When you have a firm resolution and determination to solve a problem, you will naturally economize on food and clothing.

'When I see people around me who are struggling and frightened, it really doesn't feel like a good time' to shop, she says. 'It's not appropriate.

If the downturn lasts only a year or two the attitudes of such people may survive the pain of retrenchment.

They scraped and saved, but still couldn't pay for their son's education.

It has left millions of people in Europe facing not the wealth that they expected from adopting the euro, but a period of potentially breathtaking austerity they are ill-prepared for.