Searching for my sale gene.....

I'm rather worried that I'm not a proper girl, that I'm missing some essential chromosome, the one that makes all women just love a sale.

I can't abide the things. I took the 16-year-old off to the shops on Friday to buy shoes for his prom and everywhere there were sales. It's incredible how a perfectly pleasant looking store can be transformed into the equivalent of a jumble sale just by sticking a huge, red sale sign in the window.

It's strange but goods that previously looked perfectly fine when they were displayed nicely on shelves suddenly leave me cold when they are stacked higgledy piggledy on sale racks or jammed together in bargain bins. Something inside me, ever contrary, seems to say 'well if you don't want them then I don't either.'

I really don't have a clue why I'm so sale averse, after all everyone loves to bag a bargain and I'm no different, but I just can't be bothered with all the rummaging and nonsense that goes with it. I like my shopping to be a relaxed experience that gives me a nice, satisfied glow as I come back with my purchases.

Now I tend to avoid the sales like the plague and wait until everything is back to normal. I'm sure I'm missing out on some fantastic bargains and perhaps I should take lessons from my sister who is a bargain hunter extraordinaire. She's always been like it, from an early age, she's been able to root out the sale of the century.

Last year I noticed that every day on holiday she was appearing in a different bikini - turned out she'd got them all for two for £5 and her collection of 26 bikinis only came to fractionally more than my one full priced swimsuit. She'll turn up in a fantastic outfit and when complimented will say 'oh this, cost me a tenner', I honestly don't know how she does it.

There was the occasion when I almost got myself a stonking bargain. I found a shoe that I loved and it was some ridiculously cheap price, I soon found out why when the other foot was nowhere to be seen. I searched the entire store convinced it had to be there somewhere but, no, it was just one shoe. Now how on earth is one shoe a bargain to anyone?

In an attempt to locate my clearly underdeveloped sale gene, I'm going to give online sales a whirl this year. I'm not holding out much hope but it's a start......