Dear Mary | 24 September 2015

Q. I am an impoverished artist living in a famously cheap European city, largely for reasons of economy. I love it when friends and family relieve the monotony of lonely days in my garret by coming to stay, but every time anyone does they want to go to all the museums and galleries, which represents a serious outlay of money for me. Not to mention the restaurants. Given that I’ve been to all of these places umpteen times, how can I tactfully suggest that my guests go alone?
—Name and address withheld

A. Why not invent the existence of an art and restaurants club which allows residents of the city a certain number of discounted visits per month? When visitors suggest a visit to a museum or restaurant, explain that you have already used up your discounts for that month. This will help friends and family to focus on the fact that you have visited said museum or restaurant three times already that month and therefore another visit might be less thrilling, and that payment is obviously a problem if you cannot go to the restaurant without a discount being applied.