One Single Mom Shared Her Smart Child Support Strategy On Reddit ... And Got Bashed

A woman who goes by the user name u/aitalivingcheaply on Reddit, recently took to the platform to get some opinions about a recent discussion she had with her ex-husband.

Seems her ex was “livid” about the fact that she only spends about 20-30 percent of the monthly child support money she receives each month on their four-year-old son.

She saves the rest for when he’s older, or there is an emergency — and apparently her ex (and some Reddit users) had quite a bit to say on the matter.

Since we are all voicing our opinions here about what this stranger is doing with her money, I’m gonna chime in.w

I myself am a single mother to three who receives child support from their father every month. But more importantly, they are all teenagers now — and I can tell you they are ten times more expensive now than they were when they were four.

First, the grocery bill alone takes up a lot of my monthly checks. That’s just one aspect of their life.

When they are teenagers their clothes are more expensive (case in point: my son just begged me to get him $100 sweatpants because it’s what all the kids are wearing), they want cell phones, they are in sports which literally cost more than anything else in this entire world, and there are things like school trips and outings with their friends that are expensive.

Then you have the dances and proms which cost a small fortune. My daughter just went to homecoming, and I was happy to oblige all of her requests since these kids haven’t been able to do anything like this for years now. She wanted a new dress and to get her nails done. Those two things alone were a few hundred dollars. She didn’t ask to get her hair done. She didn’t want a limo. She and her friends ate a pizza that I made at home before they went.

I think this woman is smart to save her money and prepare for her son’s future. Child support is based on income, and her ex-husband can obviously afford it. However, those checks do not grow with inflation. I mean, have you seen the cost of a gallon of gas or a gallon of milk?

We didn’t even get into college here. But, that’s another reason why u/aitalivingcheaply isn’t spending all of her child support right now. She said she’s preparing for his future. There’s no guarantee her ex-husband is going to help out with that. After children are 18, there’s no obligation to pay child support any longer, and she’s smart to look past the right now and into the future.

Even if he is planning on paying for college, there are no guarantees in life and anything could happen.

She also explains she didn’t grow up with a lot of money and was raised by a single mother herself who taught her how to budget. Her ex never had to worry about money, so he probably has no idea what it feels like to not know if there is going to be enough money in the future.

The post got a lot of buzz and most of the commenters on Reddit said the mother was in the wrong and she should be spending all of the money she gets on her four-year-old son.

The fact is that her son isn’t going without anything — and let’s be real, he’s four. He doesn’t need anything lavish. She was clear in saying she’s putting the money away for his future. She’s not going out and blowing it on casinos and martinis. She’s saving the funds for her son when he gets older instead of indulging him with toys and taking him out to eat all the time.

To me, it sounds like the child is getting everything he needs — and a valuable life lesson to boot. And he will be glad when he’s older and has a nice nest egg, a college fund, or money for a car. Or expensive sweatpants.