See if you're 'Polite Pippa' or 'Generous George' with social spend quiz
Are you the most generous person around when it comes to chipping in for group presents, or do you prefer to stash your money elsewhere, perhaps towards your own savings targets?
In classic British style, some folk are terrified of turning down invitations and go along with costly plans to avoid seeming impolite - and this quiz will show where you sit on the spectrum.
Scenarios involving office farewell gifts, kids' birthday celebrations and dividing restaurant bills will determine whether you're a 'Polite Pippa' or 'Generous George'. It comes after thousands of Brits to get shock letter from HMRC after drastic new tax rule comes into force.
'scammers tried to trick me out of £1,600 but four words gave the game away'.
This follows research involving 2,000 adults, commissioned by new savings app Spring, which revealed Brits fork out £1,025 annually on others, including covering hen and stag parties, colleagues' departure gifts and children's celebrations.
Half (52%) feel under pressure to turn up at pricey social gatherings, with guests typically spending £207 on weddings, £191 on milestone birthdays and around £150 on hen and stag events.
Others feel compelled to show up or contribute towards group dining experiences, baby showers and housewarming parties, plus making donations to fundraising efforts.
The app's head of money, Derek Sprawling, commented: "Many of us feel pressure to say yes to social events that are becoming more and more expensive.
"While the quiz questions are hypothetical, it features occasions we can all relate to from the sinking feeling of seeing another wedding invite come in to dipping into savings for another person's birthday.
"In a social media world, many people want to celebrate landmark events in style and not down the local pub, which is putting more and more pressure on budgets.
"One way consumers can manage this is by learning to say no to events they don't want to go in a gracious way that doesn't offend."
The study also revealed 51% would rather splash their cash elsewhere than on other people, with 59% of those preferring to stash the money away. Meanwhile, 47% would choose to put it towards a getaway and 33% would rather splash out on their pastimes.
Amongst the leading occasions people have attended when they didn't really fancy it were group dinners (21%), weddings (18%) and major birthday bashes (17%). And the maximum individuals have ever forked out on an event which they didn't want to take part in is £239.
Nearly half (46%) have had to raid their savings to cover the expenses, resulting in postponing or shelving their own ambitions of travelling (36%) or purchasing a property (19%).
In typical British fashion, the dread of appearing rude (34%), tight-fisted (28%) or being the 'awkward' one (28%) made people feel compelled to contribute to or attend occasions.
But many have felt frustrated (22%) and aggravated (29%) about social spending pressures, with 41% feeling there are too many celebratory events nowadays. And items such as gender reveal gifts (44%), overseas hen and stag dos (38%) and evenly splitting restaurant bills (18%) are viewed as pointless expenditure.
The research also revealed that 35% of those surveyed, via OnePoll, have experienced anxiety when they had minimal time to fund something they hadn't anticipated, with the perfect advance notice being nine weeks prior to the occasion.
Derek added: "Given the pressure on finances these events can create, if you are going to attend, making sure your money is working as hard as possible is vital, including the interest from your savings.
"We find too many people accept a poor rate of return from their bank when they could be generating much more from a higher interest account, helping to contribute to these unexpected costs."
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