Secret Santa budget: how much should you spend?
· 5 min read
Secret Santa budget: how much to spend with colleagues, friends or family, a cap or a range, postage, and how to announce it without making anyone awkward.
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The right Secret Santa budget is one the person with the least spare cash in the group can manage without thinking twice. Set it before the draw, put it in the invitation and say what it covers. As a starting point, we suggest around £10 for colleagues, £15 to £20 for friends and £20 to £30 for family when the draw replaces other presents between adults. These are suggestions to adapt, not measured averages.
The spending limit is one of the basic Secret Santa rules, alongside keeping the secret and fixing the date. It's also the one that prevents the most awkward moments. Here's how to pick it and make it stick.
Who sets the Secret Santa budget?
The organiser suggests an amount and the group agrees. With family or friends, a quick question in the WhatsApp group is enough. Offer two or three figures and go with the lowest one most people are happy with.
At work, don't ask everyone how much they'd like to spend in front of the others. Nobody wants to admit that £20 is a stretch at the end of the month. It's kinder to announce a sensible figure straight away. People rarely complain about a modest budget.
How much should you spend on Secret Santa?
For colleagues
Keep it low, around £10. Salaries vary from one role to the next, and apprentices and interns take part too. In a 2024 survey of UK office workers by instantprint, 48% said they spend between £5 and £10.
For friends
£15 to £20 usually feels comfortable. Bear in mind the evening itself already costs something: the food, a bottle, sometimes the train fare. The present comes on top of all that.
For family
A family Secret Santa usually swaps a pile of small presents for one better one, so you can go a bit higher, around £20 to £30, or more if everyone agrees. Decide what happens with the children too. Plenty of families leave them out of the draw and keep buying for them directly.
For teenagers or students
Frequently asked questions
›What is a normal Secret Santa budget in the UK?
For offices, £10 is a common choice, and a 2024 instantprint survey found 48% of office workers spend between £5 and £10. Friends and families often go a little higher.
›Should Secret Santa have a minimum spend?
A floor close to the limit helps, for example "around £15, nothing under £10". It stops a £3 present ending up next to a £15 one.
›Does wrapping count towards the budget?
Usually not, the budget covers the present itself. The easiest thing is to say so in the invitation, especially if parcels need posting.
›Can I set the budget on Santamigo?
Yes. When you create the group, an optional field lets you enter a budget per gift and the currency.
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