I'm with you 4kids. I have never understood adding the tip in small change, I will just leave an even amount in dollars. I have sometimes left a rounded up amount in bills, which would be the same thing, leaving the wait staff with change in the end. But the main thing for me is making sure the tip is fair or more so if the service is good.

Okay I have a stupid question. If tips are included with the credit card, then the tips are added up at the end of the night and the server get his/her total. So, maybe some change, but not change from each individual transaction.

Or am I missing something?

We usually give twenty percent. And now that I am thinking about this, it usually isn't an even number.

I don't like that your friend made it even and it short changed the server. I think the server would not mind the change if it meant the tip was twenty percent.

Eld, I realize that, but seems like a lot of needless math.

First of all, I admit I round for selfish reasons, none of which include an intention to offend or insult. And the reason is:. When I'm reconciling (more like scanning) my cc bills, it is so much easier to mentally work with whole numbers. Of course, there are charges from stores that are in uneven numbers so the mental math process is not as smooth as I'd hope. If bill is 23.12, 15% tip included, I always round up in this case $24.

you asked, I replied.

PS:. I also do this at gas station. If pump stops at 59.60, I'll push it til it hits $60. Just An idiosyncrasy.

If you're paying by card, why would you add a tip so that the total is an even amount? It's not like you have a bunch of small change to get rid of. The amount is just representational.

When I go out with friends, we toss in our own credit cards, divide the amount equally, and then EACH add 20% tip, rounded UP to the nearest dollar.

If I pay with a credit card I just add 20% on the tip line and it doesn't matter to me if the total is an even number or not.

Bossy, see that's what I was wondering...i wondered if it's a quirky numbers thing and there is some specific reason for it like you suggest, but then I thought exactly what you said, that not all charges on one's statement will have an exact dollar amount. It just always seemed odd to me to give a waitress pennies as part of a tip. And yes, as pointed out above, when all tips are added, those pennies will get added together, but just so much easier on staff not to have to work out all that math. So I thought that maybe some people had never actually thought about it that way when tipping on a credit card. If I tip in cash, I never leave all the change unless it's quarters, and maybe a dime. In fact, if I have enough coins, I pay the bill including the change then leave dollars as tip, and maybe quarters if the tip is on a small tab.

Seems to me not liking tipping in loose change is just personal preference for givers AWA for recipients. DH hates change and I gobble it all, put it in my piggy and in no time make a $50 deposit into my Acct. His distaste, my gain. One server will hate pennies and another will not mind.

I guess it is a fun mental exercise for some. After two glass of wine, it's a challenge.

I'm not sure about restaurants, but at the salon-spa I go to tips added to debit or credit purchases are included in the employees pay deposit. I always add a percentage on my card, and it doesn't matter if it's an odd or uneven number because they're tallied in the computer system and paid out bi-weekly. I do the same at restaurants (add a percentage) and never really thought about it.

I think after two glasses of wine it's way more fun.

If tips are included with the credit card, then the tips are added up at the end of the night and the server get his/her total. So, maybe some change, but not change from each individual transaction.

You are correct. The server isn't handed the cash for the tip with each transaction. It is totaled at the end of the shift.

I know it gets totaled at the end of the shift/night, but it just seems like unnecessary work to total up all the "change" although perhaps nowadays it's all computerized. I suppose I could understand wanting to give an exact percentage of the bill (like a 15 or 20% tip) but just calculating the tip so that the credit card charge is exactly on the dollar is what I find funny. Obviously not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I just wondered what the thought process is for people who tip that way. For me personally, I can't be bothered to figure out what is roughly 20% and then round up to the dollar. So when I calculated today, I knew it was approx $4.80 for a 20% tip so added $5 to the tip line.

I do some traveling for business and always add the tip to make the check an even amount. It makes filling out expense reports easier.

Like Deeinohion said, it's easier for the accountant if charges are in whole dollars.

This wasnt for business just a group of friends getting together. I'll have to ask dh...he travels frequently for business but fills out his own expense requests. He doesn't tip that way for pleasure, but maybe he does for work? It certainly makes sense so perhaps for these women today it is a work related habit.

I often figure the tip and then round up so the total is an even number. I like round numbers ad the math isn't hard. But sometimes the tip will be the even figure. Just depends on my mood I guess.

My son has been waiting tables this summer. They total out each day, but his pay is by auto-deposit into his bank account. He never gets pennnies, so the credit card amounts don't really matter -- at least in terms of weighing down his pockets. In fact, most transactions are by credit card and most people paying by cash round off. Most folks don't want to deal with the change themselves and it isn't really significant on a $20-30 lunch or a $35-50 dinner tab. At the end of the day, the restaurant rounds on any cash totals, so the server gets whole dollars. One day may be a few cents more and another a few cents less, but it works out easier for everyone.

One day, my son had one woman at a table fo 6 or 8 who paid cash and insisted on exact change. None of the servers had change. The desks where they ring out didn't have any change. He went to the bar and found out they didn't have any loose change. Next would have been locating the manager and having him go to the back and open the safe and open at least two, probably three rolls of coins for 48 cents, but a friend of one of the other servers was eating at the bar and spotted him two quarters. The woman got an extra 8 cents so he didn't have to keep her waiting while the rest of her table was leaving. And then she gave him a lousy tip. Over 48 cents. He carries quarters in his pocket now, but that's been the only time he's had that issue -- so I guess that, at least among the cash paying guests, the vast majority do round.

but it just seems like unnecessary work to total up all the "change" although perhaps nowadays it's all computerized.

Of course it is.

The size of the tip matters most, not its composition per se. It's almost always computerized. And a reminder, if you happen to have an inexpensive meal somewhere, really rethink (or discard altogether) the tip formula and think about the absolute value. For example, I order in a vegetarian lunch when I am at my office and it is $9.52. I used to try to make it a bigger bill by adding a drink to it, but my office provides a huge range of drinks, and I prefer spring water anyway. I don't need or want anything else. But this is a delivery order in midtown Manhattan. I can't imagine tipping the guy $2 for his time and effort at his busiest time of day. I tip a little over $5 so the bill is $15 (there is no cash involved). It's a big percentage, but it is surely worth it to me to pay someone ~$5 to get me my lunch when I'm busy. It's probably still a measly tip vs other orders (most midtown lunch orders are group orders but no one else likes this place as much as me).

I do round up whether it is cash or credit. It looks neater. In fact I usually round up to the nearest $5. It's almost a compunction

I was a waitress while in college.....and loved it....working with other young people. This was way back when no one had computers and almost everyone paid in cash. Our tips went into our apron pockets, and we took it home with us when our shift ended. It was great because we got paid every day!

I tip in even dollar amounts. I'm not quick enough to figure out how much is needed in change to make the final amount an overall even number. I'd be using my fingers under the table to count. LOL

grapefruit, I have fond memories of my waitress days in college, too. My restaurant was a favorite in what was once a very busy resort community and we worked like little demons but had a blast.

I always tip in whole dollars and tend to round up. Never top off the tank. When it clicks off, I'm done.

Well, having been on the receiving end of those tips, in college...most people don't like to do math. Many of us used the change to do laundry or tip out bus boys (bus people would be more accurate) and ride the bus, etc.

It was always a big joke that servers could make change for a $20 after work...all in $1 bills : )

Before computers started keeping track of everything, you were supposed to check your credit card statement and make sure it added up, every month. MUCH easier to do with rounding up to the nearest dollar.

Now, it's probably just habit. My mom still does it with her checks. (She still uses paper checks....as do I, occasionally.)

ETA: My nephew says now all the tips are recorded on the computer and you get cash at the end of the night. You're supposed to enter your cash tip totals, too. IRS can be brutal, if you don't keep track of tips, so that's one reason they do it.

Seriously... I don't worry about it. I try to tip in cash, but I don't always have cash. If they get extra, that's cool, and I'm not going to worry about it, and most of them deserve the extra.

Enlightening conversation, thanks for all the answers! My daughter gets tips working at an ice cream shop window, but she takes hers home at the end of every shift. She does get a lot of change, b/c with it being a tip jar (I know, I know, I hate them too), people tend to just drop their change right into the jar. So she gets a lot of coins. Fortunately, our bank has a machine that she just drops it all in and it goes right into her savings account.

On a different note, related to the other tipping post, unbeknownst to me when she took the job, her tips are actually figured into her hourly wage. She has a base wage which I think is minimum wage, but then the company guarantees them something like $1.00 more per hour (actually, I think it's less than that). BUT, they first take the difference b/w minimum wage and the guaranteed wage out of their tips, then any tips above and beyond that they keep as tips. Using hypothetical numbers, if she makes $7.50/hr with a guarantee of $8.00 and gets $2 in tips the entire night, the first 50 cents is added to her wages, then she gets to keep the extra $1.50 as a tip. If she gets no tips, then the company will just pay her the guaranteed $8 rate. I had never ever heard of this before. So at the end of her shift, she has to notate for the shop the amount of tips she earns all night, then brings home that cash, but then her paycheck subtracts the difference, if that makes sense. Probably not explaining clearly. I don't know if this is common practice nowadays but I have not heard of any other place around here that does that, and this is a franchised company, not a stand alone ice cream shop.

Serving is not an easy job. We always tip in cash and almost always 20 percent rounded up to the next dollar.

Another tipping question.

You tip on the total after tax? That's what I do as I don't want to appear cheap. :/

I make the tip an even number. Sometimes DH will make the bill even, but we're sure to go over the correct and appropriate tip amount. If we pay with card we typically put the tip on the card. I don't know how it's done anymore, but back in my waitress days, if left on a card we were handed the cash (from the register) and had to sign each receipt to acknowledge we got it.

Tips are supposed to be reported on your income tax. Before everything was computerized you could pay the total with the credit card and the tip as cash and the server would keep the tip and not report it. The IRS has cracked the whip on this.

I tip on the total. And that includes what the bill would have been before any adjustments, promos or coupons when those apply. Given the rounding that most folks do (on the tip or the total) the difference is one to two percent. If in doubt, round up.

I also tip on what the bill would have been before adjustments as above. I don't however, pay tip on the tax. Most people around here refuse to do so.

I tip on the total and at least do 20%, more if warranted. For example yesterday DH and I went for late lunch/ early dinner. We had 10 dollars off ( Local place we go to often that sends random money off or free apps). I had a lunch special salad with side of fruit. He had buffalo wings. About 20 bucks. We each had a drink. Another 11 bucks. So let's say 33 with tax before the discount. We put the bill on a credit card and a 10 in cash for tip. Another pet peeveof mine is those who don't tip on drinks. A waitress tips out to bartenders, I don't care if it is just a beer or wine and no mixing, I think 20% on decent service and up. 15 if it was disappointing and a discussion with manager if something was horrible.

Well, I was one of those who rounded up the total bill to an even number (for example, if the bill was $33.45, I signed the credit card slip to reflect a total charge of $40.00). But after reading this thread earlier in the week, I changed my method. Today my bill was $XX.75, and I signed the credit card slip for $XX.75 plus $5.00. Happy now? :)

I don't necessarily include the tax when figuring the tip as I have always heard that you only tip on the total of the food/beverages. However, since i usually just estimate the 20% and then round up to nearest dollar, for smaller tabs, it sometimes may appear as if I'm including tax when I figure the tip. I actually thought of this thread just the other night. I was in Boston with my oldest doing some college touring and went to a restaurant in the North End. When the bill came, I forget how it was worded, but there was a "sample" 20% tip indicated. It was based only on the food/bev total, and did not include the tax for their suggested tip.

I have seen tabs with precalculated tips -- usually at least 15-18%, 20% and 25%. I find it crazy that people can't figure tips -- even with a calculator on their phone.

I learned something I'd never heard before -- in addition to tip-out or tip share where a percentage of the tab goes to the kitchen staff, expo/bus staff, the bar and even the host or hostess, the credit card service charge comes out of the tip paid to servers where my son works. When a table of 6 or 8 get separate checks, they get hit with 6 or 8 transactions fees. A 20% tip may or may not reach 15% to your server. I don't agree with that practice, but can't change it. Does the kitchen get charged for the food and the utilities? Sheesh.