Every day we are issued with new directives from those who are trying to run our lives and grim news about the recession is beamed at us constantly. On top of that, we work longer hours, so we increasingly enlist helpers to manage the home we hardly spend any time in. We're also snowed under by conflicting advice for the myriad of decisions to be made - do we buy vegetables that have been flown half way round the world, or let peasant farmers go bust as we cut down on our air miles? The list seems endless, and confusing. It's enough to drive you round the f***ing bend - but there's no point in letting it get to you.

This book is your guide to keeping your spirits up, cutting through the crap and deciding what rules you're going to live your life by, on your terms, and sod everyone else. To achieve your goal of smiling through the credit crisis, it's time to learn some new rules. In this new book from Janet Street-Porter, her tips and wisdom will help you make changes and adapt to the new regime of our world today. Take a deep breath, decide what you won't bother doing any more and substitute activities that give you pleasure and make your limited resources go further. The book's many chapters help you navigate through life with the right attitude in order to really be in charge. Red Tape focuses on negotiating your way through rules and regulations from councils to insurance brokers. Money tells you how to get your bank working for you instead of the other way around and gives advice on how to budget according to your lifestyle without stifling the good stuff. Forget the old way of doing things: an A-Z of the new social strategy for new circumstances advises on everything from giving presents to dumping your partner. And Mumbo Jumbo translates the boring and convoluted speak of politicians, health officials, and supermarket labelling into plain English for the rest of us.

Life is a journey and we're experiencing a bumpy patch - but if you think creatively and stick to your guns, there's no reason why you shouldn't emerge from it unscathed and a great deal happier.