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Ever been out to dinner and when the check comes, the people around you spend five minutes trying to figure out the tip. It's like someone just asked them to fix a Rover on Mars by remote control from a million miles away. My wife does this and it kills me because I can't see what's so hard about it. Every time she tries to figure the right tip, it turns into a differential calculus problem. And when she's done with it, she still hands it over to me to review the results.
Some people use the simple method of "doubling the sales tax." Well that used to work ok in some states but the politicians decided to do bump up the rate and if you go by that rule you'll end up paying 19.5% in places like California. Even if you're fortunate enough to be dining in Oregon where they don't have a sales tax, you're going to have to deal with one angry waiter. But most states do levy sales taxes; so for the math challenged, it's an easy way of calculating a tip in less than 10 seconds.
Another easy way to do it, is to check out the bill BEFORE taxes and lop off a digit. That's 10 percent. So if you have a $97 bill before taxes you have $9.70. Now take half that amount which is about $5 and add the two together. The magic number is $14.70. You can give them the extra thirty cents for good measure or take off the seventy cents if the service isn't up to par or you're just in a cheap state of mind.
If you're really impressed with the service or think the waitress looks like Marilyn Monroe and want to give them a little extra - say a whopping 17.5%. OK, all that takes is one additional step: Lop off a digit which leaves you with $9.70. Now take half that amount which is about five dollars. Now take half of the five dollars which is $2.50. Add up the three and you end up with $17.20. If you're a bona-fide cheapster - keep the 20 cents in your pocket.
Try it again with a $40 meal. Real easy. $4 plus $2 = $6. For 17.5%: $4 plus $2 plus $1 = $7. 20% is real easy but no cheapster worth his salt would tip that much unless the waitress IS Marilyn Monroe. Of course, the easiest thing to do is lop off the last digit and leave a 10% tip. Just don't look the waiter in the eyes on the way out.
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