My workplace often have collections/events that cost money. Pooling together for the lottery, collections for birthdays etc. I work in the smallest department (10 person team compared to other teams being 100+). Our team has the most collections as one member of staff constantly has ideas for stuff. Recently they decided they're doing secret santa and asked who wanted to join. They said £15 and I said no thanks, money is too tight. Not only am I skint but I'm also being really strict with my budgets this year as I have a tendency to buy for buyings sake and think these kind of gifts are a waste of money - I don't know my team on a personal level and would likely be gifted something I don't want/can't use. Someone then chipped in that we can do £10 if it makes things better and I still said no, I don't have the cash to spare. They're now in cahoots about drawing names next week and are including me in the list despite my insistence I'm not doing it. They've also put the cost back up to £15. This isn't the first time they've included me in costly stuff that I've said no to - they once wanted to order food and I said no as I didn't like the food/couldn't afford it - they ordered it anyway and expected me to pay. I know they can't exactly take the money out of my wallet but I feel under pressure now and don't know how many more times I can say no.
Curious what others think. Maybe I should be more festive/be more willing to join in? Or am I right to put in boundaries? It's not that I don't literally have £15 in my account but if I spent that on a colleague I'd have £15 less for the kids/partner/parents or to go towards bills etc which I think is unfair & also just seems pointless to buy a random gift for someone who is essentially a stranger.