Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Secret Santa CF's

244 replies

BoyzIIMen · 11/12/2024 23:26

If your group of friends do a Secret Santa, is there always one person who spends the bare minimum rather than the budget you've all agreed in advance?

Every year there is always one awful present and it's happened again this year. The budget is £10 and someone has bought a large bag of crisps!

We always give the option that anyone can withdraw from being part of it if they want, but they never do! None of us are struggling financially!

I'd be interested to hear of other CF Secret Santa presents!

OP posts:
SilverChampagne · 15/12/2024 17:42

Thefsm · 15/12/2024 16:57

My kids school did secret Santa one year, $5-$10 gift. I was so concerned about it because it is a school in an impoverished neighbourhood and I knew a bunch of kids hadn’t got the kind of parents who would bother with it. I went to five and below and bought fifteen nice gifts and wrapped them with boy or girl or generic wrapping paper so teacher could hand them out to kids who weren’t given a present.

That was nice of you. A bit tone deaf on the part of the teaching staff, though.

NettieHead · 15/12/2024 18:54

It's definitely the lack of effort that stings. Joke ones are fine if you know the person and they're happy to be in on the joke - an "I love Amsterdam" t-shirt for the person who missed their weekend break to Amsterdam due to a misplaced passport, or an adult sized lobster fancy dress for the person who had tried to run a $100 lobster dinner through expenses... Are a couple of the better examples at my workplace.
I got a cheap, not particularly tasty tin of biscuits one year. I complained loudly about the lack of thought/effort. My secret Santa the following year bought me, you guessed it, a tin of biscuits. That did actually make me laugh - got what I deserved for not being more gracious!

Redkatagain · 15/12/2024 19:16

BlueHam · 13/12/2024 19:49

I was once gifted a bottle of perfume.....which seems lovely...except it was used, because it belonged to the boys sister 🤐

I got aftershave. Designer aftershave.
I am their female boss.

Nightjar33 · 15/12/2024 19:25

Yes plain English is more understandable 🤣

SilverChampagne · 15/12/2024 20:31

Nightjar33 · 15/12/2024 19:25

Yes plain English is more understandable 🤣

It was a literary quote - in plain English. Poor you.

Nightjar33 · 15/12/2024 20:35

🤣🤣

naffusername · 15/12/2024 21:00

My Secret Santa decided to be off sick on the day the presents were exchanged. People had been bringing them in all week and leaving them in a secure area when no one was around.

We all knew who my SS was because I was the only person without a gift and hers was left unclaimed.

This year I drew the Boss. Not a clue.

MrsALambert · 15/12/2024 22:07

Only done it once and was given a mug with a box of out of date teabags in it. Limit was £10 and I don’t drink tea.

Lavenderblossoms · 15/12/2024 23:16

Nightjar33 · 13/12/2024 22:14

I gave a tenners worth of shopping to food bank with a thank you for donation.
dont know if it was well received. None of us needed a £10 gift.
I love a charity gift rather than something lying in a cupboard unused

But that's something you wanted rather than what they probably wanted...

I'm all for charity but I would have been a bit disappointed.

Lavenderblossoms · 15/12/2024 23:18

DreamTheMoors · 14/12/2024 01:45

I once got a Starbucks gift basket and then the gifter came over from across the room and started plucking things out of it: “Oh, I’ll have this and that gift card and the mug and that…”
By the time he was done, I had a four-ounce bag of beans as my gift in an empty basket.
I should’ve just handed him his basket back.

Why did you let him???? I'd have been like fuck you are!

Ladyluck22 · 16/12/2024 11:02

My friends and I do secret Santa £10 limit and works really well apart from the one friend who every year doesn’t have a present to give to her person and always says oh I’ll drop it round to you tomorrow and she never does. So this year she’s not been included.

helibirdcomp · 16/12/2024 11:49

whiskeytangofox · 12/12/2024 18:41

I think CF’s who are deliberately taking the piss should be outed and shamed.

We had a Secret Santa yesterday for our ladies group with max spend of 10 quid. We used to belong to the equivalent of a local WI that disbanded. I made a reversible Japanese knot bag for my gift (I’m an experienced hobby seamstress) and I received some handmade crochet fingerless mitts with matching hat which I really liked but I didn’t see all of the gifts although I can guess a couple were probably a bit iffy. 😂

Had to Google Japanese knot bag. Very pretty but images come up for some at over £70 and some at about £7. It seems if you put 'designer in your etsy name you can multiply your price by 10

Emmz1510 · 16/12/2024 12:31

Slooodie359 · 12/12/2024 20:14

7 months pregnant, big and obvious.
Got a set of shot glasses from Secret Santa.

Maybe to celebrate the fact that in two months you’d be able to drink??? Unless breastfeeding of course. Still, a bit shitty.

Emmz1510 · 16/12/2024 12:34

BoyzIIMen · 12/12/2024 22:25

Last Christmas I saw a Pringles Christmas gift set. I wouldn't have minded that, but no thought, or money, seems to have gone into a simple bag of Doritos!

You can get that set in Iceland at the moment. My 10 year old daughter has her eye on it…

Problemzapper · 17/12/2024 11:46

After 3 years on the trot of organising the work Secret Santa at £10 budget, and getting really naff/cheap or boring gifts for my trouble I decided to give up.

I don't believe my Secret Santas were deliberately buying me rubbish/cheap gifts, but I didn't think they put much thought or imagination into it either, and I did stress that it wasn't compulsory to join so if they didn't want to do it they didn't have to, but they obviously wanted to take part and get a nice gift regardless - I wouldn't mind but one gift I received (a bottle of red wine, not even wrapped just shoved in a bottle bag) cost only £6 - so they couldn't even be bothered to add a box of chocs for £4 to make up the difference. That was the last year I organised it or took part, so disappointed in the lack of effort I was 😏

ExceededUsefulEconomicLife · 17/12/2024 12:23

I hate secret Santa. I always panic that what I've given will be poorly received despite much thought - obviously you don't know them too well and am usually quite disappointed with what I receive so I always give hints to try and make it easier.

Last year the person who organised ours asked that everyone asked a few questions like resolutions, plans for the coming year and favourite items which really helped.

My worst case was someone getting a small bag of milk way stars (not even a share bag) where the limit was £20. The giver had special needs so nobody particularly blamed them but it was frustrating they were continually allowed to take part but not spoken to.

UndeniablyGenX · 17/12/2024 12:33

helibirdcomp · 16/12/2024 11:49

Had to Google Japanese knot bag. Very pretty but images come up for some at over £70 and some at about £7. It seems if you put 'designer in your etsy name you can multiply your price by 10

Show quote history

I momentarily misread it as 'Japanese knotweed'. Not what you'd want for Christmas.

Gardenbird123 · 17/12/2024 19:06

In my friends group we don't call it a limit, it's just the amount to spend

Rottweilermummy · 19/12/2024 00:14

At my work we had budget of £15 I got a self tanning kit! From I am guessing one of 2 people who are into self tanning and would know definitely not my thing lol , it came with with the one type of chocs I don't like too.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page