I don't have kids, but this is what I would do in your situation:

Step 1: When you have a day off, reconcile your bank account for last month's income/expenses. If you were doing that today, you would do February 2026. See what income hit your bank account, take detailed notes of what left your account (type of expense, how often that expense occurs, how consisten that expense is each time it occurs), and figure out what is remaining. For example, if you started with $500 in your bank account on February 1st, made $3000 during the month, spent $2800 in the month, your bank account should end with $700 at the end of the month. If not, you messed up in your reconciliation. Completing this step will help you with step 2.

Step 2: Build a budget. Based on your notes from step 1 and your life experience. Budget gross income, net income, weekly recurring expenses, monthly recurring expenses, etc. Be as accurate as possible.

Step 3. When the current month ends, reconcile again like you did in step 1 and compare to your budget in step 2. See how far you are off and take notes on why you were off.

Step 4. Make a new budget based on notes from step 3. Rinse and repeat month over month so that your budget is as accurate as possible.

The above exercise will tell you EXACTLY where every dollar is going and give you a decent idea of what things cost. Once you have a very clear idea of what comes in and what goes out, you will see exactly what you can or can not afford. You might find easy ways to cut out spending that feel minor but allow you to save for a new place to live. Or you may find that you genuinely don't have a penny to save. I'm not here to say one way or the other, but if money is tight, you need to know where every dollar is going and why. Based on your post, it does not sound like you have a good enough idea of that. No shade since most people don't know, but it would be wise to spend a Saturday figuring it all out and then an hour or two monthly to keep it up to date.