What was I thinking?! The craziest things we paid for during the Celtic Tiger

"As the summer moves on there are Saturday nights when I come home and find friends I haven't even been out with sitting up in the hot tub," he writes, leading you to wonder who would call unannounced on Brian O'Driscoll in order to dally in a glorified bidet? And how did they get in? It's going on 10 years ago, but surely George Hook wasn't that nimble even then?

Of course, the rest of us are hardly in a position to scoff. Whether it was a fourth foreign holiday in a single calendar year or that vast ceramic crocodile we simply HAD to have - it really tied the koi pond together - an entire generation fell victim to the same spendthrift instincts that convinced BOD to join the hot-tub club. Here are further examples of Celtic Tiger overkill.

€45 water

In the dying weeks of the Celtic Tiger - mid 2008 be be precise - we found a new way of figuratively flushing our money down the loo: designer water in a Swarovski crystal adorned bottle, available in Superquinn for a bargain €45.

The classily titled Bling H20 went on sale in August of that year - a month or so later, the economy suffered a loud, messy implosion. Ironically, it sounded exactly like a bottle of overpriced water smashed on a supermarket tile.

€500 Cocktail

The swanky Mint Bar at Dublin's Westin Hotel offered a €500 'Minted' cocktail: Hennessy cognac, Gray Goose 'la vanilla' vodka, Mozart white chocolate liqueur, creme de cacao and a sprinkling of 24 carat gold - all served in a Jasper Conran Waterford Crystal martini glass (you got to keep the glass).

Patio Heaters

Circa 2006, what self-respecting middle-class home was complete without a patio heater? For the first time in Irish history, it was possible to arrange a barbecue and be reasonably confident that none of your guests would require hospitalisation for hypothermia. The only downside was that, on average, a single heater produced four tonnes of carbon dioxide a year - almost enough for your own bespoke hole in the ozone layer.

Blingy Mobile Phones

The smartphone revolution was barely underway when the Celtic Tiger was roaring and rubbing its crotch all over the furniture, so rich tech addicts had to find other ways of showing off. One popular option was the preposterously blinged up GSM handset as typified by the gold and ruby-encrusted Vertu Signature Cobra mobile - yours for €200,000. That it lacked 3G connection or a music player seemed irrelevant - who needs the internet, when you've got Snake?

Sauna Under The Stairs

Back in the day, a 'steam room' was what happened when your father threw too much slack on the fire and had to hurriedly douse it to prevent the chimney catching ablaze. By the time the Celtic Tiger stomped into our lives, though, home saunas were highly sought after.

'I'm Not A Plastic Bag' Tote

As foisted upon us by designer Anya Hindmarch, for several months in early 2008 it was impossible to step inside a high-end department store without being clattered in the face by shoppers hefting trendy totes.

Giant fridges

Americans had vast fridges - why shouldn't we? Suddenly 'Smeg' was a name to drop at dinner parties (careful it didn't crush anyone's toes) and a walk-in wine cooler was something to brag about.

A Pop Star At Your Kid's Birthday Party

Admittedly, this indulgence was restricted to gadzillionaire developers and their ilk. Still, it was amusing/frightening to read of property tycoons booking Girls Aloud and other chart denizens for their offsprings' 21sts. Cheryl Cole singing in a bouncy castle - what could possibly go wrong?