Show Me the Money!

Since I didn't hit the lottery last year with my Lotto rap song, I've been thinking about money a bit. The idea of saving/wasting money came up a few times in this last week:

• A good friend of mine just paid off his home - he and his wife are young, and they made double payments on their mortgage and was able to go mortgage free before they turned 40! So very proud of their achievement.

• My wife and I were eating at a restaurant and when it came time to pay the bill, the server came by with an iPad that "conveniently" had boxes to calculate a tip for you. Instead of the ol' 10%, 15% 20% that was customary for so long, this one had 20%, 22% and 25% tipping options. There was also a "Custom" tipping option if you felt like the 20-22-25 wasn't enough. To add salt to the wound, the server stands there waiting for you to choose an option and sign. Talk about pressure.

According to visitglobally.com, the current U.S. restaurant tipping norms for 2026 are:

Standard expectations

• 18–20% — Normal / good service

• 20–25% — Great or exceptional service

• 15% — Minimum acceptable for average service

• 10% or less — Poor service (used sparingly)

Most diners tip on the pre‑tax subtotal, not the after‑tax total.

It should be noted that tipping is considered rude in many parts of the world and for those that do outside the United States, tipping is modest (5-10%).

• I was reading an article on Medium by Rahul K. that discussed how people waste cash on modern lifestyle habits and one of the ways was on food deliveries. We don't get food delivered but have many friends that do. They use delivery apps like PostMates, DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats to have some pimple faced kid grace your doorstep with your order. Turns out this "convenience" is costly.

These services each have delivery fees, service fees, bag fees, taxes and then on top of everything else, you're expected to tip.

If you go to the restaurant's actual website and then compare the prices against many of these delivery services, you'll find that it's common that each item will be priced anywhere from $1-2.00 more per item upward to 30% more expensive.

According to Josh Koebert at financebuzz.com, including tip:

• PostMates has the highest markups (92% higher than menu price);

• DoorDash's markup is 83%;

• GrubHub's markup is 80%;

• UberEats's markup is 69%

Some chains offer their own delivery service. Want to have Chick-fil-A deliver that sandwich? Expect to pay between 71% and $134% over regular menu prices. Want that Starbucks delivery? They'll send PostMates out and you'll pay more than double the in-store price when ordering a coffee and muffin delivered.

A couple of interesting charts from the Finance Buzz folks:

Love fast food? There was a time when ordering from McDonald's was cheap and filling. No more - our family doesn't eat fast food, so I was somewhat shocked at the average McDonald's menu prices:

• A Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal is $14.69

• A Deluxe McCrispy meal is $17.39

• A 10-piece Chicken McNuggets meal is $15.29

Expect to pay $2.39 for a regular coffee and $4.19 for a medium vanilla cappuccino. Want to add a few free condiments to your order? Throw in 25 cents per packet for things like dipping, buffalo, honey mustard, or tangy sauce.

If you're interested in finding out current menu prices for popular fast-food restaurants, go to https://www.menuwithprice.com for over 30 chains.

There are plenty of websites with tips and tricks about how to save money by simply changing a few habits. Our "cashless" society makes it so easy to swipe a card without much thought to how much life is actually costing us until the bills come in at the end of the month. That article I was reading by Rahuk K. also talked about reducing our expenses in other ways including:

• Buying used instead of brand-new cars or holding onto a working vehicle longer;

• Keeping your cell phone for a few years rather than upgrading every time a new phone comes out (I am guilty of this one...I will admit I like the shiny new toys - will try to do better);

• Using the extended warranties that come automatically with certain credit cards like Chase Sapphire Preferred or Capital One Venture, which extend the warranty on eligible purchases through the card rather than buying the manufacturers optional warranty;

• Avoiding so called "wellness products" like face masks, peptides, $300 aloe yoga sets and $25.00 smoothies at Erewhon. The wellness industry is projected to hit $7 trillion dollars globally this year alone.

• Avoiding "status" purchases - designer goods, tickets to Coachella, buying a new car that you can't really afford or renting a table at a club for $2,000 in order to have bottle service. You know you're already cool - you don't need to impress your friends too.

I understand some of these extravagances won't apply to everyone. But hopefully, even a few minor tweaks in your budget and way of thinking may help you keep a few more Benjamins in your pocket for that rainy day you know will come eventually.

Have a great weekend, everyone!