So, do we know where this "reduced circumstances" person is?? I mean, which side of any of the oceans?? It makes a bit of difference what's available to the family.
Sister, I've been there/done that/designed the T-shirt. Raised 3 kids on (most yrs.) less than 15thou $$ American. I could feed all 5 of us for most of a week with one chicken, some veggies, rice, a few eggs, and cereal (hot or cold, depending on weather). 5 or 6 days. They got a bit tired of chicken. I'm not a gourmet chef, but I can cook from scratch and stretch stuff til the rubberband breaks. The kids picked up on the idea of knowing how to do stuff like that, too. They had to help with it and developed some skills of their own. They helped with the (small) garden, prepping veggies, checking prices in the store, lugging stuff in and putting it away. One of them actually became, for a few years, morning manager of an independent bakery in Seattle. Went to work at 4am, mixed and baked all products in store and set up for the afternoon shift. That's too much like hard work, if you ask me, but she enjoyed it. Not only can you survive, you can thrive on this kind of adver...ummmmm....adventure. Keep us posted on the tricks you learn. Some of us may need them.            Tw