Planning ahead - a question

[BiPenny]

Have been thinking today about - dare I say it - christmas.

Due to the credit crunch etcetcetc blahblahblah I have decided to try and start shopping early and spread the cost (as I missed out on doing my usual january sales stockpiling this year as I usually do) as much as possible.

Have been thinking of pressies for friends - the sort of thing I usually get them is a nice, bright toiletries gift or choccies or a cheap bottle of something - you know the sort I mean. I usually get similar back from them and it is greatly appreciated but TBH I don't always use the stuff - often the toiletries go in my stash of emergency pressies for when I forget a birthday or similar!! I suspect they feel the same.

So this year I was thinking of buying them one of the 'virtual' gifts that you can get from places like The Brooke and Oxfam where you buy a hundred childrens meals for £6 and the recipient gets a fridge magnet and a card to explain what they have 'donated'. My mum suggested I could then top this up with a token gift such as the boxes of 2 or 3 choccies that Thorntons etc do for a pound or so.

My question is how would you feel if your friend gave you this as a gift? Would it be appreciated? Or would you secretly be a bit naffed off with them? Feel free to be as honest as you wish.

[Maffyew]

Personally if i recieved that i would be delighted, i like giving to charities and its for a good cause, also it makes me feel good that its gone in my name sorta thing, i think its generous as i believe chirstmas is a time where you should spend it with your family and not just blow so much money on things that you might not even need. Id like it, but then it does depend on the friend that your giving it to.

[princealbertofb]

My question is how would you feel if your friend gave you this as a gift? Would it be appreciated? Or would you secretly be a bit naffed off with them? Feel free to be as honest as you wish.

It's a nice notion that someone has bothered to pay for a charity FOR YOU but I'm not sure it really works. I think giving money to charity is something that each person really ought to do themselves. Couldn't you encourage your friends to donate £6 to an Oxfam fund raising for food?

Why, in fact do you want to do it this way? Is it meant to open their eyes to the conditions of people around the world? I think I'd sooner get the small token gift, knowing that you are preferring to donate to some charity, the amount that you would spend on me normally (say), but not let you give to charity in my name... Is this a way charities have of garnering more addresses that they can then bug to get money when they need it?
Really not sure it's a good idea, although, yes, I do believe in being generous.

a for you BiPenny, for being sooooo kind... hehehe.

[CardShark]

I didn't want to sound like a ass hole.

But I agree with PA, if I got one I would feel that I haven't done anything towards it and to be honest feel guilty.

[Shadow]

To be honest it's only ever happened to me once and I thought it was a fantastic idea ... HOWEVER I know myself plenty well-enough to know that were ALL ? Or even a THIRD or my presents to be that ? Then I would be a bit :frown:.

It isn't that I begrudge giving money away to charity, don't get me wrong - I donate myself, but I also think it's nice to get pressies ... more to unwrap .

.

I'm just a big kid really ... :redface:.

xXx

!?!?! Shadow !?!?!

[Phil]

I got a couple of those last year (one was a goat and the other was 6 chickens) and nice idea as it was i was only thinkin how there's no way i'd send my enemies too some of those countries let alone a poor goat or some chickens!

[marshlander]

I got a couple of those last year (one was a goat and the other was 6 chickens) and nice idea as it was i was only thinkin how there's no way i'd send my enemies too some of those countries let alone a poor goat or some chickens!

Phil, I think your conscience should not be troubled by your generosity. I think the goats and chickens are already natives of those places

In the past I have received birthday presents of real goats and chickens :eek:

[Phil]

i never thought of that lol i imagined them gettin packed on a flight and sent off!
Some chickens would be my ideal present tho had goats before ..more trouble than there worth!

[marshlander]

i never thought of that lol i imagined them gettin packed on a flight and sent off!
Some chickens would be my ideal present tho had goats before ..more trouble than there worth!

Aw, but goats are lovely creatures, even if having to be around to milk them twice a day was a bit of a pain sometimes.

[Phil]

Yeah lovely when there still too young too have developed houdini-like powers of escape...i spent many a day traipsin round the country lookin for the f@ckers that and the fact that they never thought twice too ram ya when ya turned yer back...chickens a lot easier