One of the biggest challenges of getting divorced is handling the financial aspect of it. If you’re not the primary wage earner in your family, ending your marriage may also mean giving up your main source of income. If you are the primary wage earner, you may be worried about how you’re going to be able to pay child support, spousal support and likely new accommodations.

It’s normal to be worried about how you will survive financially as you go through the process of dissolving your marriage. Here are some tips for how to make ends meet during and after your divorce and how a Long Island family lawyer can help.

Know What You’re Already Working With

Take some time to review your current expenses, ideally before you even file for divorce. Know how much things like housing, transportation, and food will cost for everyone in your household and start thinking about how you might cover these expenses after your divorce. You don’t want to be surprised by hidden costs later on that you didn’t know were there or that you would become responsible for when you get divorced.

Cut What Expenses You Can

Whether you move out of the marital home during the divorce or not, consider what expenses you may be able to cut. Magazine subscriptions, gifts, cable television, eating out, and other unnecessary costs can likely be trimmed to give you more money to work with during and after your divorce.

You can also set this money aside in savings if you already have enough to cover legal fees and the cost of living independently, or if you have family who are also willing to help you with costs until you get on your feet.

Figure Out How to Increase Your Total Income

Cutting costs is often not enough to create a large enough disposable income to live on your own after a divorce, whether or not you have children. You may also need to think about realistic ways to increase your income.

Consider various options like child support, spousal support, a second job, selling crafts or other items online, making baked goods to order, and other “side hustles” that can give you multiple sources of revenue. This also helps insulate you should you lose your job or if one of your side hustles stops bringing in money. If you’ve got other income sources on the table, you can easily put more focus into those until you can rehabilitate or replace your compromised sources.

Stick to a Tight Monthly Budget

Once you get a system of incoming funds and outgoing expenses established, use this to create a monthly budget that you can stick to. Try not to make purchases that are outside of your budget, especially if you’ve just started the process of divorce. Staying on a budget can be difficult, so be sure to leave extra money for pleasurable activities from time to time. This can help reduce the temptation to spend money on leisure that you’ve allotted for other things.

Save Up for Emergencies

When you’re no longer married, any emergencies that might happen will fall on you to manage – and pay for on your own. If possible, it’s a good idea to set aside some money for an emergency fund, even if it’s only a couple hundred dollars. Ideally, you want to get to the point where you have a few months of expenses saved up, but that’s not usually realistic in the beginning. It should be a goal to work toward.

What you don’t want is to be stuck calling your ex if something unexpected happens and you don’t have any other way to get out of it. There’s still a chance that this could occur, but if you have at least a little saved up, you can avoid having to call someone else for help unless the situation is significantly unmanageable.

How a Long Island, NY Divorce Attorney Can Help

Navigating the financial burdens of getting a divorce and living independently – perhaps even for the first time – is intimidating in a best case scenario. You may be unsure of how you might be able to meet your financial obligations or how to advocate for things like child support and alimony that can help.

At Hornberger Verbitsky, P.C., we have a successful track record of helping families like yours overcome the many hurdles presented by divorce and can provide you with the zealous, comprehensive family legal representation you need during this difficult time. Contact our office today to book a free consultation to discuss the options available to you by dialing 631-923-1910 or fill out the short form on this page.