The ultimate consumer indulgence must be taking a Christmas shopping trip abroad, combining bargain hunting with the fun of a foreign festive atmosphere.
You may simply be nipping across the Channel for a seasonal day out in France or taking a break further afield, searching out regional specialities and presents you can't buy at home.
But in either case it also pays to check out the prices of more basic items that can be bought on any UK high street.
In a mini Jobs & Money survey aimed at finding out if you can save money by buying such items abroad, we took two gifts in high demand from Santa this Christmas - the Nintendo Game Boy Advance and the Sony PlayStation 2 - and tracked down their cost at a variety of Christmas shopping hotspots overseas.
We looked at prices in New York's "ultimate toy store" FAO Schwarz, Barcelona's top department store El Cortes Inglés and Dixons stores in Dublin, the UK (both high street and online) and at the French and UK Eurotunnel Passenger Terminal Buildings. We also found the cheapest UK online price, including post and packing, for both items.
The upshot, as can be seen in the accompanying table, right, is that if you are off to splash some cash in New York, Barcelona, France or Dublin, you can achieve a saving of at least £10 and as much as £18.50 on the typical £89.99 you'd pay for a Game Boy Advance in most UK stores.
Interestingly, however, if you have access to the internet at home, you can shave just over £9 off the UK high street price by buying online, without so much as stepping outside your front door, let alone going abroad.
Worthwhile savings on the Sony PlayStation 2, now on special offer at £199 in Dixons' UK stores, are harder to come by abroad (or, indeed, online), although you can reduce the cost by a healthy £20 if you buy one in Spain.
Shop - Game Boy Advance - Sony PlayStation 2
Dixons, UK - £89.99 - £199
Dixons, Dublin - £78.62 (IR£109) - £187.50 (IR£259.99)
Dixons, Eurotunnel Passenger Terminal - £76.58 - £205.94*
El Cortes Inglés, Barcelona - £71.60 (20,990 PTAs) - £170.50 (49,990 PTAs)
FAO Schwarz, New York - £71.40 ($109.95) - £207.90 ($320)
Best UK online price incl. p&p - £80.62 - £193.88
(www.jungle.com (www.dabs.com)
Currency conversions carried out by Travelex on 12.11.01.
* Sony PlayStation 2 sold only as part of a package (costing £241.98 at Dixons' UK high street stores) including extra control and memory card at Eurotunnel stores.
Cross the Channel if you are in the market for a bargain
If you are taking your car on a day trip or short break to the French coast, first stop is the Cité Europe shopping centre, with nearly 200 shops just a few minutes from the cross Channel ferry and Eurotunnel exits at Coquelles. There you'll find many familiar retailers such as Toys'R'Us and Disney plus dozens of French stores offering specialist goods.
If you time your trip right, you can take advantage of one of the traditional French Christmas markets. There is one near the Old Watch Tower in Calais on December 1 and 2 with more than 100 stalls offering traditional French items and local speciality foods.
Gastronomes might fancy the market at Gravelines, 20 minutes inland, which specialises in fine foods from all over France and runs from December 15 to 24.
Two seasonal markets are further up the coast in Dunkerque, one at Malo le Bains on the December 8 and 9, the other on Place Jean Bart in the town centre, from December 14 to 24.
Further inland, from December 1 to 24, at The Belfry in Béthune around 40 exhibitors sell decorations, regional foods and gifts. At nearby Lille, from December 1 to 30, more than 50 local craft stalls fill the historic Place Rihour.
And a European forum of arts and crafts takes place on December 6 to 9 at Loisinord in Noeux-Les-Mines. It includes glass-blowers, Polish and Slovakian lace-makers, Russian craftsmen, puppeteers, silver jewellery and stained glass art.
VAT and duty calls
Most travellers will be aware that there are limits on the amount of alcohol, tobacco and perfume you can bring in to the UK from abroad.
But it will come as a shock to many shopaholics that, while you don't have to pay any tax or duty in the UK on goods you bring in from EU countries for your own use or as gifts, there is a measly £145 limit on goods you can bring in duty and tax-free from countries outside the EU.
This applies whether you buy them in person abroad or order them from home over the internet. Either way, the onus is on you to declare such purchases and pay the required levels of import duty and VAT on them.
What's more, if you bring items, including gifts and souvenirs, worth more than this limit, you have to pay charges on the full value, not just on the value above £145. And groups travelling together can't pool individual allowances.
It's also important to keep the receipts, especially if you have got some bargains. This is because, if you have no proof of the purchase price, customs officers will charge duty and VAT on what they deem a realistic price.
The guidelines for goods you can buy in the EU for your own use include: 10 litres of spirits; 800 cigarettes; 400 cigarillos; 200 cigars; 1kg smoking tobacco; 20l fortified wine; 90l wine (of which up to 60l can be sparkling wine) and 110l beer.
Those arriving from outside the EU can bring in 200 cigarettes or 100 cigarillos or 50 cigars or 250g of tobacco; 2l of still table wine, 1l of spirits or strong liqueurs or 2l of fortified wine, sparkling wine or other liqueurs; 60cc/ml of perfume; 250cc/ml of toilet water plus £145 worth of all other goods.
