A Fresh Start

You could say that my fresh start began on Thanksgiving Day last year when I made the decision to end my marriage. Removing my wedding band, telling him of my intentions, moving out, filing for divorce, the final hearing, and getting the papers that made it official were all milestones in that process.

This week, more things in the process have fallen into place. Earlier this week, the ex closed on the refinancing of the house that we once shared. Part of our divorce agreement stipulated that we were to split any equity from the house in half. I was in attendance to sign off on a couple of documents related to that. That action severed the last of the financial ties that I had with him. What a relief!

Thanks to some help from my mom, I was finally able to put together a real budget and get a clearer picture of my financial situation. Knowing exactly what I could afford, I was able to trade my 11 year-old car (which I had driven for 9 years) for a gently used small SUV, which I absolutely love! Everything went so smoothly with that that I'm convinced that God was at work in that.

Later on in the week, I got my house money and I'm proud to say that i am now credit-card debt free!! In addition to picking up a couple of toys for myself, I decided to order some new furniture for my apartment. I had already ordered a new TV stand for the new TV I will be getting in the near future, but I decided that I wanted to pick up a couple of matching end tables and a closed storage cabinet to hold a lot of my hobby-related stuff.

As for the furniture, it wasn't like I really NEEDED it, as I have perfectly functional furniture that it will be replacing. It's more out of a psychological need than anything. It's simply part of the fresh start process--out with the old and in with the new. There are a few more pieces that I'd like to replace and a few more that I'll hang on to either because they're family antiques or I simply like them too much to let them go at this point. I want my home to reflect my personal taste now and not simply be a hodge-podge of items left over from a failed marriage.

Onward and upward!