Are you the most generous in your group? Find out your social spending persona

North Wales Live

9 hours ago

Are you amongst the most generous when it comes to chipping in for collective presents, or would you rather direct your money elsewhere, such as towards your personal savings objectives?
In classic British style, some individuals are reluctant to turn down invitations and participate in costly arrangements to prevent seeming impolite - and this quiz will determine your position on the spectrum.
Enquiries regarding workplace farewell presents, children's birthday celebrations and dividing restaurant costs will establish whether you're a 'Polite Pippa' or 'Generous George'.
This follows a survey of 2,000 adults, commissioned by new savings app, Spring, which discovered Britons spend £1,025 annually on others, including covering hen and stag celebrations, colleagues' departure gifts and children's parties.
Half (52%) experience pressure to join costly social occasions, with guests averaging £207 on weddings, £191 on significant birthdays and typically £150 on hen and stag events.
Others feel compelled to participate in or contribute towards group dining experiences, baby showers and housewarming parties, alongside donating to charitable causes.
Derek Sprawling, head of money for the app, 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 discovered 51% would prefer to spend their money elsewhere rather than on other people, with 59% of those choosing to save the cash instead. Meanwhile, 47% would opt to put it towards a holiday and 33% would rather spend on their hobbies.
Amongst the top events people have attended when they didn't really want to were group meals (21%), weddings (18%) and big birthday parties (17%). And the most individuals have ever spent on an occasion which they didn't want to take part in is £239.
Nearly half (46%) have had to dip into their savings to cover the costs, resulting in delaying or putting off their own goals of travelling (36%) or buying a home (19%).
In typical British fashion, the fear of appearing rude (34%), stingy (28%) or being the 'difficult' one (28%) made people feel obliged to contribute to or attend events.
But many have felt annoyed (22%) and irritated (29%) about social spending expectations, with 41% feeling there are too many celebratory occasions nowadays.
And expenses such as gender reveal gifts (44%), overseas hen and stag dos (38%) and evenly splitting restaurant bills (18%) are viewed as wasteful expenditure.
The research also revealed that 35% of those surveyed, via OnePoll, have experienced anxiety when given short notice to pay for something unplanned, with nine weeks being the preferred advance warning period.
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."