May 12, 2008 by Dave.

As a follow up to the post I wrote on tipping pizza delivery drivers, I caught an article that relates to tipping servers in restaurants.   It’s from Thomas A. Mason at www.tip20.com titled Why Should You Tip?  Here are some of the things Mason points out that many people might not know regarding servers:

The author makes some very good points, which most people don’t know and are I know are accurate from personal experience.  When I served I made good money.  However, I tipped out the busperson 10% of the cash I made and the bartender 10% on all alcohol sales.  Since they have to claim tips too, it seems like double taxation, but that’s another post altogether.  If someone ran up a large bar tap and tipped poorly, I could potentially be waiting on them for free since my money would go directly to the bartender.  Because of having to claim tips on a certain percentage of cash sales (at least 10%), many times, I would be forced to claim MORE than what I actually made because the majority of sales were credit card sales, which I had to claim 100% of the tips. 

Regarding the sidework issue, one thing the author says but doesn’t make clear is how much less servers’ base pay is.  In Pennsylvania, they are paid $2.83/hour plus tips.  So if they are doing sidework and have no tables,  they only get paid $2.83/hour.  Would you work for $2.83/hour?  Probably not. 

Think about these things the next time you go out to eat.  Bad food?  Don’t take it out on the server, they didn’t cook it.  Bad service?  See a manager; most managers will be more than willing to take care of any problems. 

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May 2, 2008 by Dave.

My wife and I live in the outer edges of the suburbs where there is still farmland. At our grocery store we recently got something which was a pretty cool thing but is old news for many. Redbox.

For those who don’t know, Redbox is a dvd rental kiosk where you put in your credit or debit card and rent any of the new releases available for $1 per night, with no late fees. As someone who doesn’t rent a lot of movies, the price is right. I got rid of Showtime when they canceled Dead Like Me and The Chris Isaak Show. I dumped my Blockbuster Online membership when I kept a movie for 3 months without mailing it back (total cost: $53.97). The other nice thing about Redbox is that you can return your DVD to any Redbox location. So if I’m heading over to my mother-in-law’s house or to work, I don’t have to go out of my way and can drop it off at the local grocery store there.

Here’s a piece of useless trivia I stumbled upon: The first place redbox was installed in was several McDonald’s in the Denver area. Redbox is partially owned by McDonald’s and Coinstar; they each own 47% of the company and have surpassed Blockbuster in number of outlets.

Posted in Saving, entertainment, Spending | Print | 1 Comment »

May 1, 2008 by Dave.

Yesterday I got to do something I rarely get to do, read the newspaper. An actual newspaper, that is, not just catching an article online. Newspapers appear to be a dying breed, with online media and television being the primary way to get news today. I got to read 2 good articles worth noting.

The first, from the Philadelphia Daily News, called Let us Pay: Struggling with Soaring costs of Food, Fuel, Rent, talks about the struggles of people meeting their daily living expenses. A staffer at a local church speaks about how the economy has changed the members of her congregation: “I remember when I came, we had the conversation of ‘What are we going to do for “them,” for those in need?’ ” Eileen Jones of the First Presbyterian Church in Germantown said. “But with the way the economic status is now, it’s no longer them - it’s us. There are people in our congregation that need the help of our food cupboard, and they’re embarrassed to ask.”

And as one person put it when talking about their bakery business being slower than usual: “You can’t run your car on chocolate mousse.” With gas at over $3.50 a gallon, people are making choices with their discretionary spending. Buy a cake or put gas in the car? Maybe buy food for the dinner table or put gas in the car? As someone who has worked in the gasoline business for many years, I have been on the receiving end of many irate customers complaining about rising gas prices. However, what I’ve seen over the past several years as prices have risen, the complaints have went from being directed at the poor clerk or merchant that makes the same profit regardless of gas prices to venting about the oil companies that are raking in the profits. Customers now seem to understand that it is not the fault of the local gas station. That doesn’t change the fact though that, especially in the suburbs, even going to the grocery store requires a car. It’s a simple equation for many: No gas, no car. No car, no job. No job, no food on the table or money for rent/mortgage.

Along with this article was a Q&A of with Bruce Rader, an assistant finance professor at Temple University. One of the questions struck a chord with me:

Q: Do people’s salaries typically reflect what’s going

on in the economy?

A: That’s what eventually should happen. We haven’t seen that in a while, though, especially for the middle class. We might see that pressure. I think the Fed has to worry about this rise in oil and food prices feeding over into the rest of the economy. People are demanding higher wages so they can meet their costs. No one wants to have a lower cost of living.

This is because on Tuesday, I received my letter with my new salary, which will be in my paycheck this week. I was rewarded with a 1.5% raise (woo-hoo!), which not only does not cover the cost of living, it doesn’t even cover the increase in the cost of medical benefits that I received January 1^st. Amazing how the cost of benefits always promptly hits your paycheck, but you are basically taking a paycut for the first several months of the year until the raise kicks in (if you even get a raise, which I didn’t get for 2 years at my job prior to this). When I read the letter, my reaction was “I’ll be sure not to spend all the money in one place.” Which prompted the comment from our office’s admin: “Yeah, that seems to be the general reaction from everybody.”

It seems we have all been beaten down by the economy, resigned to shrinking wages and higher costs of everything.

Posted in Spending, General | Print | No Comments »

April 2, 2008 by Dave.

I recently checked out a website called Tip The Pizza Guy.  The main premise of the site seems to be that pizza delivery driver, and the service they provide, are underappreciated by most people.  On the site, the Pizza Guy says:   

Please tip the driver.  Some people are not aware of this. I didn’t know for a long time. You’re supposed to tip the pizza delivery driver like you tip the waiter. They rely on tips and use their own car. This site will explore your questions about tipping and how you can speed up the delivery time. Your tips are greatly appreciated. It’s what keeps drivers moving.  Do they earn the tip? Absolutely. Drivers perform a service by bringing dinner to your door. They take on financial costs and difficulties, more than most people realize. Pizza delivery is considered a hazardous job by the US government. They are third most likely to be murdered on the job, right after police officer and taxi driver.

The pizza guy also compares the services a pizza delivery driver provides compared to servers at restaurants.  He also gives his take on tipping etiquette and when you shouldn’t tip the pizza guy.  He also shares some great insight on reasons why people don’t tip (or tip poorly).   Overall, I liked the content on the website.  The Pizza Guy shares a lot of knowledge and insight that many people don’t think about consciously.  I agree with him that drivers don’t get as much respect as other jobs.  Many of the people that work are college kids or adults working a second job, one that does have significant safety risks.  Coupled with gas prices, insurance and maintenance costs, it’s not the easiest way to make money these days.  One thing that amazed me when I read this site is how many of the drivers that post in the discussion boards get stiffed a lot.  I have delivered pizzas the past and have always tipped out well, rarely getting stiffed (maybe the neighborhood I delivered in was better?).  I will say customer service goes a long way regardless of which job you are doing, which is why I think I made good money doing these jobs.  From my experiences, people are more likely to leave a flat amount on a pizza delivery (i.e. a $3 tip whether the total is $15 or $50), whereas they leave a percentage to a server at a restaurant.    So how do YOU tip the pizza guy or the server at your local restaurant?

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