May need a lawyer... DVORCE NEVER ENDS

[Leah]

For our family of 5, house payment, electric, water, cable, cell phone, insurance, food, student loans, and everything runs us right at $2200 a month.

Thankfully, I don't have kids in daycare or after school care. That would add about $1000 to my budget.

Damn, that's cheap! We have a family of five, too and our monthly expenses are way more than that.

[racrguy]

Damn, that's cheap! We have a family of five, too and our monthly expenses are way more than that.

Damn you're an expensive woman. It's a good thing I send you home to Chili after I've had my fun...

[Leah]

Damn you're an expensive woman. It's a good thing I send you home to Chili after I've had my fun...

LOL. Those adult toys add up!

[Roscoe]

For our family of 5, house payment, electric, water, cable, cell phone, insurance, food, student loans, and everything runs us right at $2200 a month.

Thankfully, I don't have kids in daycare or after school care. That would add about $1000 to my budget.

Wow. That's cheap.

[Leah]

Damn, that's cheap! We have a family of five, too and our monthly expenses are way more than that.

Wow. That's cheap.

Repost!

[Treasure Chest]

Wow. That's cheap.

Housing prices are fairly low here, so a great house in a great neighborhood isn't insanely expensive, less than most of you pay for daycare. I pay cash for my vehicles, don't use credit cards, price shop for insurance when my policies come up for renewal.

I plan meals for a week, so I don't waste money on food that spoils or sits in the pantry forever. I plan my store trips and make lists so a $20 run to Walmart doesn't turn into $100. I don't buy sodas and processed snack foods. I buy things I need, not just things that I have a coupon for, I buy very little convenience food, I mostly cook from scratch. I keep a few totino's pizzas in the deep freeze. The one thing processed and convenient that I'll buy is 90 second rice. I can feed a family of 5 on $300 a month, easily.

I've taught the kids to conserve water and electricity. Electric runs between $75 and $120, water is $60-75. The only reason I have cable TV is because cable internet was my only option here, and I have to have phone and internet to work from home. My cellphone plan is a little higher, because I have unlimited talk, text, and data, but I never deal with overages.

I have several advantages since I work from home. I don't have to budget for work clothes, I don't have a commute, so a tank of gas lasts about a week. I don't have to budget for eating out. We live a mile from the school. I pick the kids up, so daycare isn't something in my budget.

We don't buy anything that we can't pay cash for, but when the kids need clothes and things for school, the money is there. Thankfully, they're hardly sick, and don't take meds, so we don't have that recurring expense monthly.

Asking my oldest child's father for anything is completely out of the question, since he hardly pays child support as it is. The younger kids' father, I don't ask for anything extra. Not that he wouldn't pitch in, he totally would, but if I have the money, I see no sense in trying to nickel and dime the guy to death, even with him making six figures a year.

I was a stay at home mom when the kids were little, but I still kept to a $200 food budget, breastfed, cloth diapered, made baby food, and was a complete and total tight ass, it's just how I was raised. We raised our own cattle to slaughter, had pigs, goats and chickens. So I didn't buy eggs, milk, poultry, beef, or pork, and we grew quite a bit of vegetables.

The dads do get the kids most weekends, so if we go out, it's typically when they're at their dads. Summers, the kids spend with their grandparents in Washington, so we take full advantage of our free time and travel as much as we can, even though we're both tight wads. We'll spend a week in the Virgin Islands, we do weekend getaways to Austin and San Antonio, or wherever else strikes our fancy.

Living frugally affords us the luxury to do what we want, but we always do it within our means.

[Treasure Chest]

And I'll add, I took nothing in my divorce but my kids, my car, and furniture that I brought into the marriage. I took no reimbursements for our rental property, no equity settlement from the homestead, I didn't try to get spousal support and instead of getting the calculated 25% child support I was entitled to, we settled on him paying for my daughter's daycare; less than $500/mo for two kids, rather than the $2400 my attorney calculated for a standard order and $1200 with our 2 day/2 day split that we don't even do anymore. There is such a thing as a nice ex-wife.

[Mychael101]

And I'll add, I took nothing in my divorce but my kids, my car, and furniture that I brought into the marriage. I took no reimbursements for our rental property, no equity settlement from the homestead, I didn't try to get spousal support and instead of getting the calculated 25% child support I was entitled to, we settled on him paying for my daughter's daycare; less than $500/mo for two kids, rather than the $2400 my attorney calculated for a standard order and $1200 with our 2 day/2 day split that we don't even do anymore. There is such a thing as a nice ex-wife.

Well, its clear that you didn't grow up with a princess complex and have a severe case of self-entitlement. However, that's not the case for many women out there that take full advantage of the inequalities in the current family law system.

[Treasure Chest]

Well, its clear that you didn't grow up with a princess complex and have a severe case of self-entitlement. However, that's not the case for many women out there that take full advantage of the inequalities in the current family law system.

Unfortunately, I know how true that is. I've seen too many guy friends get ass raped without lube, simply because it's assumed that all men are deadbeat fathers and mothers always have the kid's best interest at heart.

My kids are lucky in the respect that they have loving fathers who are involved in their lives, even though one has never maintained financial responsibility. I've never bad-mouthed him, even though the principle of the matter chaps my ass.

The other kids' father was terrified about getting screwed through the legal system, especially since he didn't retain a lawyer. For his peace of mind, I voluntarily had my lawyer write in Rights of First Refusal, Grandparent's visitation rights, detailed visitation schedules, and the modified child support. I don't think the divorce papers have ever needed to be referenced. We live less than a mile from each other, talk on the phone daily, and have a better relationship than when we were dating or married. Hell, we feed the others dogs when one of us goes out of town.

I get so pissed when women exploit the legal process, play the kids as pawns, and royally fuck decent guys in the head. I can't imagine doing it to my exes, let alone not caring how it would affect the kids! I'm a strong advocate for father's rights.

[slow84lx]

I get so pissed when women exploit the legal process, play the kids as pawns, and royally fuck decent guys in the head. I can't imagine doing it to my exes, let alone not caring how it would affect the kids! I'm a strong advocate for father's rights.

The world needs more women who have your common sense & work ethic towards taking care of your family. My hat if off to you ma'am!