Financial Independence After a Breakup: Rebuilding Your Economic Stability

Gaining Financial Independence After A Breakup

One of the most traumatic things about a breakup, after having your heart broken is the fact that you have to now rebuild yourself financially.  You need to make the transition from having joint income to doing things alone.  You may have had a joint bank account or split bills between you if you were living together.  

Finance is something that can affect how and when a person leaves a relationship, especially if you were married or in a civil partnership.  The whole thing can seem a little daunting.  

Today we are going to be looking at some things you can do to help you regain financial independence.  Some of these things I have personally experienced so I know exactly what it feels like.  

Regaining financial independence after a breakup is absolutely achievable if you follow the steps and advice below.

 

 

Understanding The Financial Impact of A Breakup

When the breakdown of a relationship happens, aside from the emotional turmoil of the whole experience there is also a practical one that needs to be addressed too.  

For some people who are trying to leave abusive relationships, this can really be a major factor in them being able to leave the relationship.  

Even if your relationship had nothing to do with abuse there are still some financial things that you need to consider.  

Here are some things that are typically impacted when a relationship breaks down:

 

Loss of shared income:

You may have been splitting household bills together, paying a mortgage together or just doing general activities together. If this is the case there will definitely be an impact on your finances.  

Housing:  

You may need to count the cost of moving out if you are the person who has to leave.  You have to consider renting out a new place which would require a deposit and perhaps be more expensive than where you are currently living.  

Legal Implications:

If you have to go through a divorce, it can hit you pretty hard in the pocket if you have to pay out for legal fees and such.  You may also have to pay out for child maintenance costs if you have children in the picture too.  

Debts:  

Any debts that you have will also need to be divided.  Credit cards, loans, joint accounts overdrafts and any other debts that you may have will need to be split down the line.  

 

All of these things can have a huge effect on how you begin to move forward in your life and rebuild yourself.

 

7 Things You Can Do To Help You Regain Financial Independence After A Breakup

 

1. Look Into Your Finances

One of the first things you need to do is to take time out to assess your financial situation.  

Where do you stand in terms of your access to finance? The best thing to do is to make a list of any debts that you have that need to be taken care of.  

Next, list any assets that you have.  Make a note of your bank accounts, savings, investments and any loans or debts that you might have.  Be honest about what you do and don’t have.  The more honest you are, the easier it will be to tackle.

Take a look at your monthly income.  How much will the breakup impact your finances? Do you have enough to make sure you can still make ends meet?  

Once you do this you will have a much better well-rounded picture of your financial situation.

 

2. Create A Budget

If you’ve never been into budgets before this is definitely a time where you need to start.  

Having an honest budget will help you to see any areas where you may have a financial leak and need to tighten up.  It will also help you to keep your money under control.  

Here are some tips to creating a good budget for yourself:

Make a list of all the things that are essential that need to be paid for first.  This might be things such as rent/mortgage, childcare, food, transport, debts etc.  These are things that you have no option but your pay for.  

Next, you need to cut down on anything that is not immediately essential if your finances do not allow for it. This might be a gym membership, eating out or cutting back on some social activities.

Doing this doesn’t mean it will be forever, just for a time until you become financially stable again.  

Set Some Helpful Goals For Yourself:

You may want to list your debts and have a deadline for when you would like to finish paying those off.  

It could also be that you need to save for a new apartment or have a certain amount of money in your savings account by a particular date.  

Having a very well put together budget will help you to remain in control of your spending and start over on the right foot.

 

 

3. Set Up An Emergency Fund

Having an emergency fund is something that people underestimate the power of.  

Now that you are on your own, you do not want to find yourself in situations where you don’t have enough money to make ends meet.  

Remember that you don’t have the other person to help you balance things out anymore and you definitely don’t want to accumulate any further debt. This is a very crucial time and it would be easy to begin to fall into further debt during this time.  

 

Here’s How To Build An Emergency Fund:

Have A Goal:  

How much do you think you would need to set aside to make sure that you would be ok should anything happen?  

It doesn’t need to be 6 months of savings at this point.  The idea here is not to overwhelm yourself but to be realistic with what you can do.  That might mean working your way up to having $1000 in an account that you do not touch unless it is a dire emergency.  As you get a little more stable you can begin to increase this amount.  

Set Up Savings:

Make automatic payments into your savings account, don’t rely on yourself to do it manually each month.  It won’t happen.

Cut costs where you can.  Look for areas where you can make savings on non-essential items and either reduce your budget or, if you can spare the extra cash then add that saving to your emergency fund.  

Remember an emergency fund is just that.  It’s not a savings pot that you dip into every now and again if things get tight, it is strictly for emergencies only.