I know there unreasonable but £30 is insane!

[FranksBank]

To spend on someone you don't really like. For Sectet Santa

I am very PT and have been asked to arrange this, with them saying 'we knew you wouldn't want to join in because you don't celebrate it' I do actually celebrate it but I'll gladly let them think I don't now!

Anyway, the budget the person asking me to arrange it has set is £30. They want me to send out the email asking people to opt in, and mention it's a £30 budget.

AIBU to actually ask what madness has embedded within her to think this is a fair amount?

I said 'Is that not very high?' And she said 'Sent it out after Halloween! They'll have time to save, won't they?' And she seemed very smug to announce this obvious information

It's a school. Nobody is rich.

£30 is MUCH too much to spend on tat for someone at work.

fwiw we are by most people’s standards very well off - it’s not even about affordability (although that should be much more mindfully considered) rather a total disconnect from what’s normal!

A meal with colleagues or a festive drink - sure. An amusing low cost joke present or pair of socks. Fine. A thoughtfully chosen £30
gift for Maureen from accounts who you’ve been randomly assigned? Bulls**# waste of time, effort, energy and money.

definitely make it very clear indeed that you are the messenger not the architect of this.

We do £5 and it's got to be from a Charity shop!

Further to my previous…

I think £30 is particularly awful because it’s the sort of amount of money that people will feel they ‘should’ be able to spare without difficulty. So people who are confident their finances will say no (because its bulls*) But people who don’t want to be perceived as struggling, but might be, will feel compelled to contribute.

I hate it.

Us adults have decided not to be brainwashed anymore.
We've realised we can think for ourselves and aren't sheep.
We mutually don't buy as any adult can buy themselves anything at any time.
There's always one, dosent make sense there are now more and more people rejecting present buying at Xmas.
They've seen what a headache and a farce it is.
This thread and loads of others just proves it.

I've had TAs on my team who absolutely struggled to make ends meet. Any secret Santa was a nightmare for them. Even £5 was out of their comfort zone. Fortunately ours had a maximum of £5 with silly cheap things welcomed. So they could go to Poundland for their gifts.

A £30 suggested budget would have had then in tears.
At least OP 's school's is opt in, rather than everyone being expected to join in.

Bloody hell!! We have secret Santa at my school with a budget of £5.00! Not a chance in hell anyone would shell out £30!!

I've stopped taking part now though as I've cut down to 3 days and the draw is always on a Friday - which I don't work 👌🏻 Win for me 🤣

in the past I did a secret Santa where you could only spend £5 and you HAD to spend it on something in a charity shop or something home made

A few years ago we thought about that for our Secret Santa but ended up making a charity donation to a charity near the office instead.

Both are much better options than buying plastic tat/joke presents that go straight into the bin or the local charity shop.

The whole "must buy from a charity shop" rule is a bit daft if it's meant to be about being environmentally friendly because most charity shops sell new products designed specifically for their charity (like mugs, tea towels, badges, jigsaws, umbrellas etc) and will also have a selection of Christmas gifts that are specific to that charity - like tree decorations etc.
They will essentially have come from the same factories as the Christmas products sold in B+M or John Lewis or wherever!
Charity Shop doesn't always mean "secondhand".

£30 is more than I spend on my friends. And I like them!

I would say £5 or £10 is absolutely fine for a work secret Santa. Nobody would expect to receive anything particularly nice from a work ss anyway, would they? Chocolates, wine, candles, bath stuff, hand cream. They are the ss go-to gifts and none of them is £30!

Suggest you all give £5 to a homeless charity instead.

£30 is far too much. £10 max.

Normally £10, it’s a gesture, a bit of fun. £30 isn’t fun, I’d opt out if I got that email, and leave them to it.

£30 is way over the top, when I've done it in the past (don't bother now) we did £10. Tbh whatever the budget, half the gifts will be a generic Christmas stuff anyway unless you really know the person you have picked. Some people are really thoughtful others not so.

The whole point of secret Santa used to be to see what you could get for a fiver...amusing or something the person would like. It involved thought and planning.
Some of my family think a tenner in an envelope is sufficient for a family birthday /Christmas present.
£30 for secret Santa is bonkers..

That's a ridiculous amount of money. We spend £5. I would refuse go get involved.

Tenner, max.

How about a header at the top of the email "Sent of behalf of....."

Secret santas are £10/15.

yeap. She wants a nice gift, doesn’t she? Why is she not sending the mail?

Absolutely, warn you will do that.

« I am not feeling comfortable with the amount, but I can defo send the email on your behalf »

Let her face change completely. Please come back and tell us what she told you!🤣🤣
cheecky one!

Spending £30 on a family member is usually fine because you know them and know what their interests/tastes are (or they've specifically asked for something)
Spending anywhere near £30 on someone you don't know well seems like a waste of time/effort/money and gift (who knows if they'll like the thing anyway!)

DDs form used to do Secret santa in the class, budget £5 but the form tutor insisted they couldn't choose chocolates or sweets because it wasn't v imaginative. 🙄Which was a PITA when you didn't know the person!

You could always say, it has been suggested (not by me).. and leave it to the recipients' imaginations?

£30! We are in a cost of living crisis!

I haven't done secret Santa for years and then the limit was £5 or £10 which is more than enough.

£30 is way too much for secret Santa unless it's a really high paid employer across the board.
£10-15 seems more normal, and even for some people that's a stretch.

Blimey! I don't spend that on friends & family! At my work do £1 & shop at Poundland for ours, it's a bit of competition as to who can buy the naffest present. It's just a bit of fun. £30 is ridiculous.

The PP who suggested the surprise book-swap is a genius.
Who needs more plastic novelty tat or cheap chocs? Books are brilliant!! And if you get one you don't like, you can donate it to a charity shop, guilt-free.
I am totally going to suggest this next time someone raises the prospect of a secret Santa.