I use the "" as I'm not sure it all stands up to rational analysis, but hey, it makes me feel good.
As friends and family know, we are members of the Disney Vacation Club. This marvellous institution provides us with an allotment of points each year to be spent as we please staying either in one of the club hotels or almost anywhere else around the world.
So far during our membership, we've stayed on Disney property (best value for the points) but we have been to California and to France, as well as to many of the Florida hotels.
In keeping with my nerdy reputation, I work out how much each point costs us each year, by tallying up the annual payments along with an annual proportion of the cost of buying them in the first place. Then I can work out how much each holiday costs us in pound equivalents of the points.
Then, I go hunting online for the cost to non club members of staying in the same accommodation. It isn't always available to the general riff raff (!!) so sometimes I have to make a guesstimate based on similar hotels.
Then I take one away from the other to give me my saving amount.
If my calculations are correct, and they almost certainly are not, then by the end of this year we will have saved over £14,000 since we joined at the end of 2007.
All nonsense, but makes me feel good about being a DVC member!