Financial strain is a leading cause of divorce. The irony is that divorce costs so much money that it only makes finances worse—much worse. In 2007, it was reported that the costs of a divorce in the U.S. ran from $10,000-$20,000 (If you have that kind of money to throw around I can think of some better ways to use it!)
Then there is the expense of two residences—two of everything. If you have children there’s the expense of child support, which many of the people who are ordered to pay, consider to be far out of proportion to their income. Those who are designated to receive it—often don’t and end up having to pay the costs on their own. Alimony may be another expense of divorce in your state.
Difficult times are the times to stick together as husband and wife. Be patient with each other. Listen. Remember what drew you together in the first place. I’ve heard marriage teachers say that if you can persevere; your marriage will get better sooner than you think (they say that statistics bear it out). But it does take a conscious choice.
I’m in no way an expert on this subject but I do know that divorce costs money in addition to tremendous pain. I do, however, know how to stay married through difficult times as my husband and I are on our thirty-second year of marriage.
Insights on stretching your money & your outlook—surviving difficult economic times & helping others *from one who’s been there*
My husband and I have faced many lay-offs in the past twenty years; each time we hoped to learn something new so that we could help others in the future. Now is that time. As my we worked to “stay afloat” (the opposite of “going under”!) during lean times, I read every money-saving book and magazine on our library’s shelf--some things I’ve worked out for myself. Now that my husband has a steady job, we’ve continued many of these practices as a part of responsible living. In my posts, I’ll include ideas for different levels of need—stretching dollars when you still have some income and stretching even further (when you think you can’t) when the income is gone in hope of helping you hang on until you get some income. I’ll also address things we learned about attitudes—ours and those around us.
I invite you to comment with your money-saving ideas and accounts of what has worked for you, since community is one of our greatest resources. While I’m writing as an American in the framework of the American economy, I also invite those of you from other nations/peoples to share what you’ve learned about stretching resources since many things can be applied anywhere. (Do know that I will delete any comment that’s derogatory or has foul language.) Please share this blog with others who are stretching and help them keep from “breaking”.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment