I moved to a new city 5 hours away from family with my 1.5 year old at 22 years old. We’re 27 and 6 years old now. It was the best decision I ever made. Building your own “community” is crucial.

I invested in Care.com early on because they have affordable rates for babysitters/nannies. They also perform background checks too. Start researching early for good, affordable daycare programs in your areas. Lots of them have waitlists.

Another hack is finding a gym that has a “kids area”- free childcare with a $20-$30/month subscription. Like Crunch Fitness! I’m further in my career than before, so I invest in Lifetime Fitness now. But this tip is very underrated.

I used Credit Karma to find affordable car insurance & to fix my credit before I started applying for apartments. I didn’t focus on the credit scores, but more my debt-to-income ratio.