What do you tip your cleaning lady for Christmas?

[Anonymous]

I leave presents for ours. The owner of the company doesn't clean the house usually. I leave the ladies who come to our house a nice bottle of champagne and our family Christmas card.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's not guilt.
That's a really distorted and negative way of looking at it.


It's part of the spirit of the season. Being generous and giving. Showing appreciation for someone who works for you, who makes your life easier.

People should be giving a note of appreciation at the very least.

Please, tell me about the notes of appreciation you write or tips you give for your UPS and FedEx delivery guys, mail carrier, trash guys, janitors who clean your office overnight, dry cleaner, personal trainer or gym class instructor, pharmacist, and so on.

I do tip some of these people. I tip mail carrier, the guy who picks up the dry cleaning from my house, and I'm thinking of doing a personal note and gift card to my yoga teacher.

They are federal employees who are not allowed to accept cash tips for services. Look it up.

Employee Tipping and Gift-Receiving Policy

All postal employees, including carriers, must comply with the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Exec­utive Branch. Under these federal regulations, carriers are permitted to accept a gift worth $20 or less from a customer per occasion, such as Christmas. However, cash and cash equivalents, such as checks or gift cards that can be exchanged for cash, must never be accepted in any amount. Furthermore, no employee may accept more than $50 worth of gifts from any one customer in any one calendar year period.
— Public Relations, Corporate Communications, 11-1-12

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We usually pay $125 for cleaning.

Tip her $25 additional for Christmas. She is more than happy with it which suggests that either others don't give any tip or she is happy with whatever she gets.

Sorry PP you are cheap! What can she buy with $25 milk, bread, and butter? Come on, if you can afford a cleaning lady, pony up at least one visit. She's happy with it, because she's polite!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I leave presents for ours. The owner of the company doesn't clean the house usually. I leave the ladies who come to our house a nice bottle of champagne and our family Christmas card.

A bottle for each or are you assuming they pop the cork on the way home and share?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We usually pay $125 for cleaning.

Tip her $25 additional for Christmas. She is more than happy with it which suggests that either others don't give any tip or she is happy with whatever she gets.

Sorry PP you are cheap! What can she buy with $25 milk, bread, and butter? Come on, if you can afford a cleaning lady, pony up at least one visit. She's happy with it, because she's polite!

NP here. What if she just started working for us in October. We pay $125--I was planning on tipping $50.00.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We usually pay $125 for cleaning.

Tip her $25 additional for Christmas. She is more than happy with it which suggests that either others don't give any tip or she is happy with whatever she gets.

Sorry PP you are cheap! What can she buy with $25 milk, bread, and butter? Come on, if you can afford a cleaning lady, pony up at least one visit. She's happy with it, because she's polite!

NP here. What if she just started working for us in October. We pay $125--I was planning on tipping $50.00.

I'd still tip her one cleaning. That's just me, I'm not a 1% and very very far from it. Maybe my perspective is different. My mother was a cleaning lady, she had everything budgeted out, the extra bonus from her customers she saved some and bought us some gifts with the money. Upon her retiring her oldest customer would give her $500 for a christmas bonus, she cleaned their house every other week for 10 years. They treated her and our family like their own family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing. I use a lot of regularly scheduled services and I don't tip them, I don't know why I would give a holiday bonus to the cleaning service. Pest control comes monthly, yard maintenance, trash removal, car detailing. I pay the price they ask for their service.

I think people give Christmas tips out of guilt. Otherwise why not tip year round? I have no guilt about purchasing a service a company or individual has advertised.

Well don't you tip people who wash your car? I can't imagine not tipping? They work harder and in harsher conditions than anyone I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I leave presents for ours. The owner of the company doesn't clean the house usually. I leave the ladies who come to our house a nice bottle of champagne and our family Christmas card.

A bottle for each or are you assuming they pop the cork on the way home and share?

They are probably wishing you gave cash instead. What are they supposed to do with that? I tip people who work hard generously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's not guilt. That's a really distorted and negative way of looking at it.

It's part of the spirit of the season. Being generous and giving. Showing appreciation for someone who works for you, who makes your life easier.

People should be giving a note of appreciation at the very least.

Please, tell me about the notes of appreciation you write or tips you give for your UPS and FedEx delivery guys, mail carrier, trash guys, janitors who clean your office overnight, dry cleaner, personal trainer or gym class instructor, pharmacist, and so on.

You go first.