A paradigm shift in consumer confidence has taken place with the worst recession on record forcing people to evaluate their personal and household finances. This paper seeks to explore the extent to which consumer confidence has been tarnished, and how it has evolved post-recession. It aims to take both retrospective and prospective views on what has changed in the British psyche since the credit crunch, looking at where new confidences have been found and where old confidences have been lost, and hypothesising about the extent to which consumer behaviour will remain constant or further change against a likely backdrop of continuing financial instability.