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I somehow lived off of a few hundred a month not counting "rent" that was covered by my loan. Of course I didn't have a car, car insurance, gas, health insurance, a retirement contribution, utilities, etc. Its easy to stretch a dollar when all you have to worry about paying for is food.
It's quite stressful getting there though. I'm currently a 7th year physics grad student trying to TA my way through since my research funding got cut due to sequestration cuts in summer '13. I had already thrown away a whole year of my life on a previous project that couldn't continue because there was no funding. The last 6 months of that were my fault since I did not do my diligence in determining the likelihood of that happening. Nonetheless, based on the salaries of other options I had, this grad school thing has cost me over $120,000 in lost wages, after taxes. It'll take me quite a while to recoup that. Luckily I still have absolutely zero debt, but believe me, this unpaid research labor thing is very unpleasant and I wouldn't be able to manage it if I had a family...
That's really good you don't have debt... congrats on that and sticking with your program. I imagine physics will eventually get you a nice job when everything is said and done.
My husband didn't have to worry much about me and the kids during that time. I took care of all the domestic stuff. If you ask him, he'll tell you that the experience was grounding for him. He didn't waste time like some of the younger folks did. He had laser beam concentration. It helped me that he was awake nearly all night, every night.... perfect opportunity to delegate "night duty" for the sleepless/sick baby. Those were some awesome years. In many ways I worried less about money then than I do now.
It's quite stressful getting there though. I'm currently a 7th year physics grad student trying to TA my way through since my research funding got cut due to sequestration cuts in summer '13. I had already thrown away a whole year of my life on a previous project that couldn't continue because there was no funding. The last 6 months of that were my fault since I did not do my diligence in determining the likelihood of that happening. Nonetheless, based on the salaries of other options I had, this grad school thing has cost me over $120,000 in lost wages, after taxes. It'll take me quite a while to recoup that. Luckily I still have absolutely zero debt, but believe me, this unpaid research labor thing is very unpleasant and I wouldn't be able to manage it if I had a family...
Hang in there!!! SIL was sitting fat and sassy not five years out of school.
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