ME & MY MONEY:Gavin Duffy, dragon on RTÉ's Dragon's Den.
Are you a saver or a spender?
A spender.
Do you shop around for better value?
I always shop around and always look for a bargain. I love to haggle.
What has been your most extravagant purchase ever and how much did it cost?
A piece of jewellery for my wife on the birth of our fourth child and first daughter. I could never, ever say how much it cost, but in hindsight it was the best bargain ever.
What purchase have you made that you consider the best value for money?
A rocking horse. If you have young kids buy one. Best value plaything ever. The kids are now big teenagers but they will still be seen talking to their friends rocking gently back and forward on the horse. Years of value – precious golden memories – priceless.
Have you ever crossed the Border to shop?
Never, ever. I was dragged up in a border county, Louth, in Drogheda, and we would never go to Newry to shop because we would be so conscious that we would have been letting down the local retailers. Our motto was and is, spend locally.
Do you haggle over prices?I have spent up to an hour haggling over the price. I often get more value from the haggle than I do from the item I am trying to buy.
Has the recession changed your spending habits?Sadly it has. We are all frightened to spend money and we must overcome this because our economy, especially the retail sector, needs us to spend more. We are told Ireland has the highest savings per capita in the EU but we have all cut back on discretionary spending.
Do you invest in shares?Infrequently.
Cash or card?Credit card, and I like to always have about €100 in cash.
What was the last thing you bought and was it good value?A shirt in London the other day. I am not sure how good value it was, but I had stayed an extra day and I needed a new shirt.
Have you ever successfully saved up for a relatively big purchase?Many, many times. And I have great memories of all those treasured purchases like a first car, and so on. The one I remember most fondly was saving to buy a horse box when I was 14 for my pony. I was and am still now mad about horses.
Have you ever lost money?Of course, but I never think of it like that - they were all deposits in my experience bank.
Are you a gambler and if so have you ever had a big win?I don't gamble on horses or sport because I don't trust myself. I do break out now and again as I did on Xenophon at Cheltenham some years back. Trained by Tony Martin and ridden by Mick Fitzgerald it stormed home. I had a sizeable wager.
Is money important to you? Genuinely, it is not. It is only a means of getting from day to day. Health is your greatest asset.
How much money do you have on you now? £328 and €117.
In conversation with TONY CLAYTON-LEA. Gavin Duffy is a dragon on RTÉ's Dragon's Den. See mediatraining.ie
