Christmas issues!

A friend of mine and I agreed to buy each other a token present for Christmas.

I knew he was a bit broke so I gave him some work to do and paid about $100.

I went out and bought my present for him and we discussed the topic a little. He went Christmas shopping and never bought me anything.

He said he's broke and hasn't even bought for his mum and dad properly.

Now I'd rather he have said, I cant afford to buy your present beforehand, or lets not, I'm still strapped for cash. i wouldn't have minded if he had said something, I still would have bought...

Am I overreacting by feeling a little hurt? a token present would have meant something or even I dunno, homecooked mince pies haha

Ive told him a feel like a mug and you dont let someone buy you a present and agree to buy one back then say after (essentially) "sorry I couldnt afford it but ive bought other peoples with your money" do you?

I dont know, maybe I read too much into these things? any objective thoughts over this trivial matter would be good

You are right to be upset. It doesn't take a lot of effort to buy something thoughtful but extremely cheap. You can spend ￡5 on someone but still have it be meaningful. Hell, I love Boost bars. If someone bought me a boost bar for Christmas, apologising that they were a bit broke, at least they thought about me and put a smile on my face. For under 50p. Yeah, I think your friend was using his lack of funds as an excuse to be honest. Mad you say, the least he could have done was tell you beforehand that he didn't ahree to the token gift thing. I reckon he just couldn't think of anything so decided not to bother.

Yeah, he could have made you a cake or something.

Wouldn't bother me at all, don't worry about it.