The dangers of being a bargain hunter are revealed when the broccoli bites back.

AS I may have mentioned once or twice before, shopping is one of my wife’s hobbies. The desire to find a bargain is in her bones.

She buys things we don’t need, just because she’s noticed there are a few pennies off. And when we do need something in a hurry, she refuses to let me nip to the supermarket for fear that I’ll waste money through my deep-rooted ignorance of the complexities of two-for-one offers.

The only time she wants me with her during shopping expeditions is when I can be of practical, moneysaving use. Like the time I was ordered to go with her to Safeway, along with the four kids, because she’d had a leaflet through the door revealing that tuna was on special offer for 19p a can.

There was a strict limit of only three cans per customer so we all had to line up at the checkout, pretending not to know each other, with our three cans of tuna and 57p.

And you’ve never seen a happier woman in your life than when we got back safely to the car with 18 cans of tuna for £3.42. You’d think she’d won the lottery.

Yes, my wife’s bargain-hunting addiction is something I’ve had to learn to live with. But like all addictions, it comes with dangers and, until this week, I hadn’t appreciated quite how hazardous shopping is.

It came to light when my wife was getting dressed the other morning and she suddenly winced in pain.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Oh, I think I’ve damaged my thumb,” she replied.

“How’ve you done that?” I enquired, sympathetically.

“On a piece of broccoli,” she said, dismissively.

Naturally, I pressed for further information.

I’d imagined she’d had a fall on the ice, banged it against the wall playing squash, or been careless during a spot of DIY. (I’ve lost count of the times I’ve told her before to be more careful with that hammer).

But it hadn’t crossed my mind that she might have been injured in a broccoli encounter.

Somewhat reluctantly, she went on to explain that she’d been in the fruit and veg section at the supermarket and picked out a particularly impressive piece of broccoli. In order to save money, she was trying to break off the stalk before weighing it. Unfortunately, it fought back and bent her thumb back in its socket.

“No one likes the stalk, so what’s the point in paying for it?” she reasoned.

In the circumstances, I resisted telling her the truth about broccoli – that no one likes any part of it. The kids only eat it because she nags so much, insisting it’s good for them, and I only eat it because I’m expected to set a healthy example.

I have no idea how much removing the stalk would have saved at the supermarket checkout – possibly as much as a couple of pence.

But the pain hasn’t got any better so my wife is now considering a trip to the doctor’s to have the damage to her thumb assessed. That may well be followed by an x-ray.

So much for broccoli being good for you.

THE THINGS THEY SAY

DAVID tweeted about the time his youngest son Sam was two and had been given a strawberry yoghurt by his mum.

“What does it taste like?” she asked.

“Like yoghurt, Mummy,” Sam replied.

COLLEAGUE and proud dad Nick Loughlin put a Toy Story DVD on for his daughter Hannah.

“I’m not watching Toy Story 3 on DVD,” she shouted. “I’m only watching it on Blu Ray – it’s a better picture on Blu Ray.”

For the uninitiated like me, Blu Ray is the new big thing in high-definition viewing.

Hannah is only three.