What It Means
Holiday tipping is the custom of giving extra cash or a gift at the end of the year to people who serve your household regularly. Common names on the list include a babysitter, a house cleanerCleaning serviceA business or person you pay to clean your home, usually by the visit or by the hour, on a one-time or regular schedule. See more, a newspaper carrier and a mail carrier. No law sets the amounts; the figures people quote come from etiquette guides such as the Emily Post Institute's, which treats them as guidelines to fit your region and budgetBudgetA plan for a set period, usually a month, that lists the money you expect to receive and how you'll spend or save it. See more.
Try It: Add Up Your Holiday Tips
Your own list. Defaults follow the Emily Post guide where it gives a figure; the prices are examples.
Over $20. USPS policy lets a carrier accept a gift worth $20 or less per occasion, and never cash or a gift card that converts to cash.
Emily Post's range for a newspaper carrier is $10 to $30, or a small gift.
How People Say It at Work
- "How much do we give the sitter at Christmas?"
- "I leave a card in the mailbox for the carrier."
- "Does the paper delivery guy still get a tip?"
The Breakdown
What the Emily Post Institute's guide suggests
| Who | Suggested holiday thank-you |
|---|---|
| Babysitter | Up to one evening's pay, plus a small gift from the children |
| Au pair or live-in nanny | Up to one week's pay, plus a gift from the children |
| Regular house cleaners | Up to the cost of one cleaning, split among the crew |
| Newspaper carrier | $1010,000 stepsA popular daily step goal that began as the name of a 1960s Japanese pedometer; later studies find health benefits begin well below it. See more to $30, or a small gift |
| Mail carrier | A small gift only, no cash |
This is some of the guide. The Emily Post Institute's page lists more roles.
Worked example. A household tips its cleaners up to one cleaning ($150, $75 each for a crew of two), its sitter one evening's pay ($60), the newspaper carrier $20 and gives the mail carrier a $15 gift. That's $245, or about $20.42 a month if they set it aside across the year.
What moves the number. The price of the service, how often it comes, your region's customs and your own budget, which the Emily Post Institute names as reasons amounts vary. For cleaners, the guide says someone who already tips at each visit may give a more modest holiday tip or skip it.
Good to Know
The Emily Post Institute presents its figures as guidelines rather than rules, and suggests homemade gifts or a written thank-you when cash isn't in the budget. Whatever you give, it recommends a short handwritten note with it. Mail carriers are the one group with a written limit: the U.S. Postal Service's employee policy, published in its 2012 Postal Bulletin, allows a gift worth $20 or less per occasion and rules out cash and cash equivalents, such as checks or gift cards that can be turned into cash, in any amount.
FAQ
How much should I tip my babysitter for the holidays?
The Emily Post Institute suggests up to one evening's pay, plus a small gift from the children.
Can I give my mail carrier cash?
No. USPS policy, as published in its 2012 Postal Bulletin, lets carriers accept a gift worth $20 or less per occasion and never cash or cash equivalents such as checks or gift cards that can be exchanged for cash.
What if I can't afford holiday tips this year?
The Emily Post Institute suggests homemade gifts instead, and notes that thanking someone in words, spoken or written, counts too.
Do It in Buhata
Gifts (Plus), Budget
List each person in Gifts (Plus) in Buhata with the amount you plan to give, and log the tips in Budget as you hand them out.
Open BuhataRelated Terms and Categories
- Tipping house cleaners
Giving a house cleaner extra money beyond the price of the service, either at visits or once a year, which is a choice with no official rule.
- Teacher gift amount
How much to spend on a gift for a child's teacher, which etiquette guides leave to you and some states and school districts cap for public school staff.
- Holiday budget
A spending plan for the holiday season that sets how much you'll spend on gifts, food, travel and decorations before the shopping starts.
- Gift budget
A spending plan that sets how much you'll spend on gifts, person by person or occasion by occasion, for a season or a whole year.
- Household employee
A worker you hire to do household work, such as a nanny or housekeeper, when you control both what work they do and how they do it.
Sources
The Emily Post Institute, "Holiday Tipping Guide"; U.S. Postal Service, Postal Bulletin 22349 (2012), "Employee Tipping and Gift-Receiving Policy"
- emilypost.com/advice/holiday-tipping-guide
- about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2012/pb22349/html/cover_025.htm
Last updated .