One Reddit post lays bare the math of living on $20 an hour with $700 in child support
As seen on the 24/7 Wall St. homepage on October 23, 2026.
How often do you see your child ? if you spend more time with your child, you can get the child support reduced. You also need to get your license
Signing a studio lease with $100 saved and $700 a month in child support is how a thin budget becomes an eviction. The thread's advice is unglamorous and correct: fix the driver's license first, because paying for Uber rides to a 12-hour shift quietly eats the raise you never got.
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A 26-year-old on r/povertyfinance works 12-hour shifts at $20 an hour, pays $700 a month in child support for a child who does not live with him, and is weighing a studio lease on a combined savings of $100.
The relationship tension driving that impulse is real, and the thread's commenters zeroed in on the logistics. Getting to a 12-hour shift without a driver's license means paying for Uber or relying on a partner's schedule, and either option quietly drains money that has nowhere else to go on a budget this tight.
The top comment from Dazzling_Text653 made two points: spending more time with his child could reduce the child support obligation, and getting a license is not optional. Both suggestions address costs that compound every week the situation stays the same.
The post is a clear illustration of how fixed obligations like child support interact with variable costs like transportation to make budgeting something closer to arithmetic survival. Dropping $700 off the top of a paycheck before rent, food, or transportation are even considered leaves almost no room for the kind of unexpected expense that turns a stretched budget into a crisis.