How do Americans budget when you don’t actually know how much things are going to cost you? I’d be lost without my spreadsheets

(Canada). Sit down table service, delivery and taxi I tip standard % pretax, everywhere else, will be only after if I really enjoyed the experience and not more than $5. Also I tip less if their sign has a price less than what I actually get billed (it's happened several occasions). I try to pay tips only in cash so that they actually go to the waitstaff and not to the creditcard company or the manager.

I'm glad to have moved from a country where taxes and (high) expected tips are on top of the price, to a country where tax is included in the price and tips are usually not expected. It makes a surprising difference in affordability when you can actually buy a €5 item with €5.

As soon as companies started asking for tips at self check-out, it became obvious that it's just a way of trying to underpay their staff and shift that responsibility on the customer.

I appreciate the sentiment from most folks here that this culture is ridiculous and that we should not take part. I’ve been told the more effective way to eliminate tipping culture is to vote in elections and it was so astoundingly tone deaf. Another reason why I like it here!

And here I am, avoiding bars and restaurants just because I prefer to eat at home.

A large portion of you in the replies don't feel like they should be obligated to tip because they feel it's up to the employer to properly compensate their workers, and yet they feel comfortable enjoying the product of these exploited workers' labor. My question to all of you is, if you care about worker exploitation, why don't you, the consumer, speak out against this practice directly? Call employers out, speak to the workers, see what you can do to help them organize. If you can't be bothered to do any of that, consider not dog-piling on the worker for the faults of their employer by deciding not to tip and making it harder for workers to organize. It seems to me that by not tipping, you're just helping employers and not workers.

Went to a concert the other day and they were asking for tip on their $6 hot dogs. The options were 20% 25% and 30% and no option for custom lol.

I'm not tipping at a concert concession stand when stuff is already outrageously overpriced. GTFOH.