Tipping can be a tricky for the first time renter. When you’re living on your own in an apartment, there’s all sorts of new interactions: dealing with landlords, with handymen and building supers. Whom should you tip? How much should you give? To help you out, we have pooled together the tipping advice our bloggers have shared in the past years.
Our blogger Elyse had the reaction many of you probably had when thinking about holiday tips: “I honestly have no idea.” She noted that for her , still a college student, doesn’t have a doorman, never sees her super, and doesn’t have a regular coffee guy, there’s really no one she can think of that she’d need to tip. In short, if you’re in a situation where your budget is tight, and you don’t have anyone obvious you should tip … it’s okay if you don’t give out any tips this holiday season.
That said, once our blogger Alissa got a job with a decent salary, things changed around a bit for her – all of a sudden, she realized she had two people she wanted to tip: her Coffee Cart Guy, and the Salad Man from Pax. Tipping can be rewarding, she decided; it’s a chance to show someone that you noticed the work they’ve done for you over the past year.
Last year, Alissa shared this great and instructive tipping infographic, showing whom it’s customary to tip, and how much. The suggested amounts are still in the customary ranges for 2012. Also, you history majors can compare the average tips now with those of a hundred years ago when the barber was happy with a $0.50 tip.
Finally, on Zillow, we guest-posted some thoughts on tipping your super ($50-100), doorman ($25-75) and housekeeper (cost of one cleaning.) As we point out there, tips can be expensive, so having roommates to share the cost helps. And if the year hasn’t treated you well financially, you can instead think of giving a holiday card with your personal thanks, or baking some cookies, as our first blogger Jett suggested, or showing your appreciation in some other way to those people who have made your life easier all year long.
