ME and MY MONEY:Declan Burke, writer/editor talks about his spending habits
Are you a saver or a spender? Isn't that a moot question these days?Do you shop around for better value? That depends on what I'm buying. For day-to-day and small stuff, no, because who has the time to go running around checking the price of bread and milk? If it's a big purchase, I'll look at a number of options. Preferably on the web, to save time.
What has been your most extravagant purchase and how much did it cost?Leaving aside the mortgage, that would be my car, bought second-hand five years ago for roughly €8,000. A pretty good investment, as it happens, because it's holding up nicely, and gives very little trouble. Which is just as well – I bought it from my father-in-law.
What purchase have you made that you consider the best value for money?My head says my car, my heart – and apologies for the schmaltz – says the engagement ring I bought my wife. That ring, and the promise it made, was the best thing I've ever bought. Priceless, as the ads say.
Have you ever crossed the Border to shop?Yes. If we have a big event coming up or maybe at Christmas, occasions like that. But with the price of petrol and the equalising of VAT rates, it doesn't make much sense to make the trip for a weekly shop.
Do you haggle over prices?Rarely. If I want something, then I'm prepared to pay for it. If I think I'm being ripped off, I'll walk away. I hate the idea of haggling. Seems kind of demeaning to all sides.
Has the recession changed your spending habits?Not hugely. I spend on what I need rather than what I want.
Do you invest in shares?No. I don't like the idea of stock markets, casinos or bookies or any other kind of organised gambling, mainly because I've tended to add to other people's pension schemes any time I have tried to gamble. It's also true that I've never had enough of a chunk of the kind of disposable income you'd need to invest in shares.
What was the last thing you bought and was it good value for money? Three return tickets to Cyprus, for the first proper family holiday we'd had for a few years. We had a terrific time, not least because it was marvellous to get away from the doom and gloom (and grey skies) back home.
Have you ever successfully saved up for a relatively big purchase?Mortgage apart, I've never gone out on a limb, credit-wise, for a big purchase. I've always been in my financial comfort zone with any loans I've secured.
Have you ever lost money? Apart from negative equity?Not in a big way.
Are you a gambler and if so have you ever had a big win?I spend (waste?) my spare time writing books, and the inherent gamble there is that the time you invest – which is time you're stealing away from your family, after all — will pay off in financial terms at some point. I've been writing seriously for about 10 years, and the biggest payout I got was a two-book deal with an American publisher, for €12,500. The writing life is running at a serious loss.
Is money important to you?Yes, in that it's required to pay the bills and keep my family safe, warm and fed. Otherwise, I have no interest in money for its own sake.
How much money do you have on you now?€15 in notes, about six in coins and a bus pass.
Declan Burke is the editor of Down These Green Streets: Irish Crime Writing in the 21st Century (Liberties Press).In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea