Secret Santa CF's

[BoyzIIMen]

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!

We used to do SS at work. One year I got bc a (woolly) scarf in a box which wasn’t pristine. Re-cycled, unwanted gift?

Another year I got a small notebook and a handbag bag ( the sort that folds up into a pouch). I‘M guessing a panic last minute gift, but so odd,

( although I still have the bag and scarf so maybe not bad presents).

I often got given wine or something from my last job, when I was open about the fact I don’t drink.

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. 😂

Yep - I organised the work Christmas party for about 50 people. I got a 50p diary - I was kind and thought maybe the person who bought it had money troubles, but was a bit disappointed.

One year I received one of those very cheap boxes of wrapped truffles from home bargains and a travel sized set of Sainsburys shower gel, body cream and hand cream - the box was bashed and the items inside had sticky dust all over them. When I opened the truffles most of them were just wrappers! £20 spend...I think not!!

Is it? Are you sure?
I thought it must be Christmas Frippery! 😱

To be fair I would probably have liked the bag of crisps over most Secret Santa presents - at least they would get eaten rather than straight to the charity shop.

Could have at least thrown a big bar of chocolate in and a bottle of coke to make it a proper treat, I'd have been quite happy with that tbf lol

No stories to share I'm afraid but I'm enjoying reading the thread!

Think I’d be making a lot of loud noise re cheeky fuckers and that it’s pointless doing it unless you play fair. Wanker.

This is why I refuse point blank to do secret Santa. A lady at work once got £5 in an envelope from the stationary cupboard. Not even in a bloody card! She was the most lovely lady as well, any boots gift set would have sufficed if they were struggling for ideas. Then at my mums old place of work, a £20 limit but everyone asking who had who and asking for expensive perfumes etc. And someone got the cleaner and thought it would be funny to gift her cleaning products. Absolute twat. I think it can bring out the worst in some tight people, hidden under the cover of a mystery gifter!

We work over several bases so it's difficult to get together to pick names we made the decision for one person to lead and assign names....since then we've never had any problems ( years without 1 person getting a present or shit present) as one person knows exactly who's got what for who!

I wouldn't do it because it's against the spirit of the game, but if I got the cash value like a fiver in an envelope, I wouldn't complain. At least you know you got the full value.

Flip. I always thought "£10 limit" meant not to go over £10. Not anything up to £10. I'd always try and get as close to the £10 as possible. Bag of crisps. That's desperate 😬

The worst one I witnessed was my lovely work friend (very, very overweight) receiving a tiny red lacy thong that would have fit a size 6.

She laughed it off to save face but confided in me and another colleague later about how embarrassed and upsetting she found it.

We kept the budget low and jokey presents were fine normally, but this was in such poor taste, I really felt for her.

I have bought crisps in the past too, when our budget was a tenner I bought lots of flavours of pringles for someone who was a known crisp lover. I did spend £10 though and I knew they would enjoy them, it wasn't out of laziness/stinginess!

I think that crosses the line into bullying, personally.

glass cleaning wipes.

Do I win?

(yes my glasses are always dirty - but still....)

One of my friends who is in their mid 30s, lives at home still and is a long time singleton with very little interest in dating ALWAYS used to get sex toys and sex related presents. The joke died about 10 years ago and in the end they stopped joining in.

When I participated in work ones I’d always end up with a cheap none branded hand cream set or similar that looked like it had been regifted.

I worked with a woman who had a bit of a… reputation (regularly regaled us with her sexploits). I kid you not, for secret Santa someone got her a pregnancy test and a babygro as a joke. Management were FURIOUS but the woman did laugh it off - it was inappropriate and embarrassing for her though.

A few years later, I did a secret Santa in a different job and as everyone was gathered round opening presents and I was the only one not to receive anything, as my SS “forgot”. That was humiliating.

I think if you sign up to do secret Santa, please put some thought, effort and care into it.

Whoever set up the secret Santa will know who bought the crisps. Next year, they need to make sure they get them and give them something shit like Brussel sprouts

I once got a box of Malteasers wrapped in photocopy paper. There was a Tesco downstairs and they were on BOGOF that week too, so I always reckoned I got the 'free' box.

The lacy thong would be a disciplinary if I had anything to do with it, horrible person...

Many years ago, a friend of mine had to explain to her husband why it was not appropriate for him (a teacher) to give the female headteacher, as a secret santa gift, a Marvin Gaye CD which included the track Sexual Healing....

He genuinely just thought it was great music.

Whoever set up the secret Santa will know who bought the crisps. Next year, they need to make sure they get them and give them something shit like Brussel sprouts

Or buy a box of Ferreo Rocher and peplace the chocolates with Brussel sprouts.

Perhaps at this time of year CF could also stand for Christmas Fuckery?

One year I got a two part Secret Santa gift comprising a vegetable steamer and a pink feather boa.