MORE than two women in five find packing the most stressful part of a holiday. For almost half the men, the money side of things is the worst.

Well, it's mostly the women who pack and the men who say: "But you didn't put my ...... in. I can't do without it and I can't afford another while we're here and anyway I've already got one at home."

It is, however and according to other surveys, often the woman who does the household budgeting.

If she thinks a 17-night package to Ibiza is better for the overdraft than two weeks in Florida, she knows what she's talking about and he who still opts for Florida had better be worried.

Whether it's fitting everything in the case, deciding what to take, the fear of forgetting something vital or a combination of all three, packing sends women on holiday with their nerve ends flapping.

The stress-busting expert who advised holidaymakers to pack their cases a week before departure should really return to this planet. Most of the gear's still in the wash at that stage.

Typically, I pack. I just ask Sir to put out what he wants putting in. So, when his camera didn't appear on the bed with the socks and shirts, I assumed he was taking the whole camera bag, which is definitely his department.

It was no good remembering halfway across the M42 that he hadn't picked it up. I don't take photographs. Luckily the offspring had a film in his handed-down camera, or we'd have had no record of a major family event.

One definition of good financial planning for a holiday is that, if you forget it, you can buy a replacement, but I wouldn't stretch that to Sir's best camera.

It did, thanks to a 24-hour supermarket, apply for a friend who arrived at his Ma-in-law's without spare trousers or proper shirts.

His idea of putting them out was to put them in the spare bedroom wardrobe - and shut the door. Dutiful wife, mind on other things, packed only what was where it should have been.

In spite of husbands, packing is one aspect of holidays which should have got easier over the years.

For a start, going away isn't the production it used to be, we do it much more often.

When the suitcases were heaved down just once a year, everyone had been out of practice for 40-odd weeks. It took days to decide what, how much, which case and whether it would fit.

Now, with one or two holidays, plus short breaks and weekends with friends, the suitcases earn their storage space. We ought to know the basic gear off by heart, plus whatever we'll need for specific events.

Asking round, I couldn't find a male half of a couple who did his own packing. No wonder it doesn't feature in their pre-holiday worries.

The one male expert I found was a bachelor who claims to pack for a week's business trip abroad in ten minutes flat and he swears by rolling, not folding, clothes to save both space and creases.

Creases. They did use to make packing a nightmare unless we followed the women's magazines' instructions and meticulously put tissue paper in every fold. Did anyone ever do that? Today's fabrics are far more suitcase-friendly.

Cases are more friendly too. No longer rigid or, at best, soft-topped, they are squishy, or expandable, multi-pocketed and wheeled. Which reminds me, I must remember to tuck a copy of my basic, needed for any trip, list into our new one. Just in case.