To not give the postman a Christmas bung

Maybe your family didn't. My mother always tipped the hairdresser and the junior when she used to go to the hairdresser weekly in the 1959s/60s. My parents also tipped the milkman, the bin men and the paper delivery boy at Christmas, as well as giving a small Christmas bonus to the gardener and cleaning lady. It's certainly not a newfangled Americanism.

Each to their own
from what you described i would prefer to save for my child 🤷‍♀️

Wow

I think the "point" of an annual tip to these guys (and not the Tesco checkout girl) is that they come to our doors every day (not in some cases, but in most) in all weather.

In the 80s my mother would ALWAYS tip the postie, the milkman, and binmen. Back then it was always the same people, and they all did the job for many years. People rarely went sick. Now you could get anyone. The binmen always had the cheek to knock and say "just wishing you a merry Christmas!" Then hung around for the tip. I always hated that as a kid.

This year we are tipping the Ringtons guy, as he is absolutely amazing, and will always leave me the biscuits I love if we are out during his rounds - he knows my faves and will always leave them at the door, and he knows we will pay him in 2 weeks' time when he's back.

I would have given the Evri driver a tip as he is wonderful, but he's just stopped coming and been replaced by a grumpy sod.

The postie is a tough one - he is lovely but he was away for about 8 months and has only just returned so hasn't really done a great deal this year.

We give our gardeners a tip, and also the window cleaner. Postman seems to deliver when he feels like it, and never see him. Bin men leave recycling behind and a mess.

My child has plenty and so do I! We have clothes on our backs and food in our kitchen. In all honesty I'd rather use the extra for someone else in a small gesture.

Years ago (over 30 years!) we always gave the bin men something, usually a 6-pack of beer, and when we used a milkman we always left him a box of chocolates or a bottle of sherry, but when he retired we started just buying milk from the supermarket. Nowadays we don't bother.

Yes! The postman is in the village every day but we personally don't receive anything through the mail bar the junk crap once in a while that everyone gets. No bank statements or anything like that -it's all online. I don't think I've had actual post for me or the family in over a month.

Our postman’s brilliant. He’ll get £20 in a card. Ditto our milkman, and the bin men.

But if you saved up what you gave throughout the year… you could treat your children to something? Or extra supper for you @SurvivalInstinctsOfABakedPotato

I trained as a hairdresser as a teen and am now in my 40s. I always received tips. My mum always tipped the bin men and postie. It HAS always been a thing. Just not people you knew

I never tip anyone, we have a minimum wage here.

Not a chance. Bin men are shite and leave more than they pick up.

As for the postman, what’s one of those, haven’t seen one for days.

We tip our wheeler bin cleaner because he’s ace at locating our errant bin (frequently goes AWOL after being emptied and left in the wrong place by the bin men) cleaning it, and putting it back on our drive in exactly the right place. And we tip our fish monger who brings fresh fish weekly that was caught within hours and NOT shipped all the way to China to be packed before coming all the way back to be put in Tesco’s freezers!

You get post once a fortnight?! @TheatricalLife

It depends if the postman goes above and beyond, knows your name etc. Ours is great and we give him a card and a £10 tip. Refuse team change every fortnight and so they no longer receive any Christmas tip.

It really doesn't. I live in a council house and work part time due to a long term spinal condition. I am a solo parent so don't have money to burn. I am very frugal and careful with my money. If I didn't have it, then I wouldn't give it and I wouldn't expect to be judged or treated different either way.
I am in now way at all saying it is the expectation or should be done by everyone at all. I am simply stating what I do and what I know about other occupations that have told me about their cards and tips etc.
I am not making other people need to tip. In my job I get none and that is fine and not an issue at all. Its the nature of different roles etc.
Surely kindness is a good thing in whatever way it is shown. I am not expecting a better service as another poster claimed!! The thought makes me laugh!
I tip because I can and want to. I was once a hairdresser and always think about the 20p pieces the elderly women used to press into my hand when I washed their hair as an apprentice.
It's not a big deal of you do or don't. It's just a personal preference or opinion!

We rarely get post -probably once every two weeks or so, and that's usually junk mail, so I won't be tipping the postie. I think it's a nice thing to do if you receive regular post or parcels, or he/she is particularly community minded (for example, we had one years ago who would help my nan with her bins).
Our bin men are a bloody nightmare so I don't think anyone in the village will be tipping them!

It really has not been a tradition in the UK for many years. My parents in the 70's never tipped the postman, nor did anyone they know.

Im not sure where it's come from because nobody ever tipped hairdressers etc 20 years ago! 'Tipping' is an American thing and didnt really exist at all in the UK when I was a child 30+ years ago.

Imagine even thinking that way let alone saying it out loud. What a way to live your life.

We don’t get deliveries every day. The PO seem to save ours up and deliver when they fancy. Which isn’t the postie’s fault obv. But we also don’t have a regular postman. So it’s tricky.. don’t know when’s coming or when!
we do leave a tenner and chocs fir all the bin men and women and recycling gang.

I don't tip anyone, I don't get paid extra at Xmas and postmen etc get paid to do their job.

Mind you my son does a paper round 7 days a week for absolute shit money (£25 a week) so he very much appreciates the extras he gets given at Xmas. Last year he got given approx a fifth of his annual salary in Christmas tips!

I wouldn't pay to get a paper delivered and I assume people who do have enough disposable income they can afford tips.

So you DO give him a fiver? 😵‍💫

I’ll consider giving my postie a Christmas gift when he starts doing his job properly. I’m frequently re delivering post for my estate that he puts through my letterbox.

We're not 'setting this up', it's nothing new, it's been a tradition for as long as I can remember. And it's nothing to do with being rich. Don't do it if you don't want, and why you'd feel anxious about it, I've no idea.

This thread has made me realise how much society had changed in the UK over recent years.