L said his partner deals more in family law, and he consulted with him about the spousal-support issue, asking him specifically what the courts seem to be awarding these days. He said his partner is guessing I'd be awarded only *$500 a month* in spousal support??? But, again, they acknowledge it's alllll "a crap shoot."
L has stuck to his guns with our numbers ($1,600 for CS and $1,000 for SS), even telling H to go find his own L to run the numbers past him/her, so it shocks me that $600 less than what we asked for "might be reasonable." I don't see a way I can come down from $2,600. And that would STILL only leave me with $1,000 a month for a place to live.
Now, let me say this: my utilities - especially power/natural gas - are super-high in this old house. Moving somewhere more energy-efficient will likely save me at least $150/month. And my DD16&17 both have jobs and might have to start pulling some weight on their own, like paying their portion of the cell-phone bill. They already pay their own car insurance.
So there are avenues to whittle down the budget a little, to be sure. But there's not A TON of wiggle room there.
Again, I can have my mom as a roommate, which would likely even enable me to continue staying home with the kids. So that's at least one option. And I've been offered a freelancing gig, but that wouldn't contribute a whole lot. I also have creative talents - I have FOUR sewing machines (lol) - that people literally line up to utilize, and that has brought in extra income in the past. I stopped most of that late last year so I could focus more on my son's school work. I could pick those things back up, even though I've had NO motivation to do anything since H left. But desperate times call for desperate measures.
I have a friend who has a house that will come open for rent in June. At this point, I'm wondering if I should "squat," considering I'm not going to be saving a whole heck of a lot of money in the meantime, or if I should jump on that house when it opens. That's been in the back of my mind, too. And the rent there is $1,000, but they said they'd knock that down a little for me. Problem is: it's only 3 BR, so I wouldn't have space to move my mom in. In fact, the kids and I would be squished like sardines in a 3 BR. THAT would be the advantage of staying in THIS house ... because it has a bonus room downstairs and 3.5 BRs upstairs. My mom has already been staying here some to help with the kids, so I know we'd have room for her to stay here. But, again, she can't start helping with bills until June because she has her OWN expenses. By June, I'll be behind in mortgage payments by two months.
These are the thoughts that have been muddying my mind for 2 months now. And I keep bouncing back and forth on what's best for the kids and me.
M: 40 H: 44 Married 14 years S11 & D6; D20 & D19 from previous M 2BDs/PAs, 8 years apart Piecing: April 2014
