Would you give up your laptop, your iPod or even your mobile to help pay the bills?

Some devices that seemed like luxuries just a few years ago are now seen by many people as necessities.

With money scarce, jobs threatened and bills rising, it would be interesting to see if the trend for households to acquire more and more hi-tech goods starts to decline.

Common sense suggests that top-end electronic goods wouldn’t be high on most people’s shopping lists in the current climate.

Credit has dried up and borrowing cash to buy a new flatscreen TV doesn’t appear to make much sense.

Undaunted by the financial crisis, Stuff magazine is hosting its annual gadget show this weekend at the vast ExCel conference centre in Docklands, east London.

Visitors can tour dozens of stands showing off everything from a pair of loudspeakers costing 70,000 pounds to a hovering chair worth nearly 6,000 pounds.

But the question is: Will people get the urge to buy anything?

Will you be tightening your purse strings or browsing online for a bigger TV to help while away those long nights at home now that you can’t afford to go out?