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How much is the right amount to spend on a co-workers farewell present?

One woman asks for help!
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How much is the appropriate amount to spend on a co-workers leaving present? A British 19-year-old supermarket worker has asked users of Mumsnet for their opinions after revealing she spent £72.34 on a colleague. 

Posting with the pseudonym LilacBearberry, the woman shares that she had offered to pay for a few items of shopping as a leaving present for a fellow co-worker. 

She wrote: ‘I told her to grab a few bits and I’ll treat her. The shopping came to £72.34, she then goes ‘thanks so much’.’ 

The woman adds, ‘Maybe it was my fault for doing what I did, but don’t you think that’s quite rude?’ 

As a a young student on a minimum wage salary, the supermarket worker asks if the hefty bill was rude or her own fault for offering. 

She further reveals that the two were not close, but she felt it necessary to buy her a gift as everyone else had. 

Most responses to the thread slammed her for agreeing to pay the amount and questioned why she didn’t give the woman a maximum spend.

‘I’m sorry when the bill came to over £70, I don’t get why you didn’t say something, no one is that spineless,’ one person wrote.

Another added, ‘I would’ve refused to pay for it. Sorry but think £10-£15 max would’ve been more reasonable. £70 odd quid? cheek’. 

One user even gave some pretty sound advice, ‘You should have simply said ‘oh I didn’t know today was your last day! I have a gift for you at home, when would be good to meet up so I can give it to you.

‘Work on saying no, it’ll do you good and stop [people] taking advantage of you.’

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This article originally appeared on New Idea.

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