en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/1057335 Comments by Jesse Michelsen http://www.fabulouslybroke.com/2010/11/is-all-that-education-worth-it/#IDComment107646781 I'm very torn over this. My thoughts are that, even though you may have gone to school to learn something you were interested in, there may not be jobs for that particular fields available and you may find by the time you get your degree, that you don't want to go into that field at all anymore. I lost interest completely in my degree by the half way point. I toughed it out and got the piece of paper, with the associated bill (my own fault, no question about it) and now struggle to see why I did it. I'm with you in that I will do what I love to do for free if that is the only option but I wish I realized that before spending all that money on a formal education. Wed, 3 Nov 2010 19:50:00 +0000 http://www.fabulouslybroke.com/2010/11/is-all-that-education-worth-it/#IDComment107646781 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/rank-introducing-player-pf-blog-ranking/#IDComment104857614 Requisite pain :) Last time I checked, I still wasn't good enough to be ranked on FIRE :) Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:42:26 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/rank-introducing-player-pf-blog-ranking/#IDComment104857614 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/rank-introducing-player-pf-blog-ranking/#IDComment104795970 haha same here Dean! It hurts to take a blow of around 100 ranks when moving to another ranking tool! :) I agree, there will always be little sub-niches that are hard to classify but as they grow, maybe they will get their own subcategory in each tool. I think that is a great step with this new raking system, subcategories have their own ranks. I wish you the best of luck in the fight to a top 10 rank :) Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:19:59 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/rank-introducing-player-pf-blog-ranking/#IDComment104795970 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104555903 AH right, I remember when I first discovered that waitstaff in many states get paid closer to 2$ an hour versus minimum wage, I was shocked.. Mon, 18 Oct 2010 03:23:30 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104555903 http://www.pffirewall.com/humanity/bottled-water/#IDComment104383990 Too true, Kay Lynn, too sad and true. Sat, 16 Oct 2010 22:23:28 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/humanity/bottled-water/#IDComment104383990 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104383967 Yep, the cost of doing business. I'm very curious what tipping is like in other countries.. Sat, 16 Oct 2010 22:23:11 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104383967 http://www.pffirewall.com/humanity/bottled-water/#IDComment104383922 You got that right, with all the California burritos we can eat and nice, cold Evian to drink...maybe we should start a Ca-Burr-ian Charity to drop ship some Cali burritos to Uganda; ah I doubt their stomachs could handle it.. Sat, 16 Oct 2010 22:22:43 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/humanity/bottled-water/#IDComment104383922 http://www.pffirewall.com/humanity/bottled-water/#IDComment104189880 Thanks man, anything we can do to help those in need! Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:54:28 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/humanity/bottled-water/#IDComment104189880 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/service-tolerance-level/#IDComment104185571 You know, I'm pretty laid back too. Time isn't a problem, but I don't like being lied to or misled, and I don't appreciate the hosts never updating us on the wait time or status. They also took plenty of very pushy people ahead of us, which I can understand but they just ignored us. Another thing that bothered us is that there were tons of tables open, but not cleaned off. But, aside from not caring about your time, do you like to pay for things that are unsatisfactory? By the way..I used to be carefree too..then I got married :) Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:22:42 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/service-tolerance-level/#IDComment104185571 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/service-tolerance-level/#IDComment104185164 Ah no worries, it happens. We will have more nights out..eventually :) Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:19:41 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/service-tolerance-level/#IDComment104185164 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104182432 I am with you on many of your points, why can't waitstaff and people in the food service industry just get paid normally like everyone else? I wonder what came first, tips, or low wages in the industry? I love when a place includes the tax in the amount you pay so pricing is more clear, but they still leave you guessing on tips; why not include tax AND tip in the price of the meal so you know exactly what you're paying. That way the check wouldn't be a surprise every singe time you dine out! ugh, but it's a part of the culture now and although I hate tipping and think it's a ridiculous tradition, it is embed in our culture, thus we discuss the rules of tipping Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:00:41 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104182432 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104181846 At a buffet, who do you tip? I'm talking the buffets that are completely self service, and the only time a waiter comes over is when you're finished and they clean the table. Does that warrant a tip? If they bring rolls, drinks, special things, I can see tipping the regular 15% but otherwise I'm not sure if 10% is even appropriate in my mind. I wonder what bus boys at places like this get paid. Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:56:10 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104181846 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104181637 Well, here are my thoughts on that; in the amount of time you were there, it seems like this person did a great amount of running back and forth from your car so I think, ok that deserves a larger tip. Then I think, what if you were in the restaurant, the person would do much more work waiting on you, and more walking back and forth, so that must warrant a larger tip than the car-hop. All this makes me realize what a bad tipper I have been in the post. We used to go to places that would bring the food out, and places we picked it up at, and we never tipped these people! :( Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:54:26 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104181637 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104181287 I've actually never thought about figuring in the price of free meals; the next time we go out I'll have to let my wife know about this and start doing it. I was quite surprised by some of the info I found when researching for this article :) Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:51:40 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104181287 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104181118 Good point about food quality, but at many places the tips are all divided up between everyone, which if I'm not mistaken, also includes the cook? I guess it depends on the restaurant and wages. Those weird circumstances are tough though, I'd have no idea when it came to gas attendant. Other parts of the country, as well as other parts of the world all have different tipping procedures :) (See David's comment below! haha ) Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:50:16 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104181118 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104180808 Ah, excellent advice, always look the check over to see if gratuity is included! I know when we go anywhere with a party of 8 or so, I always make sure gratuity is not included. Most places calculate in 18% for parties of 8 or more, though I've never heard of 20% being added; I guess times are tough and places will do anything they can, especially if a customer won't notice and adds more of a tip! :) Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:47:53 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104180808 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104180457 Well, my tip is based on how my gut feels afterwards a little bit too :) kidding of course.. You are quite generous. That's another thing that I could have covered in the post, if you occupy a seat but don't order anything, should you tip? Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:45:13 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104180457 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/service-tolerance-level/#IDComment104038578 They did mention an unexpected surge of business, but said they were fully staffed which seemed really odd considering the lack of staff they had their. Maybe their staff was technically full as far as who was on the schedule, but they had to cut back because of economy or whatever. I agree though, either way, if they want the business to do well, they have to take care of the customers! Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:21:25 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/service-tolerance-level/#IDComment104038578 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/service-tolerance-level/#IDComment104038354 That was the most awkward part of the whole evening. I calmly talked her ear off, and she just walked away :) Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:19:31 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/service-tolerance-level/#IDComment104038354 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104037837 Seriously, we are tipping now for the general lack of hostility! That's not what tipping is all about. Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:15:25 +0000 http://www.pffirewall.com/personalfinance/familiar-tipping-etiquette/#IDComment104037837