Tipping & Giving Money in General

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I´m interested in how tipping varies throughout the world. An example is in the UK where I´m originally from, it´s normal to tip 20% in a restaurant or cab (I think). In the US it´s more isn´t it? I think the price of the meal/cab is cheaper or wages are slightly lower for waiting staff so tips are expected. Here in the Canaries it depends on service but hairdressers expect tips normally, cabbies only from tourists. My personal view is that if I´m happy with a service I´m happy to tip. If I am very happy & someone has gone out of their way to be helpful I tip more than is expected (obviously, if I can afford to). If I have a bad meal, bad service or a rude taxi driver... they ain´t getting a tip! My boyfriend tipped a waitress in Bulgaria the equivalent of 7 dollars & she said that was 3 week´s wages for her!!!! I used to give money to beggars too but when I was backpacking I had to be careful (some places you give to one person, turn round & there are 100 others... you can´t give to them all). Opinions please! (If anyone´s from outside UK or US, I´m interested how it all works in your country).