My paternal grandmother (1895-1979) was raising her family on a tenant farm during the Depression years. They farmed with horses, heated/cooked with wood and were as self-sufficient as anyone could be during those years. Since they had no money in a bank, they lost nothing when the banks closed. She often commented that life didn't really change for them through those years. Their fuel came from the timber on the land, water from their well and lights from electricity or kerosene. They raised their own meat (hogs, chickens, occasional beef), eggs, dairy (milk, butter, sour cream). Nuts from the timber in the fall.
My dad commented that he liked going to his maternal grandparents because that was the only time he got to play. He and his two brothers were basically slave labor and as soon as they could get jobs, they turned earnings over to their parents. They rode ponies to school which was 5½ miles and stabled their ponies at their paternal grandmothers.
My mother's family lived in town and my grandfather had a gas station which also served as bus depot, ice delivery and did fuel delivery to both town and farms. So they had income, but mom said there was often nothing to buy. Mom said many of the people in town kept a cow and chickens. The neighbors would hire someone to take the cows out to graze the roadside ditches after morning milking and then bring them back in time for evening milking. Even in town the ladies grew big gardens. I recall in the 1950's grandpa coming home for noon lunch and telling us that the last debt he'd carried from the Depression had been paid that day. He was so pleased that his trust in mankind had been confirmed.
There really was no recovery from the Depression until WWII which brought jobs and incomes, but rationing and empty shelves so a whole new issue. Almost all of the men my dad's age (1921-2002) served in the war and it about killed my dad that he was declared 4-F and not eligible to serve. When my great-grandmother died (1866-1943) her obit stated that 8 of her grandsons were on active duty in the military. She had 10 grandsons one of which was 4-F and the other an essential worker. The attitude of the community was no sacrifice was too great to support the soldiers. People would donate their gas rations so neighbors could go see their sons. In fact, mom said if a person had good tires, they would put them on the neighbor's vehicle for the trip. Tires were extremely rationed.