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From someone whose children just became adults and fought this battle for 10 years, my recommendation would be to stuff the money for child support in an account and pay it monthly from there. DO NOT USE IT FOR ANYTHING ELSE. I lost my job 3 times in 10 years. I'm not sure what the child support laws are there, but here getting behind is a nightmare!!! You spend a bunch of time in court over being in contempt, risk losing your license, your tax return goes to the court/ex and it's extremely difficult to get caught back up, pay bills, etc. Pay your car off, so that in the event that something happens with your job, you still have a car and don't have to worry about repossession. I ended up in this boat. No car, no job, no way of being able to provide for the kids when they were at my place; all while the ex was trying to screw me out of every penny she could.
Someone mentioned before about home ownership comes with lots of maintenance. There is always work to be done, appliances needing to be replaced and various repairs needing completed. This takes time and money. Time and money that can be spent with your kids. Pay the car off, save that money from the car payment and use it for rent. Stash the money for child support, so that you don't have to worry about getting into a situation to where you are behind with it. Rent an apartment, not a house; this way your time isn't consumed by yard work and whatnot. Spend time and money on your kids......and the occasional female as you will want this time and money available then too. if you still want to buy a home once the kids become adults, do that then; you'll have more time and money when that time comes.
Right now, just focus on kids, work, maintaining your health and sanity. This is a drastic life change. Try not to take on too much right now. Good luck. If I can be of any assistance shoot me a PM.
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