If you're like me, when you think about The Great Depression, you may be thinking, "Man, I'm glad I didn't live in those times."

And yet, here we are, living in the worst recession since The Great Depression. How does that make you feel?

Personally, I tend to get a bit stressed out just thinking about it. But I'm also the type of guy who occasionally likes to take the lemons of life and make lemonade... or something along those lines. So, I asked myself, "What good could possible come out of this horrible economic situation?"

Answer: Look at history and what people learned from The Great Depression.

Here are 5 financial tips we can learn from that era:

1. Grow your own food.

During The Great Depression thousands of home-gardens started popping up all over the place. People grew their own vegetables and fruit right in their backyards. They saved a lot of money by producing their own produce.

We are starting to see some of the same trends today. It is not to the scale that it was 75 years ago, but people are still realizing how important it is to save money and not rely fully on the local grocery store. When you really start to think about it, all of our food is driven by oil. Most of the production and the cost is in the running of the machines and transportation of the food. If the price of oil shoots up like it did last summer and never goes down again, we may be seeing a lot more "Depression" gardens being planted.

To learn how to plant your own "Depression Garden," click here.

2. Simple Entertainment.

During the depression days, games like Monopoly became popular. This was probably caused by two different factors:

• It was a cheap form of entertainment
• It allowed people to dream of the "rich" life they wish they had (probably not realizing they were richer in other ways than they would ever be again).

What forms of entertainment are you using right now to satisfy your crave? Try sitting down with a few friends and start a game night with a deck of cards, or find use word and picture games that only require pens and paper. This will save you a ton of money, and will leave you with more laughter and satisfaction.

3. Downsizing and renting rooms

Even though they were forced, because of unemployment, many people decided to downsize in regards to their homes. Those who didn't downsize, started renting out rooms in their home or welcoming their kids back in order to help with the mortgage payments.

Both of these decisions are big ones and should not be made on a whim, but both should at least be considered. I'm actually considering just checking out the options of finding a cheaper home since there are such incredible deals on the market right now.

I've even played around with the idea of renting out one of the spare bedrooms in our basement. This will take some thought and consideration because you don't want to have just anybody down there. We'll see - I'll keep you posted.

4. Cooling it on Transportation

During the Great Depression, people started hopping trains, riding bikes, and walking every where. Unless you live in a big city, none of these things may be great options for you. But you may want to consider car-pooling when you can and only buying the cheapest gas in town. Then of course, maybe you just need to start traveling less.

Whatever your situation, chances are you can reduce your transportation costs by a little here and there. Every little bit helps.

5. Credit and buying

Banks were hurting worse then, than they are now. Credit was tight, and the people who had a line of credit available were tempted to use it. But those that did end up getting burnt because they simply couldn't repay.

If you have available credit, DON'T use it! Redefine what you really NEED and stick to your budget. Only pay when you have the money in your account.

Hope these 5 tips help you save a little bit of your money during the worst recession since The Great Depression!

Do you know of any other tips that we can take from back then? Share them with me below: