• 0 Posts
  • 5 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
Cake day: July 13th, 2023
  • darharrison@lemm.eetoAsklemmy@lemmy.ml•deleted
    5·
    29 days ago

    When I’m given free stuff I tip as if I paid for it. So if part of a meal is comped, for example, I’ll use the original subtotal, pre-discount, to figure out what to tip.

    If I’m only getting drinks (coffee, alcohol etc.) I default to a $1 tip per drink, and if given a free drink I’ll add on to that while factoring the cost of what I’m given. But if any food is involved I start at 20% on the subtotal, then round up or down to the nearest 50¢ or $1 depending on how long I stay at the establishment and how much the subtotal is.

    For takeout, I’ll tip less since I’m spending much less time in the establishment; I might round the total up to the nearest $5 or $10 depending on how much I spend.

    And for delivery, I have basically never ordered for delivery in my entire adult life, and don’t plan to, I’d rather just go and pick up whatever I order. I was a pizza delivery driver before UberEats and the like were common and quickly got a feel for that etiquette (people were usually pretty generous) and decided it was a luxury I could live without.

    Compared to you I guess I’m a bit cheap but I’d still tip the same even if front-of-house people were making more money, unless they explicitly tell me not to tip them (which has happened before). I don’t think people should feel bullied into tipping, because I think the business should be paying them the living wage instead, but just like at any other job good performance should always be rewarded.

  • darharrison@lemm.eetopolitics @lemmy.world•Biden administration bans unpaid medical bills from appearing on credit reports
    2·
    2 months ago

    My strategy of literally ignoring collectors and sending all their calls to voicemail (for a surgery done in early 2023 in which I owed a couple thousand dollars) actually worked. I was called once a week or so for a little over a year and I haven’t been contacted since June 2024.

    I believe I was dinged on my credit score but the penalty was low single-digits, and it didn’t affect my eligibility to buy a house. Your mileage will vary, and I definitely can’t in good conscience recommend this as your first resort. Talk to a professional about risks and benefits of not paying certain debts if you can’t or don’t want to pay; some debts are not optional. But yeah, some are.