AITA for picking a name off of the Angel Tree??

I, 37F, want to start this post off by saying I’m not well off. I make a decent amount of money, enough to get buy paying my bills, and to splurge once in a while on myself. I had some splurge money so instead of spending it on myself, I decided to pick a name off of the Angel Tree at my local Walmart.
I have seen videos on tiktok about choosing names, I know some do it because they actually care while others do it for clout. I have done the Angel Tree before but the previous time was as a group with coworker and we all chipped in to the gifts.
The boy I picked loves spiderman. His needs were clothing and shoes, but he had some things he wished for.

I got everything on the list. The only difference was that I had a budget I had to stick too because I didn’t have a lot of "splurge money" to spend. About $110, which I know is not a lot of money to spend on someone for Christmas. I shopped smart with deals and other stores so that I could get everything on the list that he asked for.

I bought a couple clothing boxes, but I had leftover tape and wrapping paper from last year so that’s what I ended up using.

Well, I guess here’s where I might be the AH. I took the presents once they were wrapped back to Walmart because I guess that’s where you drop them off.

As I was walking in a woman about my age, or even a little younger, saw the bag I was carrying and asked if it was for a child from the Angel Tree. I informed her that it was. That’s when everything went down. She asked me if that was literally all I had bought for the kid.

I told her that I had gotten everything on his list, and that I hadn’t had much to spend. I was told that if I didn’t have a lot to spend then I shouldn’t have chosen a name off the tree to begin with, and left his name there for people who were better off than I was to pick his name. That I should’ve kept my "change" and used it for other things instead of getting a kid’s hope up.

She scoffed at me, said how "broke" people shouldn’t be allowed to even pick a name, and left me standing there feeling like a fucking idiot for wanting to get a child gifts for Christmas.

I went in and dropped the presents off before walking down to the Angel Tree. There were still a few names on it, almost the same amount as when I picked his name. So now I’m feeling like she was right and that I should’ve never participated to begin with.
So, like the title says, AITA for picking a name off of the Angel Tree??

EDIT: I see this in multiple comments so I will address it. I didnt know that you weren’t supposed to wrap angel tree gifts. This was my first time doing this solo. The previous time was with coworkers, I still wrapped my gift and wasnt told differently. So that’s why I wrapped these ones. The lady never told me that they weren’t supposed to be wrapped either.

4 thoughts on “AITA for picking a name off of the Angel Tree??”
  1. >I got everything on the list. The only difference was that I had a budget I had to stick too because I didn’t have a lot of “splurge money” to spend. About $110, which I know is not a lot of money to spend on someone for Christmas.

    NTA – I promise you, that come Christmas morning, there will be a boy who cannot believe all the things he’s gotten, and you will be the reason for that.

    You are the farthest thing from an asshole possible.

    1. Yeah, OP brought joy to a little boy on Christmas. $100 is a LOT of money, especially for someone who doesn’t have much. Thank you, OP, for bringing back some faith in humanity. You’re a good human.

  2. NTA at all. $110 is a lot to spend on one person imo. That little boy will be thrilled. Should have asked her much she spent on the name she chose.

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