“My grandparents grew up during the depression and they not only survived but thrived because they were independent first.”
My parents did the same, they saved enough to start a business without borrowing and build a home in a high end area of los Angeles.
The answer isn’t to surivre but prosper!
My mother and her Grandmother survived the Weimar Republic by growing vegetables on a small backyard garden patch. She never ate rutabagas again for the rest of her life.
Regards,
GtG