Well, golly.
It's almost the 5 year antiversary of d-day and I'm finally getting around to the independence I started heading for after the divorce.
When I came back to my home town, I rented a house with a friend from my teenaged years; turns out we weren't a good fit as housemates and it only lasted 9 months. (Nothing relationship wise, we were just two gals sharing a house to save money.)
I stayed in the house for 3 more years ... which was stupid, considering it is a 2300 square foot home WAYYYYY out of my affordable range and I have been hemorrhaging money for far too long. I might have been okay, but when the EX was late with alimony, it would throw my finances into the pits and I was hit with late fees, penalties and eventually having to ask family to help me paddle my canoe up the creek... I thank God for my family but it was humiliating to have to ask for help.
Now my lease is up and the owner is selling the rental house and the fresh start is only a few steps away. I am NOT looking forward to the hassles and expense of moving; deciding what goes into storage and what stays within daily reach or changing all the address info,etc.
I am looking forward to not stressing over whether I can pay the rent.
So... I'm going to post this in another place but will say here, when you are just starting out and you are flat broke and don't know what in Hades you're going to do ... check out low income housing. Honestly, if you're low income, do whatever you have to in order to live within your means. Nobody needs the stress of finances added on top to the complicated healing process of being betrayed and losing what you believed was "until death do us part."
Lastly, a chuckle. When I was a little kid and FIRST heard about the concept of divorce, I couldn't wrap my head around it at ALL... I actually envisioned a bride and groom... breaking vows in front of a congregation of people in church, giving back rings, walking backwards up the aisle and ending the marriage. 
Kids can be silly. (I'm still a kid at heart!)
