A recession is only painful if you don't have a job or your disposable income is reduced. Even in bad times approx 90% of the workforce is still emplyed. What happens is that 90% hold back a little 'just in case' which feeds the recession.
Working in local government (up until recently) the pay wasn't brilliant but job security was (again, until recently). This meant that I never experienced a recession, except in a good way. Prices came down or you could negotiate discounts as vendors were desperate to shift stock.
Also, I have always had a second income (due to salary not being enough to pay for what I wanted) to fund both my car and living expenses - be it bar work, car accessory shop work, wiring loom manufacture, office fitting, PC maintenance and construction, car stripping (present method), etc
I believe that if you want it bad enough you will find a way to fund it, but only if you are prepared to get off your backside.