And I'm doing this in newer clothes. Since the early sales hit the shops last November, they don't seem to have stopped, and a girl must take advantage of the deals while she can. After all, who knows when the recession will end and the Age of Abundance will return, with its unaffordable clothes? Bling isn't dead, it's just half-price. There are special credit-crunch nights at nightclubs, with discounted entrance fees and happy hours, and constant deals on theatre tickets. The other day, I even extravagantly made credit-crunch champagne cocktails at home because the local off-licence was selling bottles at around half-price. This young person has never had it so good - at least for now.

And ultimately, the recession provides a nice excuse for new graduates to faff around for a bit. Without the same range of opportunities to get a well-paid and stable job, the pressure has been taken off us. We can try out lower-paid jobs in areas that we're passionate about without having the stress of wondering where our career is going: the recession has provided the excuse for us.

This isn't about being well-off-most of my friends are slogging away in bars or taking temporary local office jobs to earn money so that they can go to drama-school auditions or do unpaid work in the field of their choice. And they can do this without feeling that they're wasting time by not getting a well-paid and steady job, because during a credit crunch no one expects you to be doing that well anyway.

So maybe the Age of Austerity is more like the Age of Opportunism for the younger generation. It's certainly a time to sit back and enjoy the discounts while you can. And if everything becomes too much then I can always get a short-term job, save up some money, take a cheap flight and go travelling - I'm sure I won't be missing much.