If your office is like most, every time you swivel your chair around, someone is standing at your cubicle collecting money for a birthday gift, baby shower or other celebration. You don't want to look like a cheapskate, but you're tired of forking over your hard-earned money to buy gifts for co-workers. Fortunately, there are graceful ways to handle these situations without going broke.

Chances are, you aren't the only one in the group who is feeling overwhelmed. If you have a large office, why not suggest (openly or anonymously) that you start a new tradition of celebrating all of the birthdays for the entire month on a set date with one cake and one celebration? (and no gifts) When four people in my office, including me, were getting married within a few months of one another, some of my budget-conscious co-workers planned a joint wedding shower. As a clever touch, they put four separate bride and groom cake toppers on the one cake. The celebration was no less special because it was a shared one.

If you don't think this idea would be popular (some people do like any excuse to have a party on company time), you can try a few other tactics. One idea is to enthusiastically volunteer to bring something to the party instead of making a monetary contribution.

There will likely be times when your back is up against the wall and a cash contribution is your only choice. As a rule, you can't give money if you don't have it, so make it a policy not to keep more than a dollar or two in your wallet. Instead, if you must carry cash to work, keep it in a separate change purse or zipper pouch in your purse. When someone comes by seeking a five-dollar donation for Sally's retirement gift, you can take out your wallet, open it in full view, and honestly say, "All I have in my wallet is two bucks." More than likely, the collector will take your two dollars and move on to the next person without making a big fuss. If she says you can give the rest of the money later, you can always smile and say half jokingly, "Or you could just let me sign half of my name on the card!"

What if you don't want to give anything? Remember, there is no law that says you have to contribute. You are perfectly in your right to say something tactful like, "I'm sorry, but I don't have any extra money this week," or "I don't carry any extra cash with me to work anymore, because I tend to spend it on things I don't need." Of course, if you regularly boycott the office collections, you shouldn't expect to get a gift on your birthday or to be the recipient of a baby shower.

And, for the sake of your job, there probably should be some exceptions to the rule like the birthday of the boss.