When you are going through a divorce, you can take the opportunity to revamp your entire life. Your finances are one of the areas that you might want to think about changing. You will be the sole adult to make the decisions about where your money goes. Plus, you will have the only income coming into the home.
There are a few things that you can do to protect your finances. Even if you think that you will be fine, you should take these to heart because you never know what is going to happen during the divorce or the time after it.
Set your budget and follow it
Setting a budget is the easiest part of getting your finances in order. Following it is another story. Counting only on your own income can be a challenge. You have to remember that you will need to prioritize items on your list. The essentials must be taken care of first. These include the mortgage or rent, utility bills and insurance payments.
Remember that you can adjust your budget as needed. If your expenses go up or down, you can change the figures to reflect that. One way that this might come in helpful is that you can create your budget without child support or alimony but add those in if you receive them.
Take care of your credit
Your credit can be impacted by the divorce. Make sure that you consider how this might impact your future. You should make all payments on time and try to watch any accounts that you still hold with your ex if he or she is supposed to pay those. If accounts that are held jointly aren’t paid on time, they can impact your credit since the creditors don’t have to abide by the terms listed on the divorce settlement.
Get your savings in order
You need to have a good savings account so that you can handle emergencies. You can start small by trying to save a small amount each month. Increase this over time so that you can build up savings that equal one month, then two months, and then six months. Think about this — bypassing one $4 coffee per day means you can save $120 per month. That totals $1,440 per year that you can put away for an emergency.
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