To ask how much you would willingly pay for your work's Christmas Party?

[Hohohonooo]

I'm not going because of the cost.

Ours is £70 per person, which is for a 3 course meal and all inclusive beer and wine. AIBU to think that's way too much?! For context, I earn £25000 per year, which is fairly typical for my workplace.

How much would you be willing to spend?

We used to have one paid for with free bar and meal (or £30pp allowance to do something else within our team(s). But now company are trying to save money they've stopped that so we've organised our own at £35pp. I'm going because I'm pregnant so its not like I'll be spending lots on beer.

I've never had to pay and I've had some fairly extravagant 'do's (overnights, limitless bars etc).

No way would I spend £70, that's an extortionate amount to ask.

Wouldn't go if I had to pay - didn't realise some people pay to go to a work party. Would rather organise my own gathering with only people I'd actually want to socialise with outside of work if I'm spending my own money.

£70 is a lot, OP. If my work was organising a party I'd expect a couple of drinks and some snacks to be paid for by the employer. My costs would be my clothes and transport.

If we organised a Christmas outing among a group of employees I couldn't afford more than about 25/30€ for the whole evening's food and drink, and we would go somewhere that doesn't require dresssing up expensively and somewhere we can all get to by metro or bus or walking. We would probably postpone to a quieter time of year when we're all a bit richer, to be honest.

We get £30 or £35 allowance per head - can't remember which and the rest we have to cover. Bank.

Ours is free. Food on arrival (but more buffet than anything substantial) and we get 2 free drinks. It's at the same shit place we go every year and even if I hadn't quit work a month ago to be a SAHM I wouldn't have gone.

Most restaurants do a lunch deal of 3 courses plus coffee for £30 and I'd raise eyebrows at more than that.

Mind you, work pay for ours, and as a first time manager I'll get a round in. We also do it at lunchtime, so it's not optional, unless you'd literally rather sit in the office all afternoon, as we get the afternoon off afterwards also.

Mine is free. I have to take holiday to not go. I enjoy the party but some leave as soon as it’s acceptable.

If your employer doesn’t pay then Christmas ‘do’ should be a nice team lunch/dinner that costs £20-£30 each max.

Everywhere I’ve ever worked the Christmas ‘do’ is paid for but I know this isn’t the norm for lots of people.

That’s terrible! We pay for a 3 course meal in a nice restaurant in a private room and all the drinks for a staff of 20. It’s a thank you for hard work all year, I can’t believe other places expect their employees to pay.

I go to work to earn money not to spend it.

I'd rather just organise something with the people I like from work but even then, I can't really be arsed. Don't we see each other enough?

NO way in hell! £70pp is an expensive night out I'd want to spend it with people of my choosing at a place I've chosen.

If the employer wants a posh do they pay for it. Otherwise it's just a normal meal out which everyone can afford.

Its ours tomorrow. There's only 14 of us so the business owner pays for everything. He's booked a restaurant in town for us all to have lunch at 1.30pm which is then followed by an informal pub crawl.

There is no way I'd pay £70 to go out with my colleagues. I'm just about willing to pay for a taxi home and that's it.

Hohohonoooe I can see why the price put you off. I wonder how many of your workmates have also been deterred by the expense just as you have been, and the gathering turns out a bit of a flop because so many feel as you do. Someone needs to have a quiet word with the organiser about the size of chunk they are taking out of people's salaries.
If anybody bothers to consult you when lack of support for the event becomes embarrassing, you could make positive suggestions about something within the price range of you and your colleagues; make it clear that you're not just being negative.
I worked in the public sector and we paid for ourselves, but choice of venue was usually discussed at the planning stage as we wanted as many folk there as possible.

We get £20 from the company but organise our own thing, one year we did it at a colleagues house which work really well.

This year it's a Xmas menu at a restaurant, so is £30 pp with one drink, so I could easily end up spending a lot of my own money unfortunately. I'd been on maternity when it was organised so didn't have any input

I think I've paid £30ish for one before. The firm was unable (or unwilling) to pay but the organiser was careful not to pick anything too expensive and checked we were all ok with it. I was happy to pay because I really liked those colleagues! All other work Christmas parties I've been to have been paid for by the company.

£70 is a pisstake and whoever's organised it sounds hugely out of touch. A lot of people don't even have 70 quid going spare just before Christmas, I certainly don't. I wouldn't go and I'd tell them why.

This year ours cost £30, which hasn’t gone down well as it was subsidised before now. They are also holding it in the middle of nowhere so everyone would have to either drive or get a taxi and the hotel drink prices are exorbitant. They can’t understand why pretty much no one is going

Interesting to see some of you spend £10 or less on drinks. How much do you drink? I am by no means a very heavy drinker but £10 wouldn only cover at most 2 alcoholic drinks or (possibly) 3 soft drinks.

I'd pay between £20-30 maximum.

Barbed. I drink very little. i would have a glass of wine or two with the meal from a shared bottle and gthen maybe a soft drink or water.

Free ours is free , however although I get on well with the people at work I don't socialise with them and never go to a Christmas event ( or any event outside of work )

Mine is paid for. If it wasn't, I probably wouldn't bother going - but I think £30 would be about the most I would consider paying.

£0.

I went about 10 years ago as there were only 5 of us, were extremely close and considered them friends. Think it was £25 for 3 course meal then drinks. It was a great night and we all good stinking drunk

These days, I avoid work dos like the plague.

Nothing, work should pay, it's a works party right?