If you’ve ever travelled through America, you’ll quickly become accustomed to their deeply entrenched tipping culture, which requires you to have a ready supply of dollar notes to tip waiters, doormen, cabbies, housekeepers, hairdressers, beauticians, the list goes on – in fact it seems anyone who provides you with a service, to boost their low wage earnings.

If you don’t have the right cash – or worse, you don’t realise you’re meant to tip generously! - you’re almost in danger of bodily injury. And if you’ve just landed and have only credit cards or large-denomination bills, what then?

A wonderful, inexpensive gift for people travelling to the US, honeymooners, or maybe your twentysomethings on a backpacking trip, is the Where’s My Tip gift card.

You simply hand out the gift cards each time you’re required to tip, and they visit the Where’s My Tip website to request their tip from you, even helpfully(!) providing a suggested tip amount. You then pay it via credit card or Paypal, which will then go to them.

It costs $100 to join, providing you with 100 x Where’s My Tip gift cards, with each extra gift card costing $0.50.

I think this could really catch on, and what a great idea for businesses such as travel agents to include in your suite of touring materials!

Well, not by me but by the US gurus in the wedding industry. These are the predicted hot trends for weddings for 2009:

* Smaller weddings with fewer guests (great for ultra-private Scorpios or for Leos wanting to make an impact for the same money)

* Destination weddings (music to the ears of a Sagittarius) or destination type weddings closer to home (ideal for Cancerians)

* Accent colours on dresses and cakes with the most popular being greens and blues (those sea-greens are often beloved by Pisces)

* Increased reliance on family and friends to help plan, pay, and provide some of the services (money-minded Taurus, Virgo or Capricorn wouldn’t hesitate to get people to chip in or help in some way)

* Increased use of green and eco-friendly products and services (this will probably appeal to the Aquarians)

* Simplified decorations, centrepieces and wedding invitations (Virgo usually can’t bear fussiness and prefers clean and simple)

* Increased use of online RSVPs vs. traditional mail-in RSVPs (could appeal to communication-crazy Geminis or Aries wanting to know the answer NOW)

* Off-peak weddings: mornings, afternoons, Fridays, Sundays, not in March etc – great for Aquarians wanting to be different or Scorpios who don’t want the hordes looking on

* Buffet meals, hors d’oeuvre, and cocktail receptions (Both Aries and Geminis don’t like to sit around all night at a meal so this could be ideal while Librans do like elegant cocktail parties)

* Cheesecakes, cupcakes and miniature cakes (line up, line up Taurus and Libra – the sweet tooths of the zodiac)

* All-inclusive packages (the earth signs again – keeping an eye on budgets).