Are you a saver or a spender? I'm a saver.
Do you shop around for better value? Not really. When I do see something I want, I'll check the price against some online prices and, if I feel it's okay, I'll buy local.
What has been your most extravagant purchase and how much did it cost? I remember when I started working that I wanted to buy what seemed to me at the time to be an expensive camera. Someone close to me suggested I go ahead with the purchase, otherwise, what's the point in working? I bought the camera and got a bit hooked on photography. I've been buying cameras every couple of years ever since.
What purchase have you made that you consider the best value for money? I think the best move I've ever made was forming Hibernia Services Limited for a couple of hundred pounds in 1990. It's kept me employed ever since, and it's given me the opportunity to spend every year, getting a return on my initial spend.
How do you prefer to shop – online or local? I prefer to buy locally if possible. I feel that, as long as I'm not paying over the odds, I'm supporting a local business paying a local salary and local taxes. I'll buy online from time to time for those hard to find items.
Do you haggle over prices? Not on a day-to-day basis. I've been to India and Africa – now those guys will teach you the importance of haggling! I tend to live my life on the basis that everybody in the process needs to make a living.
Has the recession changed your spending habits? Not really, I'm a saver, as I said, so I was never too extravagant. When, in 2008, I saw bottles of water on sale for €45 a bottle, I knew there was something wrong. We may as a country be leaving the recession behind, but I feel that spare cash is being utilised to pay for the boom. Extra taxes, levies and charges have been ushered in post-boom.
This hangover is going to last for a while and is training us all to be a little more frugal – which isn’t a bad thing.
Do you invest in shares? Nope. I got some 'free' shares over the years which went up in value. I made the mistake, though, of becoming emotionally attached to them. I think they're now worth as much as they cost me – nothing.
Cash or card? Both.
What was the last thing you bought and was it good value for money? A camera – that's my weakness. No, it was not good value for money. If I really needed another camera it may have been but the one I had, in hindsight, was just fine.
Have you ever successfully saved up for a relatively big purchase? The family home. I bought it in 2001. It needed a lot of work to make it habitable. I think it's now almost worth what I paid for it back then but I always feel that you have to consider the family home outside a business investment; you're probably never going to benefit from the capital appreciation, anyway.
Have you ever lost money? I've had one or two expensive lessons in the University of Life but I try to regard them as learning experiences as opposed to mistakes.
Are you a gambler and, if so, have you ever had a big win? I never bet on horses or dogs or anything suchlike. I'm always terrified that I might win.
Is money important to you? I think financial freedom is important to me. There are no pockets in a shroud and I'd not like efforts to gain material wealth remove me too far from my family life. It may seem a bit crass but for me the greatest rewards in life don't cost anything. If we're lucky to be healthy, the other good stuff tends to be free.
How much money do you have on you now? About €100. I like to have enough cash on me to get a good cup of coffee every day and a card on me in case of emergencies. The €100 should keep me in caffeine for a while!
In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea
