Moneywise24 Personal Finance

Tipping is often a sign for outstanding service, and I know that I usually tend to give a tip. But how much tipping is actually usual, or even expected?

Tipping for me is pretty much a dilemma: on the one side I am trying to live frugally, expecting a good service at a restaurant or bar to be included in the price, but on the other side I have this urge to give a tip for good service. I guess it is a cultural thing I have been brought up with.

In German, for example, tipping around 5% – 10% of the total price is fully accepted. In fact, this is about the rate in Europe in General. Although tipping in Europe is not mandatory, it is expected; not leaving a tip is a strong sign of not appreciating the service. In some countries, such as the Czech Republic, it is noted on the bill that a service charge is not included on the bill. However, this service charge is not included anywhere, and it is a sign that a tip is expected.

So, why do we tip anyway?

Personally, I find the entire concept of tipping very outdated. As the tip is a sign of outstanding service, the tip may be seen as an additional commission on top of the base salary. There are two criteria, which need to be fulfilled to make this possible:

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Whenever I do my shopping, I am always trying to find the right mix between paying a low price and getting as much as I can for that price. But how cheap can I go? In fact, what is cheap anyway, and what is fair?

I know I am not the only one. In the supermarket, I observe people fighting over the cheapest tomato. Or, where the pre-packaged and cheaper meat is sold out, the butcher is lacking customers due to its higher price; people will massively buy T-shirts or jeans as soon as they are on sale, and it does not seem to be of any relevance whether they actually need it or not.

So how does a jeans end up costing 15 EUR in some shops anyway? There is the cost for fabric, the cost for shipping, and last but not least the cost of labor.

Several documentaries brought me to the other side of the world: to Laos, to China, or India. I observed on television, how laborers in China sleep in tiny one room barracks, usually rooms are shared with two or three other roommates. Working hours are long, payment is little.

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Last week I was enjoying my annual leave to the fullest; I stayed home for the first part of the week (which motivated to write the article How To Spend A One Week Holiday At Home), in the second part of the week I visited the wonderful city of Prague, capital city of the Czech Republic,  with friends.

I can’t stress enough the great time we had. Architecture is absolutely stunning, the food is great, and Prague is quite an inexpensive city.

Actually, Prague can be inexpensive, but it can also get quite expensive. Me and my friends intuitively did all the right things to stay on a low budget as much as possible; I spent around 250 USD during the 3-night stay, and that is including the costs for the hotel.

During our stay, I recognized that we kept our expenses relatively low by looking at three key things. I guess it can be applied to many touristic destinations.

Hotel

Hotels can be quite expensive, and sometimes you pay a fortune for hotels that are crappy and dirty. Often, hotels located in the city center are simply too expensive. They know they can afford this, as many business people and more wealthy tourists want all touristic attractions around the corner.

We stayed in a hotel in the area called Karlín, which is directly next to the city center. We could either walk to the city center within 15 minutes, or take the metro for 2 stops. There was enough parking space for our car, and it was free. In addition, there as a supermarket in the area, and some restaurants and bars for a last drink before going to the hotel.

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Groupon has grown to be one of the leading websites for coupon deals, discounts, and coupons. The basic idea for consumers, is that they can register at the Groupon website, and receive deals and discounts in their region or country. These deals can be virtually anything, from a massage to a stay in a hotel, car rental deals or a dinner at a restaurant. Consumers have the option of buying the deal, which will remain valid for a year, and to cash in the deal during that year.

For consumers, these deals can be very attractive. But what is going on behind the scenes? How are these deals being made, and what are the benefits and risks for both consumers and businesses?

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Holidays are a perfect opportunity to just relax and chill out. In the past, I used to travel around during my holidays, but at a certain point it was simply getting too expensive and it was eating away my money. So, I decided to take some shorter holiday throughout the year and actually stay home.

Staying home during annual leave was quite a new experience for me. I really didn’t know what to do with my time. Most of my friends in the city I live in would be at work during the day, so there was virtually no possibility to spontaneously meet up. Often I ended up in front of the television, or reading a book. But this quickly gets pretty boring.

Still, spending a holiday at home can be great time to do some things, that I usually didn’t have time for… or that I am simply too tired to do during a working week. Let’s have a look at my personal favorite nine things to do during a holiday spent at home:

Getting up early

Okay, I didn’t mean at 6 in the morning… but I usually don’t sleep until late in the afternoon either. It is just too much of a pitty to let a day pass by. I would get up around 9 or 10 in the morning at the latest, make myself a coffee and perhaps a light breakfast. I check my e-mails and watch some news.

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