Chris Maclean: do I pay too much?

I am trying to get my head around gas prices.

My cellar gas is provided by a company with great credentials and I pay a cylinder rental plus the change for each new cylinder. The problem is that it has now become a considerable expense. I now pay around £50 or £60 per month to push my beer out. I think that is expensive. Particularly when I can remember the days when breweries would supply the gas for free to dispense their products.

The upside of using the company I have is that their safety and integrity are without question. I know gas will be stored safely and be of the correct type. It is dangerous stuff to mess around with.

The downside is that I know I can get it cheaper and also deliveries could be more frequent and convenient than they are.

The problem is that I am not sure I can be bothered.

I remember doing mathematics problems at school. You know the ones I mean like 'If it takes one man six days to dig a hole with three shovels how long does it take for eight men with teaspoons?'

I know there is a mathematical solution to determine which option is best - to pay rental with cheaper gas or pay no rental for more expensive cylinders. There must be a very simple formula to establish the best value option given the number of kegs of beer I sell. But I simply don't know it. And I cannot be bothered to work it out.

I know there will be licensees out there that price out toilet tissues or tomato sauce portion costs. They will have things down to a finely controlled line. Me, I'm far more cavalier than that. My priorities lie elsewhere. I know what I'm good at. I need my book-keeper, and perhaps someone else, to advise me what I should be buying.

I read once, of a cynic, that they know the price of everything and the value of nothing. I reckon I know what is valuable but I rarely know what price anything is.

Maybe I should be more of a cynic.