In-running lunacy turns profitable week into a losing one

I waddled over to our fridge the other day and noticed there were a couple of pieces of kitchen roll drying out on the radiator. My wife is so thrifty that she planned to reuse the clean but slightly damp paper towels, rather than throw them away.

It made me feel awkward. The contrast between us on the thriftometer is enormous. There I am, launching thousands of pounds at golf wagers every week while my wife is treating kitchen roll with utmost respect.

I think gamblers can lose sight of the value of money in the 'real world', which has advantages and disadvantages for those around them. The advantages are that gamblers are typically extremely generous – they don't fret about spending money on things – because they are used to seeing money disappear without any return on a regular basis. The disadvantage is that they obviously have scope to jeopardise the family silver by doing their absolute bollards.