When people whinge about “rip-off-Ireland” (TM) I always have to point out that Irish people often have only themselves to blame for getting price gouged. Too many people don’t check prices and shop around. And in the pre-recession days we were far too willing to just pay the silly prices. I like to think I have always been different that way (but then doesn’t everyone think they are not part of the crowd). I drive Laura demented with my slow and careful approach to buying stuff.

In the last week I spotted two things I thought I should pass on. The first is about a place to avoid. On Saturday afternoon I was in GAP in the Dundrum shopping centre looking for a pair of blue trousers for work. A lot of people go for the Dockers one, but I have always found the GAP ones to be cheaper and just as good. They had what I was looking for, and the price was €54. They made the mistake though of leaving the sterling price on the price sticker – stg£35. Now I will accept that VAT rates in Ireland are different to the UK, and exchange rates fluctuate, but at the rate this morning stg£35 is €39.25. You have to add on another 27% to get to €54. This seems like a total swizz to me. So sorry, GAP you will not be getting my business at those prices.

My good value tip comes from somewhere you wouldn’t normally expect to find it – Dublin Airport. I picked up one of these new low spec “Good Enough” camcorders last week. It runs on SD cards so I wanted to get two 4GB ones. Passing through the airport I saw they were selling Fuji ones for €12 a pop. I did a check on the internet gave prices of €15 to €20 in Komplett, the UK and Sweden. So I bought. Later that day I was on the phone to a friend standing in a Best Buy in the US where he told me they were $19.99 or €13.32. So kudos to the gadget shop in Dublin airport, cheapest in the US and Europe!