(True to form, we Irish left it till the last minute. ) Now we are being wooed by banks who want us to save or reinvest all that lovely loot with them.

But the bottom line is that almost all deposit accounts are paying less than inflation . . . and investment markets have had a few scares lately. And saving is not a continual never-ending cycle; there has to be a reward at the end.

So why not treat yourself to a good splurge? You deserve it after five years' hard saving.

Being savvy with your personal finances isn't just about knowing where to invest your money, it's about making the right decision when it comes to spending it.

A year's hard saving could be wiped out by making the wrong decision that a couple of minutes' research would have sorted out.

So what should you spend your SSIA money on? We're all sick of hearing about the sensible stuff . . . unit-linked funds, deposit accounts and (yawn) guaranteed investments.

One website that'll help with alternative ideas is www. spendyourssia. com. It also claims to provide discounts for many of the products advertised.

If you're still stumped, here's a few other less-thansensible suggestions for what to do with your SSIA stash:

BUY A /29K TELEVISION You could blow all of your SSIA windfall on a telly . . .admittedly a very nice telly, but still, just a telly.

It shows how far the Celtic Tiger has come that we are willing to splash out 28,995 for a goggle box. That's how much a top-of-the-range 65inch flatscreen would cost from Bang & Olufsen. And there are plenty willing to snap them up.

The Danish brand opened its first shop here at Bachelor's Walk, Dublin, in 1999.

Now it is also in Cork, Belfast and Donnybrook, Dublin.

Business has been booming.

"Our Donnybrook store is rated second in the world in terms of sales, " says spokesman Simon Freedman.

Not all TVs cost nearly as much as the average industrial wage. The latest 26-inch and 32-inch models are priced at a relatively modest 3,000 and 4,000 respectively.

After you've bought your telly you can even chat about it with fellow fans on a special site for B&O, www. beoworld. org. You can get also go online to buy a second-hand B&O, though with all the inherent risks.

For example, www. lifestyleav. co. uk offers a 42-inch B&O plasma TV for a knockdown price of just 10,000.

Whatever consumer product you buy, it pays to go online. Other websites such as www. best-price. com and www. lifestyle-av. co. uk enable you to get the best prices.

There's also the online edition of consumer magazine Which? (www. which. co. uk), putting most types of consumer products through their paces.

TURN YOUR PAD INTO A PALACE Forget about stone eagles perched on top of incongruous Grecian pillars in your driveway. If you really want to impress the neighbours, get an automated gate. These cost anything from 4,500 upwards but the "sky's the limit" depending on what the customer wants, according to a spokeswoman for Barrow Automation.

You'll need the gate to keep out curious onlookers when you and your five friends pile into a hot tub, which will set you back another 8,500.

And your guests can stay over in a 15,600 log cabin for your garden which will eat up the remainder of your SSIA windfall (assuming you've maxed your contributions. ) The above offers are found on www. spendyourssia. com, which provides discounts on a range of items.

BUY A BOAT Over the past ten years our bank balances have improved enormously, but our lifestyles could still do with a radical overhaul.

Let's face it, the great Irish leisure activity consists of sitting in a pub and talking increasingly incoherent rubbish.

Meanwhile New Zealanders, Americans, Australians and even the British have thriving marine leisure industries that gets them out in the air once in a while.

Boating isn't exactly aerobic exercise, but you burn a few calories yanking on a rope now and then.

If you are thinking of getting a boat, don't do it alone, buy a share. It splits the hassle, maintenance and mooring costs, not to mention being more fun.

That was my personal SSIA choice. I then split the cost again by buying in partnership with a charter company. It pays 33% of the original cost and all of the fees for mooring it somewhere nice and sunny.

The catch? The company rents out your boat for fiveand-a half-years (after which it's yours) and you are allowed a maximum of 10 weeks' sailing time a year.

But that's as much as you'd be likely to want anyway, and it can be in any of their boats of similar size in a choice of 13 destinations from Majorca to the Seychelles, so the season lasts all the year around.

But the best part is, there's no maintenance.