# Was this a good tip? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 12, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-a-good-tip/136361 "2002-11-12T03:14:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-a-good-tip/136361/1 "2002-11-12T03:14:10Z")
Okay, this past weekend at my _Titanic_ dinner (I’m not going to describe it here because I plan on writing a review for _Teemings_), the next morning I had breakfast at the restaurant there, and the bill came to $5.20. (Not bad-I had scrambled eggs, toast with jelly and biscuits with sausage gravy!). So I gave a tip of $2.50, because I figured that’s enough, right? Or am I too cheap? (I suck at figuring out percentages and stuff) ---
**Author:** ![benson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@benson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benson)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-a-good-tip/136361/2 "2002-11-12T03:21:54Z")
That’s a little less than 50% tip. Pretty darned generous. I believe most people usually give 10-20%. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-a-good-tip/136361/3 "2002-11-12T03:22:07Z")
I’ll say. That was almost a 50% tip. A dollar would have been about right. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-a-good-tip/136361/4 "2002-11-12T03:26:09Z")
Whoops, too quick on the Submit button. Quick tip guesstimator (20%, quite generous): Double the amount of the bill and divide by 10. $5.20 x 2 = about $10, divide by 10 = $1. Wanna tip 15%? Add on half to the bill and divide by 10. $5.20 plus half (about $2.50) = about $7.50, divide by 10 = 75 cents. (But for a meal, not matter how cheap, I wouldn’t leave less than a dollar unless the service was really abysmal.) ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-a-good-tip/136361/5 "2002-11-12T07:28:56Z")
You shouldn’t go on percentages with meals that cheap. I’m sure she did more than $0.78 (15%) worth of work. In these situations, I think of how many trips she made to my table. Also, kids, when you have the waitress refilling your water glass all night, you should tip as if it were a real drink. No, **Guin** , you weren’t cheap. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-a-good-tip/136361/6 "2002-11-12T16:11:40Z")
For a meal that cheap, I usually go with a minimum $3 tip. Unless they are abysmal, I figure just getting served means $3 minimum. If it’s superbusy and they are getting turnover that will add up, maybe do it by percentages, but otherwise I figure getting served at all deserves a minimum. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-a-good-tip/136361/7 "2002-11-12T16:40:46Z")
As a former waitress, on a bill that small, I would have been okay with a dollar. My general rule of thumb was, if 15% of the bill was less than a dollar, rounding up to a dollar was a thoughtful thing to do. But, for the low cost of $2.50, you probably made someone really happy. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-a-good-tip/136361/8 "2002-11-12T17:35:27Z")
Very good tip. Breakfasts are usually very cheap. If I can’t afford to tip at least $2 for breakfast, I can’t afford going out for breakfast. I’ll usually leave $2, plus whatever small change is left. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-a-good-tip/136361/9 "2002-11-12T19:06:43Z")
Yeah, that was plenty. I would’ve left a dollar. ---
**Author:** ![peepthis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-a-good-tip/136361/10 "2002-11-12T21:48:01Z")
Even if you’re bad at fractions, you must have realized that your tip was nearly 50% (or at least been able to find a calculator between the diner and your keyboard). Just curious: why ask here for validation?