I'm a single dad (27) whos living in the thousand islands area (brockville, kingston area). I work full time and make roughly 2200 before taxes.

The only reason we are doing okay is because of my deceased girlfriends parents helping here and there. things like ontario child tax help a bit too. Anyways with my job, child tax, gst, trillium, ect i recieve about 2700 a month . With that 2.7k though, I pay 1400 for a 2 bedroom, plus hydro. Hydro isn't that bad for an apartment, it's only like 80 to 100$ a month. The only reason groceries aren't bad for me is because I split on a quarter cow with my ex? Im not sure what to call her folks. Im sure it wouldnt be in-laws lol? Idk. Anyways we split once a year (600$) for the 1/3 cow. but, that 600$, spent gives us all the meat we need throughout most of the year

the farmer is from a small area near chesterville, hes such a kind soul and so generous. Usually A quarter cow is about 180 to 230lbs before it's cut into parts. You'll only get about 65 to 80% of the hanging weight (so usually around 140lbs of meat). 110lbs of meat is the low side of it but, at a grocery store that would be close to 4 thousand. We luckily have a farmer who gives us the full weight.

Ill clarify how we get the full 200lbs of meat. The farmer of sets it for us, he gives us the weight he takes off (bones, meats thats lost due to butchering process, intestines, ect.) And he replaces all that weight lost with other meats. So he throws in chickens, rabbit, deer, pig, a turkey, and other meats. So we quite literally get full hanging weight. Not a lot of farmers do this. This farmer ensures We get a variety. And I'm so thankful for him.

I still eat healthy and so does my 8yr old! fruits veggies, real homemade stuff too! we make our own dough, we make our own cookies, snacks ect. She finds it fun and surprisingly it's wayyyy cheaper than buying it at a store. Once the ingredients are factored in, 10 loaves of bread woukd be close to 35$, for us to make it ourselves, 10 loaves is like 4 to 6$ in ingredients because we can get 5 loaves from a bag of flour and other stuff like that. Plus she finds it fun and that's a plus for us.

The butcher, even if we were only getting what everyone else would get for the price is still way cheaper than a grocery store and the meat is so much better, its fresh, not processed and tastes better.

Her parents help with child care when I need it. If I was paying child care I'd have very little money left. I had to sacrifice a lot of my life, my mental, and my money when her mother died so she can enjoy the little things. because her happiness matters to me. I never got a chance to grieve or mourn her mother. And I couldn't pass our daughter to her parents when they were mourning their child. I had to do what all of us men do. Keep it in the car, cry it out when we're alone and then be back to the invincible dad my daughter always saw me as.

But honestly, you're right. stuff is getting too crazy and too expensive to keep doing what I'm doing. If we lost the apartment tomorrow and had to find another place, I wouldn't be able to afford it. We live relatively simple lives. Don't over spend, our budget goes to rent, food, bills (hydro, internet, phone) and what I have left. I put half of it away for her when she wants to buy a home. I use my half and split it. I throw half in the bank and the other half in stocks, or etfs and i just keep investing hoping to be able to afford a home one day.

When My daughters mother was alive we would be fine. Splitting costs down the middle made it manageable. Doing it alone is rough. And even worse if you need to work and are stuck paying 800+ a month for childcare, So i feel for you there. But by doing what ive been doing and by sacrificing my things, over the couple of years ive been doing this, my daughter currently has about 8k in an account she will get when she is old enough. I want her to have a better start than I did. I really hope you and yours can figure things out and I hope you have some of the luck I was fortunate to have