We have all had to watch the pennies in recent years, some of us more than others.
But the challenges facing Burnley Council would test the most prudent accountants among us.
Services have already been cut, some to the bone, and further job losses are inevitable.
It would be dangerous to think we are now over the worst and services will return to normal. That could not be further from the truth as those people who control the local purse strings face saving even more money in the coming months and years.
We are clearly not out of the woods yet.
