Here's a question for you: when you have pizza or food delivered, are you tipping the person who brought it to you enough?

It's easy to round up the bill for a tip or maybe you don't ask for change back, but is that the right amount?

I was thinking about this the other night when I was too lazy to go pick up a pizza.

I ordered it online and there was an option for a tip. What I ordered was around $15 and standard tipping options were part of the check-out process: 15, 18, or 20 percent.

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I always go with 20% (after all, I'm the lazy one here), but on a $15 order, a 20-percent tip is three bucks.

Paying The Bill
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These days, what the heck can you do with three dollars? Especially in this state. You can't even pay the toll on the Expressway with $3 anymore.

While that was 20 percent, which is what I tip at a restaurant, it was still just three lousy dollars.

What you should be doing

So I did some digging and I found an article from tasteofhome.com.

They say $5 is the absolute minimum that you should tip a delivery person.

If you think about the time it takes a driver to grab the food from the restaurant, drive it to your place, wait for you to come to the door and then head back to the restaurant, you’re looking at 20 minutes, but probably more. Ask yourself: Would I take that trip for less?

That's a very valid point. If you're taking pizzas all over town and you depend on tips, is a 20 or 30-minute trip worth three bucks or at least five?

Tips are different in special circumstances

They also say 20% is the absolute minimum if you are getting an entire party's worth of pizzas delivered at one time or if the weather is really lousy.

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But now that the holidays are here...

As we are in the holiday season, special tipping rules now usually apply.

According to U.S. News and World Report,

Holiday tips can vary depending on the service, your relationship with the worker and regional customs.

They suggest that restaurant delivery drivers get 20% of the total bill or $5, whichever is higher.

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So if someone is bringing $100 worth of food to your front door, you should fork-over 20 bucks.

What about lousy service?

If your pizza is awful, it's best not to take it out on the driver. Unless he or she does something horrible specific to your order, it's best to call the restaurant and figure it out with a manager.

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Gallery Credit: Joe Votruba

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