Are British people stingy or more realistic?

summerskin

Following on from the "€250 wedding gift" thread I thought I'd ask your opinions.

In the UK it's normal for a family to give £30-50 as a wedding gift, depending on how close you are to the folks getting married.

Equally, for birthdays £10 or £20 is normal or maybe £50 for a 21st for your kids or close family or something, and communions/confirmations are £20 too, at most usually.

When I moved over here I couldn't believe it. The tiger was just ending(2007) and people were giving crazy amounts. My daughter got hundreds for her first communion and we felt guilty as fcuk! Why would an aunt or uncle who sees her once a year give €100 to an 8 year old???

Me and the family travelled to the UK for a friend's wedding recently and gave £50 as a gift, as did almost everyone we knew, some gave less.

So are we British more realistic or just stingy in your eyes?



On phone so can't add poll, sorry.

The Radiator

A grand bunch of lads

eviltwin

I think Irish people worry too much about what other people think of them so if they hear the going rate for an event is 100, 250 etc they will do their best to give that even if they can't really afford it.

minidazzler

Realistic, you'd wanna be some sort of moron to be giving a gift of €200 for a wedding. Unless you are VERY well off that's an obscene amount of money for a wedding gift.

Seachmall

I don't think it's stinginess, we're just absurdly loose with money.

People are happy enough to splash out on giving stupid gifts for stupid events and then whinge about the state of the economy or price of potatoes or whatever it is people whinge about nowadays.

Of course, not everybody is happy enough to splash out, but those people are just being stingy.

John Doe1

British people in general hate their families

Nodin

John Doe1 wrote: »

British people in general hate their families

I hear they still eat the ones that die, in some parts.

ArmaniJeanss

It's our public sector wages and welfare rates being higher that gives us more scope to splurge. Probably.

summerskin

Nodin wrote: »

John Doe1 wrote: »

British people in general hate their families

I hear they still eat the ones that die, in some parts.

With gravy.


Cheap, cheap gravy.

Mr Benevolent

AH answer: The British hate everything except pubs, curries and pies.

Real answer: They're generally more realistic .

woodoo

Far more realistic. They seem to know the value of money. We pay almost anything we are asked and that was especially true during the celtic tiger. Even now during the recession people don't pay too much attention to prices.

I have a shop near me and it is the cheapest in my locality. But people don't bother going into it. They head for the nearest big name supermarket chain.

Ghandee

£30-£50 over in the UK will prob go further that €250 will over here!








N.B (May not be true)

woodoo

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

It's our public sector wages and welfare rates being higher that gives us more scope to splurge. Probably.

We are going to need the equivalent to Goodwin's law for this soon.

summerskin

Ghandee wrote: »

£30-£50 over in the UK will prob go further that €250 will over here!








N.B (May not be true)

My Gran buys 6 rasher packs of Denny's bacon at buy one get one free for £1 in Poundland so you may be onto something...

smish

English are alot tighter. I know from personal experience.

davet82

i blame the euro

smirker

Irish people are more generous. Hosting a wedding is expensive and most people see the present as a way of making a contribution. It is a hige burden on a couple to have to pay the lot themselves.

eviltwin

smirker wrote: »

Irish people are more generous. Hosting a wedding is expensive and most people see the present as a way of making a contribution. It is a hige burden on a couple to have to pay the lot themselves.

You don't have to burden yourself with debt, it can be done cheaply enough.

mikom

summerskin wrote: »

On phone so can't add poll, sorry.

stingy.

summerskin

My (Irish) mother in law has a theory that it's because Irish people were/saw themselves as poor for so long that they now over-compensate at every opportunity.

She says this as one of the biggest offenders, having grown up in poverty(real poverty, parents dying young and the kids having to work from 13 to raise the younger siblings), and then in the boom buying 6 properties, thankfully in London so the collapse didn't affect them too much. The presents she gives are mental, might as well just buy PC World for the grandkids and be done with it...

Mr Benevolent

smirker wrote: »

Irish people are more generous. Hosting a wedding is expensive and most people see the present as a way of making a contribution. It is a hige burden on a couple to have to pay the lot themselves.

They don't have to have a big wedding, thus relieving the huge burden.

Cedrus

Realistic. Irish people seem to feel that the higher the price paid the more value they're getting regardless of the quality.

Aldi & Lidl were vastly cheaper when they first arrived and they were empty, it was only when they started raising their prices that people went to them.

A friend of mine has 2 teenage and one adult daughters who refuse to eat anything from aldi/lidl and insist on branded stuff, if they weren't so lazy and got up on a saturday morning they'd realise that she hasn't shopped anywhere but aldi for the last year and transfers it all into the tesco boxes before they get up. The kelloggs boxes are getting seriously tatty by now and they still can't tell the difference.

maximoose

smirker wrote: »

Hosting a wedding is expensive and most people see the present as a way of making a contribution. It is a hige burden on a couple to have to pay the lot themselves.

Hosting a wedding doesn't have to be expensive at all. That's their choice if they want to go all out, if they can afford it then that's grand.. if not, and they're indebting themselves hoping that guests will help pay it back - well then they are just f*cking morons.

woodoo

smirker wrote: »

Irish people are more generous.

Terrified to look cheap. Better to give €250 for the wedding and let the kids starve for the week than be whispered about as tight.

ejmaztec

If people here were so generous, you wouldn't be hearing expressions like "he's still got his communion money".

K-9

800 years and all that jazz.

Cedrus

summerskin wrote: »

My (Irish) mother in law has a theory that it's because Irish people were/saw themselves as poor for so long that they now over-compensate at every opportunity.

There is a major horror of poverty or being seen to be poor among older people particularly. I bought a stripey ticking grandad shirt a few years back and one of my mothers freinds was horrified at me wearing a "poor ignorant spailpins shirt":o

woodoo

ejmaztec wrote: »

If people here were so generous, you wouldn't be hearing expressions like "he's still got his communion money".

You hear that because culturally we are so spendthrift that if someone is careful with money they stand out.

Duckworth_Luas

ejmaztec wrote: »

If people here were so generous, you wouldn't be hearing expressions like "he's still got his communion money".

Actuall, it's because of those types of expressions that Irish people are so flahulach. Nobody wants to be seen as mean.

Mr Benevolent

smish wrote: »

English are alot tighter. I know from personal experience.

A virgin, eh?

Born to Die

Irish people tend to try keep up "with the Jones", what the Welsh think I don't know.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

Cedrus wrote: »

A friend of mine has 2 teenage and one adult daughters who refuse to eat anything from aldi/lidl and insist on branded stuff, if they weren't so lazy and got up on a saturday morning they'd realise that she hasn't shopped anywhere but aldi for the last year and transfers it all into the tesco boxes before they get up. The kelloggs boxes are getting seriously tatty by now and they still can't tell the difference.

Seriously......could you be arsed

Born to Die

Cedrus wrote: »

Realistic. Irish people seem to feel that the higher the price paid the more value they're getting regardless of the quality.

Aldi & Lidl were vastly cheaper when they first arrived and they were empty, it was only when they started raising their prices that people went to them.

A friend of mine has 2 teenage and one adult daughters who refuse to eat anything from aldi/lidl and insist on branded stuff, if they weren't so lazy and got up on a saturday morning they'd realise that she hasn't shopped anywhere but aldi for the last year and transfers it all into the tesco boxes before they get up. The kelloggs boxes are getting seriously tatty by now and they still can't tell the difference.

Channel 4 needs these people for a series.

LizT

The wages and cost of living is general are lower in the UK though. For a basic grade job in the sector I'm qualified in the starting wage is 36k here compared to 21k in the UK.

pickarooney

Are UK weddings not generally much smaller, often confined to people the bride and groom have actually met?

tayto lover

smirker wrote: »

Irish people are more generous. Hosting a wedding is expensive and most people see the present as a way of making a contribution. It is a hige burden on a couple to have to pay the lot themselves.

English wedding are a load of Shyte too, a bloody buffet usually. Here you get a good feed, a toast and wine at the table. A far better affair.
If I was going to attend a wedding I would give 150e, if not 100e or a present of lesser value.

Mr Benevolent

lizt wrote: »

The wages and cost of living is general are lower in the UK though. For a basic grade job in the sector I'm qualified in the starting wage is 36k here compared to 21k in the UK.

And the job I'm in is €21k here and €45k in the UK.

ballsymchugh

pickarooney wrote: »

Are UK weddings not generally much smaller, often confined to people the bride and groom have actually met?

receptions being held in the local pub, asda or basketball court helps keep costs down too.

pawrick

They just spend their money on themselves rather then other people but honestly I haven't noticed much difference.

fasttalkerchat

lizt wrote: »

The wages and cost of living is general are lower in the UK though. For a basic grade job in the sector I'm qualified in the starting wage is 36k here compared to 21k in the UK.

The exchange rate was lower for years and the cost of living in the 26 counties was higher so that would be fair enough wage. My Da worked on a building site in Dublin years ago. Because of the travelling you only worked 7-8 hours per day and a half day on a Friday but the money was still way better than 10+ hours a day in Belfast.

bamboozle

ballsymchugh wrote: »

receptions being held in the local pub, asda or basketball court helps keep costs down too.

reminds me of a wedding attended over there at a local soccer clubhouse, soup served in a styrofoam cup, mains served on paper plate with plastic knife and fork.

JupiterKid

Yes, I do think the English are more prudent with money. It's not that they're particularly tight, it's just that us Irish are ridiculous with spending money like it's water.

The ease at which people paid ridiculous amounts during the bubble era really showed that we can be taken for fools by retailers and publicans - and combine that with our collective low self-esteem where we worry about having to give ever more lavish gifts for weddings etc - so it all got out of hand.

Perhaps this recession will teach people some needed lessons in frugality or just general common sense.

You know the old saying: A fool and his money are easily parted.

luckyfrank

THE BRITS ARE THE SAME AS US NO DIFFERENCE

Solair

I gave a cousin of mine a €50 gift voucher for her confirmation she actually got ratty about it!

(I was a broke student at the time!)

So, I just no longer bother getting anyone any presents for that kind of thing anymore. Ungrateful, money grabbing (insert swear word)s !!

I will be sending her a Tesco Value Xmas card with no stamp!

jester77

summerskin wrote: »

Following on from the "€250 wedding gift" thread I thought I'd ask your opinions.

In the UK it's normal for a family to give £30-50 as a wedding gift, depending on how close you are to the folks getting married.

Equally, for birthdays £10 or £20 is normal or maybe £50 for a 21st for your kids or close family or something, and communions/confirmations are £20 too, at most usually.

When I moved over here I couldn't believe it. The tiger was just ending(2007) and people were giving crazy amounts. My daughter got hundreds for her first communion and we felt guilty as fcuk! Why would an aunt or uncle who sees her once a year give €100 to an 8 year old???

Me and the family travelled to the UK for a friend's wedding recently and gave £50 as a gift, as did almost everyone we knew, some gave less.

So are we British more realistic or just stingy in your eyes?



On phone so can't add poll, sorry.

weddings, meh... you should have seen what they were giving for houses and apartments a few years back. Irish people don't really get the concept of money or its value.

fasttalkerchat

luckyfrank wrote: »

THE BRITS ARE THE SAME AS US NO DIFFERENCE

ssh...

luckyfrank

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

ssh...

french are different, germans are different, muslims are different, no difference closer to the brits than anyone else, time to let go of the baggage

fasttalkerchat

luckyfrank wrote: »

THE BRITS ARE THE SAME AS US NO DIFFERENCE

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

ssh...

luckyfrank wrote: »

french are different, germans are different, muslims are different, no difference closer to the brits than anyone else, time to let go of the baggage

That's fine but... NO NEED TO SHOUT ABOUT ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT... :D:D

Pottler

smish wrote: »

English are alot tighter. I know from personal experience.

That's all them pelvic floor excercises they do. English are also a lot blunter and less out to impress - when I worked in London in a butchers shop as a kid the English would come in and buy the cheap cuts, Paddy would walk in(I'm also a Paddy) and buy sirloin steak, even if they didn't have an ar5e in their trousers. I think we are a bit insecure with our money, we never had much and were historically poor whereas the Brits were strutting around eating swan back when we still lived in wicker baskets in the bog. Even when we're broke, we'd die if people thought we were poor so we act all splashy.

Duggy747

smish wrote: »

English are alot tighter. I know from personal experience.

Oooh, matron!!

brummytom

Tight English bastards