Britain is truly a great place to live, but the economic quality of life is under threat while it tries to get out from under a mountain of public debt. As the coalition government struggles to rein in spending, people's expectations will have to be reduced. They cannot realistically expect even moderate wage increases any time soon, the services offered by the National Health Service will have to be curtailed, the law enforcement authorities may have difficulty coping with increased street unrest, and people will generally have to reduce expectations and downshift their lifestyle. All the talk by politicians about the best route to growth is just rhetoric. The reality is that we must get back to a public spending level that we can afford. Until then, it will be very uncomfortable for many of us. It's that simple. Much of this difficulty has been exacerbated by Europe and its catastrophic currency experiment. I suggest however that common sense will prevail in Britain and that the nation will eventually emerge in relatively good shape, but only after a long and painful period of reform and recovery. In this brief article I explain why it will be difficult and conclude by itemising what individuals must do to get through the pain.