How to Never Wonder How Much to Tip Ever Again
A 2-step formula to tip 15–20% on autopilot
It’s ironic: If you don’t tip for your burger, your waitress can’t eat.
In the United States, more than half of service workers’ earnings come from tips. For many of them, this figure equates to about $850/month, meaning it’s essential to their ability to pay for rent, food, and utilities.
Even with tips, most wait staff and bartenders only earn around $10/hr. That’s just 25% above minimum wage. Even in countries like Germany, where minimum wage is about $1,700/month and tips are less critical, they can make the difference between a life that’s acceptable and one that’s enjoyable.
It’s simple: Unless the service was terrible, tipping your waiter is the right thing to do.
Unfortunately, the process of calculating your tip can introduce a lot of friction into what should be an easy task. This friction often causes us to tip less than we intended and, sometimes, nothing at all.
In Germany, we’ve even developed cheap hacks (pun intended) to not have to deal with the cognitive dissonance of how much to tip and how to calculate it. It’s common to just add 1 € and round up. But on a 28.67 € bill, 1.33 € is not a cool tip. Depending on the customer and location, it might…
