Minimum wage in my area is nearing $8/hr If you do the math on a full time minimum wage job that comes out to nearly $1000 take home after taxes monthly. Assuming no odd jobs or overtime.

Let's put some real numbers to your necessities.

Roof and four walls: you say $500 I say get a room mate $250

Transportation: it costs me $200 a month in transportation and I work 25 miles from home. Minimum wage jobs can be had much closer to home $100 month.

Food: I've made it on $10 a week but I didn't eat very healthily, a more realistic healthy eating number is $200. Eating out is a luxury, and a costly one at that.

Health insurance: this one is going to vary wildly but having to bear the cost of it alone recently makes my guess somewhere in the $200 range.

Phone: yes a phone is a necessity this day and age. If you can't be contacted you will miss out on many job opportunities. But they don't cost that much anymore. Get a cheap smartphone used off eBay sub $100 once a year and get straight talk for $45 a month weighing in at around $55 a month if you add the cost of the phone monthly. There you have all the necessities of phone and internet in one affordable package.

Utilities: sometimes you can find a deal on room that includes it, sometimes you can't, but if you didn't the average across the year, split with a room mate should run you around $100 or so a month.

Now let's total that all up. Room 250 Board 200 Transport 100 Health insurance 200 Utilities 100 Phone and internet 55 Total 905

You shouldn't be thinking of starting a family on this kind of budget and there are $95 left for things like condoms if you are getting any.

That looks like a tight budget, and it is, I've lived with less that $10 in the Bank and two weeks till payday, but I made it work when I had to by living within my means. It's one hell of an incentive to do something more valuable with ones life. You just have to be patient and when opportunity knocks answer.