I've just returned from a week’s break in the sunshine – well deserved some might say. I think so anyway! I booked through an agent, whose service was poor, although they actually made all the bookings safely so it worked in the end. But they made me answer so many questions about what I wanted to spend that it set me thinking about the value of money and more particularly how it is perceived by different people.

The only week available to me was half term, so it was already nearly twice as expensive to fly and stay anywhere. I knew that by flying with a so-called low cost carrier I would be charged for everything from a tissue to blow my nose to the bags I wanted to take on the plane. But even that turned into a fascinating conversation at the airport and on the plane.

Perfectly happy to pay half term prices (do they have a choice with the new rules of missing school time?), parents were refusing their children a drink because it was too expensive. Hello! You’ve just booked a family holiday, got the kids up at an ungodly hour to get the 6.15am flight and ordered 200 cigarettes from duty free. Yet when the poor child is thirsty, it’s no go.

We may have our priorities all wrong

We seem to pay out on the bigger items in our budget without spending more than what seems to be cursory time on decision making, whereas when it comes to spending a few pennies, it’s as if the bank has called in the overdraft. I think we may have our priorities all wrong.

I might concede that people take their time over house buying, which is obviously the number one expense. But then again I don’t think that applies universally. But what about the car, which for most is the number two cost? How many did you test drive or have mechanically checked before you bought it? And then you have the cheek to complain when it breaks down within the first few months. And how much do you spend on looking after it once you’ve bought it?

The same applies to holidays. They cost a fortune, even in weeks other than half term, but we still don’t do it properly because we think it’s too expensive to make sure that little Johnny or Josephine has the best time and therefore you get value for money. Value isn’t just for you; it’s for all those around you too.

Look after the pennies I hear some of you quote. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly would be my robust response. Enjoy your time when you manage to get away this year and make sure you do the holiday justice.