Plenty of people go to grad school on limited means and still manage to live in a heated, watered apartment. IMHO this whole exercise seems more like an attempt to escape consumerism (in whatever way the author has defined it), more than it is about being able to afford education.
Exactly our point. He's going to great lengths to avoid any debt, which in this society is a bit masochistic. A little debt for your future isn't going to kill you.