After forking out a little too much for that hilarious Boy Scout shirt, guilt may preclude a full-fledged restaurant meal.

BBC: Toronto��s Kensington Market: A loveable hodgepodge

Scottish taxpayers would be right to flinch at forking out much more.

ECONOMIST: Reviving Gaelic is a tall order, even with taxpayers' cash

Another non-discretionary purchase we will all now be forking out more for.

BBC: UK inflation: A positive surprise for prices

East Kalimantan, for example, spent 11 billion rupiah on the local team last year, even forking out on players from Mexico, Argentina and South Korea.

ECONOMIST: Indonesia

Whatever you settle on, you can pretty much rest assured that it'll be cheaper than forking out for one of Bose's hilariously overpriced Lifestyle systems.

ENGADGET: Bose simplifies surround sound setup with Lifestyle systems, charges dearly for it

Given the woes of Citigroup and some other troubled financial institutions, taxpayers might question why banks are still forking out any cash to good causes rather than using it to repay government loans.

ECONOMIST: Corporate social responsibility

Others were forking out not dissimilar sums.

ECONOMIST: Financial services

In a bid to acquire a foothold in low-cost generics, the Japanese firm paid 737 rupees a share last June, forking out a premium of 31% to the company's stock price at the time. (See Daiichi Sankyo Decides Generics Are Healthy Biz).

FORBES: Business Billionaires

But it is making winners out of established companies, too: The rise in Internet traffic is forcing Internet carriers to build out their networks yet again, forking over billions to equipment makers like Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks and Alcatel in the process.

FORBES: Magazine Article