.

No doorman, concierge, paper boy. I won't tip the trash collectors or the letter carrier.

I will give a generous tip to the woman who cleans our house. I think she works incredibly hard, is always cheerful and willing to pitch in with extra jobs. But no gift cards or gifts. I will hand her a platter of cookies for her family, with a Christmas card which will have a cash present in it.

sleeperblues servers in Alberta make good money. They don't rely on tips. Some make more than I do before tips. And yes, I tip for good service. Only because I feel guilted into it. I refused, however, to tip the pizza delivery guy last week, who was on his cell phone while delivering my pizza. He was speaking a foreign language the whole time and didn't acknowledge me once. I filed a complaint with his head office. I was a server when I was 17 years old. I always appreciated the tips, but I never once expected tips. I honestly think they should be outlawed and that employers should pay their staff better.

1. Wait staff in resturants

2. Paper deliverer (once a year with renewal)

3. Barber

4. Trash pickup (Christmas only)

Do you tip people who pick up your trash who work for the city? You all know how much money they make, right? A lot. And they have excellent benefits (my nieces husband is a city employee).

I won't be tipping anyone this year for Christmas

1. POSTAL Carrier: I did gift something special to Donna who was our only carrier for 20 years. Since she retired last year the rural route I live on now has at least 4 different carriers each week and the mail is delivered more often wrong than right. Tip? I don't think so!

2. TRASH: can pickup man makes $5.35 per hr more and the driver of the truck makes $9.50 more per hr. than I. They also have better benefits. Often I have to chase down the rd for my trash can because it has been tossed down and rolls away down the hill. Tip? I don't think so!

3. HOUSE STAFF/Helpers: YES How much depends on what I can afford a Christmas bonus and a B-day gift. These are people who have been my extra hands for years.

4. STYLIST/manicurist: I tipped each service, so No to holiday tip. I don't have salon services often. My hair nails and such I do myself or we friends and daughters have "gals night" where we help each other, have snacks & drinks and talk, watch movies or whatever. More fun than a night at a bar or the movies.

5. PAPER DELIVERY PERSON: Yes I had a young man for years who delivered regular and everyday. I gave him a nice gift of cash $20-$25 for the Holidays. He had the paper to my front door everyday on time and made sure it would be dry if it rained. When he graduated and moved on a man and wife took over. I got tired of paying for a newspaper and not getting it delivered or wet, tattered, having to search the bushes for it when it was. So now when I want one I go to the store and pick one up. Tip? I don't think so!

When someone does regular services for me or goes beyond the expected I try to gift as generously as possible.

For many of us the budget this year is slim to say the least.

debby_ab said she tipped "because I feel guilted into it."
I can understand that sentiment. I have tipped a bad server because I felt guilted into it by the folks I was with. NO MORE, NEVER AGAIN The next time I got a bad server the tip consisted of a pamphlet of "hints and tips" How to Serve Better & Receive a Generous Tip from a Past Server.

When you feel that the person deserves a bit of extra, you have the funds available and it feels good to give then by all means do. In these harder times right now don't feel you have to "Holiday tip" because it is customary or others do.

Happy Holidays

LIL

I didn't notice my name on your tip lists... that was an oversight, right? :D

Standing ovation for liljunkr. Well said!

I don't really have any special services that would get a "gift tip" now. Whenever I eat out I've always been very good about tipping generously when I receive very good to outstanding service. I don't give obligatory good tips for bad service. That's like rewarding the spoiled child or rewarding the dog when they do something they know is wrong.

The last couple years I've been hiring people to help with things like mowing, yard work and such. I pay them well at the time if they went out of their way to do a good job.

Things have changed a lot for me over the years. I now use pay-at-the-pump for gas so I don't even go in anymore. Used to see a regular cashier and would occasionally drop a couple dollars and say thanks and have a Merry Christmas or something like that.

Things like UPS/FedEx driver, vary. Some are great, some are awful. Nope. No tip then.

Having been a paper carrier I know that's not an easy job. People think that 50â newspaper is solid gold and although the vast majority of customers are good people, there's always a few trying to make it miserable for the carriers. The problem there too is the high turnover on carriers. During the holidays often there's someone new who won't last. In fact, often there's a substitute so many of them get the tips intended for the ones who do the hard work the bulk of the year. Tough call then.

Although if I had people doing special favors for me, examples like Dotmom gave, I'd give some sort of a gift to them to show appreciation. I just object to the expectations so many have when they shouldn't. You can cover me in gas and light me on fire in Time's Square before I'll tip a postal carrier... What next, tip the telemarketer?

I am one of those people who should get tipped, but don't.

I clean two houses and an office building. One house has 2 men living in it - a man and his dad. His dad gets up at night and has accidents so he smears the bathroom with them. You would be surprised the places I have cleaned s&*% from. I make two trips to the house that used to take one and both trips I end up washing floors because they also added a slobbering dog this past year. They think they should have another to keep it company. I let them know that's not going to happen or I will leave.
The lady of the house owns a business. I will probably get something from the dollar store. Truthfully, I would rather get nothing.

2nd place belongs to my neighbor. She has 3 large hairy dogs that get groomed once a year. A hubby at home who is a younger man that supposedly works from home. I took my time before T-Giving to make sure her place was ready for company. Christmas week I will do the same.

I feel since I go above and beyond what is expected I should get tipped.
Didn't get anything from 3 dog lady last year. Nada..

The office building is having hard times. Last year an (ex) employee stole my money before black Friday. I hope she enjoyed it. The business replaced my money and then tipped me at Christmas another pay. You know which job I will keep as long as I am able?? Last year I found out that they didn't tip the full time employees. I felt blessed.

Who do I tip? Paper delivery, Mail lady who goes out of her way to bring small packages to the door. I will tip my horse trainer (which is why I keep the cleaning jobs) because she is going through a rough time and between jobs.
20% to the waiter or waitress on a rare trip out to eat.

I tip because I know how much it means to be appreciated.

The only tipping we do is to the watress who waits on us when we go out to eat.

We have no one else to tip.

We don't take the paper.

I don't have my hair done...I've always cut and fixed and now color my own hair.

We have a couple of friends who many times come over to help with chores around the house...my husband always takes them out for lunch or supper when they do things. they don't like getting paid for what they do.

Extra tips at Christmas time are Christmas gifts in my opinion. I pretty much limit my Christmas gift giving to my family with a couple exceptions. In the last few years I have started giving a cash gift to the person who cleans my house. She is just a delightful person, I've known her for about 15 years and I really, really appreciate what she does. I've also sent a gift card to my pet sitter a couple times because she's gone above and beyond the call of duty on some things and I've also known her for over 15 years. I also think I have the perception that the service they provide is a "good value" and that they have "earned" something more. My hairdresser(s) on the other hand are very expensive in my opinion and I think I'm already paying them enough. Likewise the garbage - it's expensive and the guy who actually comes to my house spends 15 seconds there once a week generally to dump one average sized can into the truck. I don't think that warrants a Christmas gift - especially since I've never met the guy.