Surviving The System

Ok so it has come to my attention that the system doesnt work very well at all. I dont know why but I'm trying to figure it out. There are so many holes that need to be filled. I have started this blog partially out of frustration but with the hope that maybe I can figure it out and help others in the same situation.
I am a single mother of two girls (well call them Tiny and Tall) and after trying to work at a minimum wage job working till 10 at night and not seeing my children, struggling to cover childcare costs, insurance gas etc who now finds herself relying on the system( aka OW here in Canada) . Ive been on it for a month now and I just cant figure it out. Mind you I do receive child support right now ( I say right now cause I always wonder how long it can be relied on for) so I receive a very minimal amount of support from OW but when I do the calculations we're better off on the system than working at a minimum wage job and we now have medical and dental coverage (dental for the kids and emergency dental for myself) which we didn't have while I was making minimum wage. Im not going to get into the sad story of how my husband and I got together quite young how I went to college but was never allowed to work in my field and how I ended up here with virtually no support but lets just say less than 2 years ago I was living in a brand new house in a brand new neighbourhood and two cars and two kids and a husband an everything looked shiny and pretty. I only divulge this much in hopes that you dont think this is just a pity party and realize that pretty much any day this could happen to any one of us. Im not saying I'd ever go back either...as hard as things may be I know my girls and I are better off. All I want to do is figure it out, figure out how to use the system to get ahead...to do more than just survive...I want to be in control of our lives and most importantly our finances or lack there of at this point.

I'll apologize in advance for the occasional jumbled rant as I find this whole situation completely frustrating. I will also apologize for anyone I may offend (ill do my best not to) and for my hopping from one subject to another. Im hoping to cover how to survive the system, tools available (that for some reason no one wants to share with you) general money saving ideas, coupons etc and of course some serious mommy content. I don't promise to blog everyday cause that would be a lie but I really think that if Im in this situation I cannot be alone and if this helps one person (even if its just me getting it of my chest) then it's not a waste of time.

Thanks for reading and if you ever have comments or suggestions, ideas, resources or whatever please let me know :)

~D