I would tell them to eat very minimal food. Like, eat rice and beans a lot more. Basic, minimal food that still provides proper nutrients. Its also not a matter of thinking less, but it is a bottom line matter. If you have $2500-$5000 to spare, that money SHOULD be going to the school barring extreme circumstances.
And you (general) shouldn’t be going to the bungalow colony.
And both parents should be working. Night shifts if child care is too expensive.
Sure people aren’t paid on a per child basis. Maybe they need to make tough decisions on who to send to yeshiva or who not?
Clearly in Lakewood, people aren’t making that decision and two schools closed down. So now NONE of those kids have a yeshiva education.