to buy my own secret Santa gift?

[annabell22]

After multiple disappointments in various workplaces, I opted out of secret Santa this year. We don't have a gathering where they are given out so no one will know or care who takes part and who doesn't - the gifts are in a room for you to collect at your leisure. I'm tired of carefully choosing and wrapping gifts for a colleague only to receive something random and unusable - I'd rather the giver didn't waste their money.

Instead, I'm going to choose something I want and give it to myself

Definitely buy yourself a gift if finances allow but I don’t see the need to pretend it’s from the Secret Santa?

I'm not going to pretend!

Omg yes save your money. Years ago I was seriously fat, bought someone a lovely secret santa present. Opened mine and it was a guide to belly dancing which I opened in front of everyone. I was so upset, what a horrible bastard. Never participated again after that.

I would. I used to organise Secret Santa at my old workplace and rather than do it all out at random out of a hat I’d specifically match people with somebody who I knew they liked and got on well with and the giver would therefore find it a) easy to buy a present for them and b) the recipient would take any gift in the spirit it was intended. Avoided any of the angst of not knowing what gift to buy for someone you barely speak to / getting offended because you’ve been given a bubble bath set and wonder if this mean the giver thinks you smell.

I picked myself once in a work secret santa and bought myself something! And it coincidentally matched a present my lovely TA bought me, so noone guessed at all!

So basically you are going to buy yourself something? Not pretend it's from secret santa though. Of course thats not ubreasonable. People buy themselves stuff all the time.

People buy themselves stuff all the time

Yes they do. What I don't understand is why they try and shoehorn these items into being Christmas gifts.

This week I've bought some gin, some boots, some trainers, some fudge and a couple of books. They aren't gifts, they are just things I wanted or needed and were in the black Friday sales so I bought them.

I think the OP means, use the money she could have spent on SS, not literally pretend it’s a SS gift!

This is how all gifts should be bought IMO. By the recipient, for the recipient

I've always opted out of the work Secret Santa after the year (many moons ago) I spent considerable time trying to think of a thoughtful Secret Santa for someone and received a wooden bamboo Chinese takeaway menu in return.

I knew exactly who had done it, because she was a bullying witch who tried to make my life unpleasant in the work place and overheard her whispering about it. I took great delight in making sure she saw me dropping it in her waste paper bin and putting my resignation on the managers desk at the same time.

Secret Santa, unless it is a group of friends giving in the spirit it is intended, should be banned. Yes, I am projecting.