When people get divorced, their income will often go down. For example, maybe both people worked, so they got used to living on two incomes. Getting divorced means that each person has to shift and begin living off of simply one income, which may be half as much money as they were used to before. This can require an adjustment and post-divorce budgeting.
But it’s also important to remember that it may feel like expenses have also gone up, even as income has gone down. Let’s look at a few ways that this can happen.
No longer sharing costs
For one thing, parents are probably used to sharing many of their expenses and costs every month. This could include things like the home mortgage, utility payments, school tuition, medical bills and even just the cost of food.
But after they get divorced, many of these costs will be duplicated. They shared a home before, for instance, but now they both need to pay for a place to live, either through rent or a mortgage. It’s not that housing is any more expensive, but it still doubles the cost because both people have to pay for their own space.
Creating additional costs
On top of that, the divorce may create new costs or expenses. For instance, perhaps one spouse stayed home to watch the children during the marriage. After the divorce, that spouse needs to get a job because they no longer have support from their partner. This means they can’t watch the child as often, so they need to hire childcare workers or send the child to daycare. This is a brand new expense that still has to be covered, but that only exists because of the divorce.
It’s very important to consider the financial side of a divorce, and those who are going through this process, need to understand all of their legal options.