Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Old Speckled Hen]

How much and to whom do you give Christmas tips to?

 

When I lived in London I always used to bung the dustmen £25 and for that they would always take anything away for me. They once chewed up a bed nicely in their machine without me paying the council extra

Don't know whether to give ours anything.

Our bins are emptied fortnightly and nothing extra is ever taken and I once got a rude note from the recycling guys for not washing a tuna can

I think our postie deserves something for always turning up in shorts

[Olly]

I don't give any tips!

 

I don't have a milkman or anything like that delivered. I never see the postie, because I'm always at work when he comes, ditto the dustmen - besides, there are about four different dustcarts as one collects bins every other week, one collects garden waste, anoter bottles and so on ... I wouldn' know where to start.

 

My mum always used to tip dustmen, bread delivery, milkman etc but then she knew them all because they were the same ones every week. Afraid I have never got into this habit.

[Janty]

I leave a present out for the milkman and a tub of sweets for the bin men.

[BarbaraJ]

My mum used to tip the milkman, daily paperboy and dustmen (christmas box she called it) the only ones i tip are the boys who deliver the local papers.

[Cinnamon]

I am afraid that I don't tip any of them.

They already get paid & get a christmas bonus from their employers...................

 

I did used to give my cleaning ladies a bottle of wine though,but I was their direct employer

[Cooks]

I dont tip either

 

I do give money to a charity of my choice though and I give a donation to my childrens school.

[Olly]

Oh yes, I'd forgotten the cleaner - I usually tip her £20.

 

This year I've just emailed friends and colleagues that I see frequently, to say that I'm not handing out cards - instead I'm making a donation to The Smile Train charity. I've still sent cards to friends who are further off.

[Egluntyne]

Milkman £20 ( He never lets us down) (Postman £10 He wears crocs and his partner keeps chickens and he is lovely.) Paper boy £5. (Didn't tip the previous one, who dented my car with his bike handlebars. I watched him do it and then he had the cheek to deny it. All he ever got from me was a hard stare.)

 

I thought this thread was going to be full of handy advice about how to keep ones cool over the festive season.

[BarbaraJ]

Milkman £20 ( He never lets us down) (Postman £10 He wears crocs and his partner keeps chickens and he is lovely.) Paper boy £5. (Didn't tip the previous one, who dented my car with his bike handlebars. I watched him do it and then he had the cheek to deny it. All he ever got from me was a hard stare.)

 

I thought this thread was going to be full of handy advice about how to keep ones cool over the festive season.

 

me too!!

[Cooks]

I dont have a milkman or a paperboy, we have a postlady and to be honest thinking about it I might give her something because she's lovely (we didn't have her last year, we had a boy who left everything even signed for's on the doorstep and I had a few things stolen) so she is a godsend really.

[Willow]

I always tip our postman who is lovely and very reliable (usually in John Lewis vouchers as it feels slightly more personal). I leave a tip for the lady who delivers the papers and milkman but that is about it. I don't know where I'd leave a tip for the bin men so I never have - they collect before I'm up so I never see them - but leaving a tin of sweets sounds like a good idea.

 

There isn't really anyone else, I don't have a cleaner.

[Redwing]

I think our postie deserves something for always turning up in shorts

 

Our postman turns up in a BMW so he is getting nothing from me!

[Old Speckled Hen]

 

I thought this thread was going to be full of handy advice about how to keep ones cool over the festive season.

 

Ah, I have the answer to that

DH and I were just discussing the invasion of relatives and we have decided to go away next year

[miffy]

I always tip the milklady (arrives in a tatty pickup truck), binmen they always take everything, recycling men they sort at the kerbside (YUK) MiL tips the paperman who has a mobile newsagents and delivers in a van. Most of these folk do jobs I wouldnt do so I feel they deserve a small thank you, helps keep things on a more personal note.

[Guest]

I don't tip the bin men because I don't employ them directly and they don't go out of their way to be helpful anyway.

 

I DO tip the wheelie bin cleaner man though as;

 

a) he is (sort of) employed by me so if his customers don't tip him, he won't get a Christmas bonus.

 

b) he always wheels the bin up the path and leaves it by the gate.

 

c) our bin gets a bit mucky as Ian shovels the dirty aubiose from the run into it but they make it lovely and clean.

 

I only tip if I think someone has gone out of their way to be helpful.

[Lesley]

I wouldn't tip our binmen - unless it was over a cliff

 

I do make some biscuits for the postman though - he goes out of his way to deliver our post and sorts out any parcels which need signing, if I'm not in.

[Fizzle Knit]

I tip our milkman, and also the window cleaners if they happen to come in December, but neither as generously as some of the other tippers here I tip approx the equivalent of the amount I usually pay them weekly or per visit respectively. It has never occurred to me to tip the postmen, although he is a very nice guy, or the bin men.

[Gamebird]

We don't have a paperboy, window cleaner or milkman but we do have a lovely postman who is always friendly, helpful, delivers what he can and what he can't he puts somewhere dry and safe and, the best bit of all, he loves our dog and gives him doggie treats.

 

So Christmas is a good time of year to let him know how much we appreciate him.

[Rhapsody]

I wouldn't tip our binmen - unless it was over a cliff

 

 

*offers Lesley a bag of Bah-Humbugs*

[Lesley]

I wouldn't tip our binmen - unless it was over a cliff

 

 

*offers Lesley a bag of Bah-Humbugs*

 

Thank-you! - I need them with binmen like ours!!!

We've had to go to the tip so many times since August when our system changed.........to take rubbish/recycling they just don't collect - they should be giving us a tip!

[crazygal]

Thank you- this has reminded me I need to tip our postman.

 

He very kindly delivers things that are addressed to our old house (we moved round the corner) and is always friendly so I think he deserves a tip.

[Yorkshire Pudding]

Ditto - ours has done the same since we moved, and looks after parcels etc. for us too.

 

We usually give him a card with £10 in.

 

If the window cleaners come in December they get a little extra, but I don't tip the milkman as he isn't that reliable. As for the dustmen, I never see them!

[Shirl]

Ah now you mention giving a card. I wanted to give the postie a tip (was thinking £10) but wasn't sure if to just hand it over when he delivers yet another parcel or put it in a card. Giving a card to a postie seems a bit odd. Sort of busman's holiday!