IS it just me, or does anyone else nip out at lunchtime to buy a sandwich and end up spending money on things you had no intention of buying?

I’m sure the supermarkets see me coming.

A tuna mayo roll cost me £16.50 the other day – bleach was half price, cat food was bogof and my favourite shampoo was three for a tenner – why I’d be a fool not to stock up wouldn’t I?

Everyone likes a bargain, but we’re so inundated with cut-price offers these days it’s hard to resist – and even harder to tell which are the best deals to take advantage of.

Or, more importantly, which are the deals that we would genuinely benefit from.

Is stocking up on half-price cleaning products, cut-price coffee, bogof tins of beans actually saving us money in the long run or simply making us overspend on our shopping week after week?

Take the half price wine deals – do we save more or drink more?

The restaurants offering two steak dinners for a quarter of the price – save more or eat out more?

And then there’s the coupons.

You don’t just get a receipt these days you almost get a book worth of vouchers. Money off a litre of fuel, double loyalty points off your next shop, spend £X, save £X.

I thought I had wads of cash in my purse the other day it was bulging that much, but it was under the weight of the coupons, not £20 notes.

Who has been influenced by these deals?

I know I have.

I was trying to book a holiday at the weekend via the internet and every travel site I went on was offering deals.

I was desperately tying to pick a hotel based on customer reviews and location but my eyes kept being drawn the hotels that were offering discounts – it was really interfering with my judgement.

Should I go for the best looking hotel – or the one offering the biggest discount? Dilemma, dilemma.

In times of austerity we’re all trying to save money here and there and bag ourselves a bargain in the process.

But what is more important – value for money or saving money?