There's no shame in being a Santa Scrooge

In another world, I would sit down at the beginning of December with a notepad and pen and make a really organised Christmas shopping list.

What I actually do is commence the proceedings by searching every drawer in the house for forgotten gift vouchers. I usually start with the children’s rooms. My son and daughter, despite being brought up to count every penny, hardly ever use these things.

My daughter’s school probably thinks it is setting her off on a lifetime of worthy pursuits with a £5 voucher for WH Smith awarded for good work over the year.

She, however, shoves the thing in with her socks and promptly forgets about it. To her, a £5 voucher is not even the price of a Jacqueline Wilson. To me, it’s half-way to a decent present for that nice-but-hard-to-buy-for old friend. Add a fiver to that and we’ll have a lovely book on embroidery to parcel up and send off with a jaunty card (bought in the New Year sales at half-price from the charity shop, obviously).