With unemployment on the rise and the housing market still a mess, the hard times are far from over.

Like everyone else, you’re probably worried about going broke and being forced to live like Chaplin in The Gold Rush. And the last thing you probably want to do right now is watch a movie about characters in dire financial straits. You want escapism, right?

Well, movies about going broke can actually offer a lot of helpful tips. Grab some popcorn and take a look. 

Have a Good Business Plan

Perhaps you’ve considered taking the risk of opening a small business in this unstable economy. What do you have to lose?

The first step, naturally, is to have a solid business plan. But movie characters rarely follow this golden rule. The Jerk’s Navin Johnson (Steve Martin) gets rich off the Opti-Grab, a device that puts an end to pesky eyewear slippage. Unfortunately, he fails to properly test market the product, resulting in a lot of angry cross-eyed customers. After spending all of his money on a fancy house with a nonstop party room, he goes bust losing in a class-action suit and has to pay out $1.09 to 9,987,652 plaintiffs. (And because he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, Johnson hand-writes every check.)

Be Insured and Indemnified

Though the Ghostbusters saved New York City from Zuul, Slimer and The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, property damage lawsuits from the city—not to mention constant inspections from Environmental Protection Agency flack Walter Peck--had run them out of business by the time the sequel rolled around. If nothing else, Ghostbusters teaches us that you should never tick off the EPA.

Watch Your Spending

In the recent chick flick Confessions of a Shopaholic, Prada-obsessed singleton Rebecca Bloomwood’s affliction is so severe that she actually thinks the mannequins in store windows are her friends. (What is this, Mannequin 3: Shopping Spree?)

And god forbid a movie characters gets their hands on a fortune. Take the kid in Disney’s Blank Check, who steals a million bucks from some money launderers. He immediately puts the dough in a savings bond for college, right? Wrong. The little scamp spends it on go-karts, water slides, an elaborate mansion, and more, all in the space of a week.

Meanwhile, Brewster’s Millions turns the concept of losing money on its head by having Richard Pryor lose $30 million in 30 days if he wants to inherit $300 million. Brewster blows his dough by doing everything from hiring cabbie Yakov Smirnoff as his personal driver at a rate of $5,000 a week (“What a country!”) to buying (and subsequently mailing) a million dollar stamp. Rarely has reckless spending been so hilarious.

Beware of “Dream Homes”

Cinema is rife with hapless protagonists setting out to build their dream home, only to have their aspirations of becoming the next Frank Gehry dashed by shady contractors (everything always takes “two weeks”) and pesky woodland creatures.  The 1948 Cary Grant comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House struck such a chord with moviegoers, it’s been remade for both Tom Hanks (The Money Pit) and Ice Cube (Are We Done Yet?). And, with the housing market the way it is, you can expect it to return to the big screen again, probably as a 3-D motion capture movie starring The Rock and some talking squirrels.  

When In Doubt, Go Blue

If movies are any indication, the only way to afford your child support payments, or keep your electricity on, is by stripping down to your birthday suit. Lose your job at the steel mill? Take a page from The Full Monty and put on a salty strip show with your fellow working class blokes set to the tune of “You Can Leave Your Hat On.”

Tired of your go-nowhere coffee shop job? Convince the manager to let you film a porno after hours. (Only in a Kevin Smith movie, folks.) If you’re more modest than Zack and Miri, try to use your talent for horticulture to grow some special “herb” (Saving Grace), or turn your struggling footwear store into an emporium of “kinky boots” (uh, Kinky Boots).  Those working class Brits certainly have some creative ways to save the farm.

Have any favorite movies about going broke?