I just found out recently that we are officially living below the Federal poverty line for a family of five – woohoo! :) Seriously, though, while it’s not always fun to not really have much disposable income on a law school budget, it’s also not terrible. Just this morning, I whipped up a batch of Belgian waffles with a new waffle iron I bought with Christmas money, topped them with pureed strawberries from the freezer and freshly whipped cream. For dinner, we spent approximately $3.50 on a large baking sheetful of roasted potatoes, carrots, onions, and chicken thighs, and supplemented them with pumpkin rolls from the freezer.
And there were still enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow, so I think we’re doing fine. The beauty about making foods from scratch is that it really does allow you to do more with the dollars you have.
I popped over after you commented on my blog and was so excited to find a fellow law school family trying to lead a frugal life. My husband just graduated in May and all the thriftiness definitely seemed worth it! He was blessed to find work right away, but doesn’t want to spend his life at a big firm and the limited student loans (that we’re working hard at paying off—almost there!) make that possible.
Btw, my daughter saw your picture and immediately asked for waffles with cream for dinner. :)