Tipping Amounts
 

I was wondering if you tip the the Daily Sun Carrier for the year round delivery of your newspaper, and what amount is proper. I was thinking about $10, as they do an excellent job.

I was also thinking of tipping the P.O. mail delivery person $5, as I know they make adecent wage as they are federal employees.

All opinions, are welcomed!

I think $10 is appropriate for the newspaper deliverer. As far as the mailbox person, I don't know because I don't think they are Federal employees - I think they are just subcontractors, it's not a post office where they work, so they probably make next to nothing

$20 to both.

Z

One works for you 365 days a year and the other about 300. Perhaps you should consider $20-$25 each.

Agree, $20.00 to each of them. Both do a very good job for very little money.

$20 to each one.

In regard to the newspaper carrier who delivers 365 days a year and begins their day in what I consider the middle of the night, it looks like the posted suggestions range from 3 - 5 1/2 cents a day (fractionally less).

I appreciate being able to start the coffee and then walk out the front door and know the Daily Sun will be there (and double wrapped when it's raining or there's been a forecast of rain). I'm able to gift a bit more than the above amounts, but I know it's still not enough thanks for the service provided.

Happy Holidays to all the Carriers.

$20 or $25 to newspaper carrier would seem reasonable for their services.

Our mail carrier up north is a US Postal worker and we place a gift certificate to Dunkin Donuts in our mail box addressed to the Postal person.

The folks who sort the mail in our mail stations are sub-subcontractors. Since they have to bid on their jobs (they bid for the year, are paid by the month), they frequently end up making well below minimum wage. Federal employees are not allowed to take tips (yes, I know, postal delivery folks do but are not supposed to and can be terminated if caught).

Just do give the tip as early as possible (I do it on the day after Thanksgiving) -- it gives these people a chance to use the tips for Christmas.

Hi there! I am a long time lurker who is still living up North and many years from retirement. But I wanted to add some comments from a newspaper carrier's perspective. This is not meant to inflame or incite, just inform; I think that many people do not know how paper carriers are paid - I did not until my teen son started a paper route. Carriers are paid a very small sum for delivery (here it is 12 cents, per paper, per day, but that may vary by region). From that fee, your carrier has to buy all supplies for the route - elastics, plastic bags, envelopes, and other supplies -- these basic tools are not supplied by the newspaper. Not to mention the cost of gas and wear and tear on a car, and the fact that there are virtually no days "off". We delivered my son's papers on Thanksgiving and other holidays, and have returned home early from family vacations to be certain that papers are delivered on time.

A paper route appealed to me for my son since I am trying to instill a strong work ethic, encourage him to buy some of his "wants" (I supply the needs of course), and this was a good opportunity for him to learn about money management while he is too young for a part time job. I also had a paper route as a child and relished the experience. In my humble opinion, a paper route is a fine arrangement for a child with no expenses, but a very difficult way to make extra income as an adult.

Again, my intent is not to incite, but I thought this information would be helpful when you are considering a holiday tip for your carrier (assuming that you are happy with the service). They are very much appreciated! Thanks for the soapbox, and I wish you all Happy Holidays!

Newspapers come to your driveway 52 weeks a year so a $1 a week seems appropriate.

Question: If a cleaning service company cleans your home on an occasional basis, and you pay the cleaning company directly, is it appropriate to tip the girls each time? (It might be a different crew each time).

I remember my mom always tipping the paper boy when he collected every week. Now you don't even know who is delivering that paper; however I have to say our carrier never fails and usually has it in the driveway by 5 - maybe earlier but I wouldn't know about that. Will probably tip $25.

For the mail person do you just put it in an envelope in your mailbox and they see it when they stick mail in there just like back home for an individual home mailbox ?

I deal with some savy folks. The two papers I have delivered, each contained a nice Christmas card last week. The guy that sorts the mail put a Christmas card with my mail as well.
All had return address labels.

My Christmas "card" from our newspaper delivery person was a 3" x 5" piece of paper with the words "Happy Holidays" and his name and address printed on it. Talk about an obvious request for a holiday tip! It really put me off the idea. I think I'll make a donation in his name, instead.

Maybe thats all he could afford..........how many papers do you think he deliveres each day?
I'm sure he will get a big Christmas lift knowing somewhere there is a donation in his name..............................
Or, am I talking your post all wrong?

Tip Them Both
 

I tip both the mail box person and the paper carrier. I appreciate them putting a Christmas message in my paper and mailbox so I can send my gift directly to them. I add a tip to my annual bill for the paper carrier (there is place to leave a tip on the bill) of $20. I also send each of them a Christmas card with a $20 gift certificate, usually to Wal Mart. Merry Christmas!

I appreciate the jobs they do and am thankful I'm in a position to tip them. I'm glad they provide an address so I can send it to them directly.

I tip my cleaning service people before Christmas - the same two have been with me a long time.

Wow. Now that's having it all together. If I was your paper boy/girl you'd never see a plastic bag again. Ever read a soaking wet newspaper.

If it makes you feel good to tip everyone than go ahead. I am old fashion enough to believe a tip is for exceptional service and not just because the person makes low wages. The person who reads my water or electric meter is doing what he is paid to do and he either does or doesn't do it. The newspaper person does his job putting my paper in my driveway every morning rain or shine and on time and earns a good tip. Some jobs can show exceptional service such as a server in a restaurant as compared to some jobs that are either do or don't such as picking up your trash.

So far I did not give cash in the past but for that always a gift card for $ 20.-- (Target) and I always got a "Thank You" letter back from them - even I did not meet any of them.

Does anyone tip their lawn service or trash pickup people?
I see my lawn service people every week and like the way they take care of my yard whether I'm there or not so I tip him.

How do you feel about employers giving out Christmas bonuses?

tipping amounts
 

I tip the newspaper delivery person, the mail person and the trash collectors.

For me the key phrase is "thankful I'm in a position to tip them."

Sadly, I outlived my dear wife although I expected just the opposite. I centered all my financial planning around providing for her future expenses so she would not have to work after my death.

Now, when I see an older woman working in a restaurant I always overtip substantially as an expression of my thanks that my wife never had to go through that.

I do tip the newspaper carrier. I had not thought to tip the mail delivery person. I do know that here in TV they are not federal employees, but contractors, so will probably give a tip this year.

NO! Definitely not the lawn guys. I pay them in the winter when it's dormant and they do nothing

My 2 lawn guys--$20 each
My newspaper guy--$10--I might bump that to $20
The mail guy--$10
My wife--unlimited--she earns it.:bowdown:

I'm thinking of tipping my husband this year. He washes all the dishes and does most of the laundry.

LOL I agree!!! (Finding a wet newspaper in driveway) The only thing that bothers me (after mailing the tip to newspaper delivery person) is that they do NOT acknowledge the tip with a thank you. Back in NH, when we tipped Newspaper Delivery, we always found a nice thank you card in newspaper, a day or two after!!

I don't expect thank you notes for tips. Fortunately, our carriers (news and mail) do get a lot of tips this time of year (and deservedly so). Those cards and notes cost money -- something most of these folks don't have a lot of. To me, the thanks comes from my mail being delivered on time, my paper being in the driveway when I wake up in a readable condition.

Now, if I were giving a special gift of some sort (something I had made or whatever), then I would hope for a thank you note but wouldn't be too disappointed if I didn't get it.

So how do you get the tip to the newspaper person..who arrive at the butt crack of dawn..

I "hear you" and I totally agree. We've always given our morning newspaper carrier a big tip. They get the paper to us between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. and put it right up at the front door......walking up several landings of steps to the front covered porch. People who don't tip them, get it thrown in the driveway (on top of which rain, snow, sleet, etc. can fall).


The woman we have now is excellent; she's doing it to supplement the family income as her husband had to have heart bypass surgery at a young age, one year ago. She's the best we've had. I just gave her $200.


Reason being: I pay my newspaper once a year and don't put a tip in as they used to "quit" so often...plus less bills to write out monthly.


Actually, many of the men carriers would quit right after getting their Christmas tips.


So, at 52 weeks a year, that would only be less than $2 a week tip for the first $100. The second $100 is her Christmas gift for getting that paper up to our front door very early; we are early risers and appreciate it.
She also does the best folding of the paper and it comes FLAT in a plastic wrapper............the others would ROLL IT....and it was more difficult to read. She has mushed through all kinds of horrible weather and never missed a day.


We used to tip our mail carrier in the olden days and they would all stop in for a cold drink or to just chat and rest.........but then we were told that it was illegal to tip them, so we stopped. They still are great up here.
We have great mail ladies and mail men who often walk our mail up to our door when it is too large to fit into the roadside mailbox.........so saves us a trip down a steep driveway..........they've actually told us it is illegal to accept anything.


We do tip our garbage men as we have known them for the past 40 plus years and they take "more than they should" and never charge extra.
I used to give them $100 each which again, comes to less than $2 a week.
My husband, now home, tips them $50 each. I think women are more generous and appreciative....so bigger tips.


By the way, our garbage men picked up on Thanksgiving morning.


(Some TV people were upset that their garbage wasn't picked up.)


When hubby inquired if they had the holiday off.....wondering why they were here.......they replied that it was one of the holidays they do not get off.......actually, they only get Christmas day off. Again, they take a huge amount of extras and do not charge us.


As for the Daily Sun carrier......we were so happy with our one month delivery service while in The Villages.....that I took the Christmas card he had left us home in my suitcase......and when I wrote out my own cards, I sent him a card along with a $50 tip. The paper was always very very early and in good shape.........plus we enjoyed reading the paper immensely.


My husband was a paper boy with a huge "city route".....and as he always recalls, each customer had different directions as to where they wanted the paper placed..........anyway, we appreciate all of our service providers.


When our own children were young, all of our paper carriers were local children........not any more. They are all adults. Our paper used to be printed in town, down on Main Street..........now it's owned by a huge conglomerate of newspapers and published in nearby Massachusetts....so the "paper carriers" have their papers delivered to them, put them together and then drive them on their route............whereas the children walked them, pulling them in a wagon or whatever.......or on their bikes.


We miss the personal touch that we had when the kids delivered; stopping to chat and have a cold drink......we knew them all from school or church or the neighborhood...........now they just drive up the driveway and place the paper, in the dark. Luckily, our paper lady gave us a Christmas card with her home address on it.......so I mailed her $200 (yearly tip plus Christmas gift combined).....

As far as the newspaper is concerned, (Daily Sun) it would be nice to know that the carrier received the tip, that I added to the bill (when received in the mail) so I know the right person received the tip. As a retired Letter carrier, I always acknowledged everyone who tipped me, with a "Thank you Card" that I had printed up for that reason. (not very costly) I always felt it was only right, and the appreciation I felt. Everyone is different, but that's how I felt. This was in NH, where door to door delivery was done.

We tip the newspaper person $50...we do not tip all year so that is less than $1 a week.
We tip hair stylists (his & her) equal to cost of one appointment and we do tip 20% all year as well.
We tip lawn crew $100 and tell them to split it.
Never thought of mail carrier because I thought they were fed employees. Feel bad now.

Maybe it was all he could afford, but that's not the issue. If I thought for one second he was just being "thoughtful" and truly just wishing us a Happy Holiday, it would be a different story. As it was presented, it was nothing more than a request for a gift. I suppose I wouldn't take this as a "request" had he enclosed the same 3x5 paper with his name, address and a "Hey if you have any problems, let me know" or "thanks for subscribing" when we first started getting the paper. That, I would have been happy to put on my fridge and would voluntarily have already sent a card and a gift. I just don't like being asked for a gift. I give because I want to. Not because I feel I have to.

In that case, I'm glad you're not my paper delivery person.

A newspaper is not a necessity to me. I could do without it. So, if my paper started showing up soaking wet because I didn't give a Christmas gift, I'd just cancel my subscription. Problem solved for both parties.

In hindsight re tipping our service providers
 

In reading all of these comments re tipping........with my own posted above.........I just feel that this season of the year is the time to be generous of spirit with whatever one can afford. Most of these people are not raking in "big bucks" and every little bit extra might help them to put something nice under the tree for their family or something special on their table, that they might not have been able to afford. Let's face it, we are only giving money that years ago we would spend on our parents, grandparents, etc. or friends who are now all departed.........can't take it with you, after all.

Yes, a tip should be voluntary! Found a Christmas card from pool/spa cleaner on lanai today with slip of what they did. Very blatent. They really do little for the charge. Should get rid of the service, but need them when we go on travel.

Nothing from mail carrier or paper. Used to be able to add the tip to the bill.