Secret Santa

[MaxPepsi]

I've just put my 'gift' straight into the bin.

AIBU??

[honeybeeridiculous]

Last year I got a pair of pants made from sweeties, the buyer was a young girl, I'm an overweight 40 something went straight to the charity shop

[Tapiocapearl]

You need to find who gave you the book and innocently give it to them for their birthday.

Better still suggest to managers that SS changes to be a lucky dip?

[Tapiocapearl]

What a rubbish gift. 10 pounds they could have got you a bottle of prosecco or port. With a few chocolates even!

[Caitlin17]

Scented tea lights obviously.

[Caitlin17]

We have an office one for about 20 . Names drawn from hat but only the junior who organises it knows who got whom. I got 12 scented read lights from The White Company which are lovely and still had a £15 price sticker. Our budget is supposed to be £10.

I had to buy for the head of department and got him a slightly more flamboyant tie than usually wears which was 3 times the budget but I got stuck.

Littlefish yours would be perfect. I love hand warmers/fingerless gloves.

[lessonsintightropes]

pizza ewww nasty!

[pizzachickenhotforyou]

My friend bought someone she didn't like in femfresh for SS.

[CombineBananaFister]

We didn't used to bother with secret santa as everyone was skint/had better things to spend their money on/had ishoos with bitter disappointment from previous SS.
Now we say £1 limit pound shop present, do your worse and it's much more amiable but perhaps not environmentally friendly and slightly wasteful.

[notsomuchroomattheinn]

The first year I did it I got a broken vase the second year I got some edible knickers so for the next years I picked out the one I brought ensuring I got something lovely

[KatOD]

Completely agree. I got the exact same box of Thorntons chocolates as I did last year (which i know is on offer)... Despite being vegan and not being able to eat any of them (most of our team know, must have been a newbie!).

Hey Ho, my husband's happy...

[HmmAnOxfordComma]

Wine is not that handy to teetotallers (well, yes, you can regift it, but, still).

[lowra]

Secret Santa is only a bit of fun. Don't have any expectations and you won't be disappointed.

[superstarheartbreaker]

Five pound limit= decent bottle of wine on offer= everyone is happy. I JUST WANT WINE!!!!!!!!!!! N

[DontCallMeBaby]

We had a charity shop rule one year, and I got a rather silly sequinned handbag that I still roll out when a glitzy bag is required. Most of the women did quite well that year with bags and scarves. Another year it was charity shop again, but drawn out of a sack and everyone who'd already drawn could request to swap with the present just pulled out. That was quite fun, people got a choice and there were no insulted faces cos someone had been specifically given a crap present. The one that kept getting swapped was a box of chocs (not second hand!) that everyone wanted ... I got a block of notepaper which was actually just what I needed at the time, AND it fitted neatly in aforementioned blingy handbag for the rest of the do.

That said, this year we didn't do one, and I really didn't miss it.

[BlueStones]

So far I've always got nice things, but I have felt sorry for colleagues who got shite. One young woman got given a massager, and I know the (much older, male) boss gave it to her. Thought that was creepy.

If people are really stuck, surely chocolate/wine/nice mug are always good?

(That said, last year my 45 year old brother got me a mug with World's Smelliest Farter on it )

[ginmakesitallok]

I always give something I'd like to receive. One year I gave a nice Burt's bees set, to our office manager. Bitch didn't know it was me who bought it and spent the afternoon moaning to everyone about how shit it was. Caahhhh! This year olds gotten the new office manager a pair of silver card earrings ( only thing I know about her is she plays bridge) and some lindt chocolate reindeers.....

[EmmaFreudsGivingMeJip]

Yanbu. OH received a 'the joy of sheds' book for his secret santa. They should have saved themselves the bother and just put the £2 or whatever it was in a card.

[Whatnamenext]

I hate it. It's such an invitation to contribute to landfill.

[tearoomtrash]

I hate the £5 spending limit! It's so hard to buy something thoughtful / relevant on such a small budget. I'm afraid I succumbed to buying a mug containing hot chocolate & marshmallows. Far from imaginative! I was embarrassed giving it, but I had genuinely searched for days for something nice...

[Littlefish]

I've knitted a pair of hand warmers in my recipient's favourite colour. We had a £5 limit, so it's difficult to get anything nice. I bought a ball of nice wool, and got knitting!

[BabyMummy29]

I've always hated it in the past as it just consisted of (some people) giving and receiving rude gifts which was quite embarrassing in some cases.

This year we all bought a gift and they were just pulled out at random from a sack.

Much better for 90% of those concerned.

[Owllady]

The last Time I was in one at work I got a penis corkscrew

[RobotLover68]

I pulled out of friendship group SS this year - I gave it one last go last year and I got (for £10)

A packet of tictacs
A tin "think tobacco sized tin"
A squidgy soap which I wasn't 100% sure what it was

I cried. I know that sounds pathetic but i hardly get any presents and they are never surprises because my DH is rubbish at surprises

Over the years, same group, I've sent beautiful chocolates, a scarf, necklace/earring set - really made an effort and every single year I've got a "oh that'll do" gift

This year I said no more

OP YANBU