As quiz shows go, I love ‘Pointless’ and wouldn’t mind having a go. I’d probably need Cheltenham Town FC in the 1990s or episodes of Only Fools & Horses to come up in order to be seen at my best on it! It’s also a word that is one of my favourite topics when I’m on my soap box, with unnecessary traffic lights and playing golf in the rain top of those particular rants.

But what has that got to do with Money Matters, I hear you ask. Well, nothing actually, except a lead-in to one of the more dangerous things you can do with your hard-earned cash – spend it on pointless items.

Those who know me well will tell you that I’m not a fan of ‘enforced spend’ simply because everyone else is doing it. I have Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day and, to a lesser extent and more recently, Halloween in that category. Take Valentine’s Day as an example. Every February, you are obliged to spend money on your loved one(s) because everyone else is doing it that day. It’s pointless spending, whereas doing exactly the same on one of the other 364 days of the year provides substantially better value for money, firstly because the present doesn’t cost as much and secondly because it’s so much better received by said loved one.

Persuading us to buy additional items that we don’t really need

I know the retailers have got a living to make, but one of their ways of doing so is to persuade us to buy additional items that we don’t really need. Think about it – that becomes pointless spending. I’m a retailer’s nightmare as I will go into a shop to buy what I need and walk out again without looking around, simply to avoid buying something I don’t need. Unless I’m in a food shop with my granddaughter – that’s different, you understand, but it isn’t really. I’ll spare the High Street retailer, whose customer service appalled me last month, a public humiliation, as that’s not the subject of this article, but maybe next month, who knows?

Anyway, back to pointless spending. Black Friday is on the horizon and, whisper it quietly, Christmas is just around the corner. However much money you think you’ve got, spend it wisely.