Divorce involves planning for a future without a spouse. For instance, if you want to stay in your marital house, you should determine how you will pay for it without the income of your ex. However, even if you can afford the home, you might end up in bad financial shape regardless.
It is important to figure out whether you can pay your home expenses along with your other priorities following your divorce. Otherwise, you could become “house poor.”
What It Means To Be House Poor
According to SFGate, people can have an income that supports all aspects of home ownership, including the mortgage, home insurance, property taxes, yard upkeep, and home repairs. You probably have factored all of these expenses into your future plans to keep your marital house.
The problem is that you may lack money to pay other costs. Vacations, restaurant outings and movie purchases could become a thing of the past. You might not even be able to afford more important payments. You could be stuck with debt you cannot pay off, or you find yourself cutting down on heat or air conditioning to save on utility bills.
Consider Creating A Financial Forecast
It is possible to focus so much on retaining your marital house that you do not imagine how it could impact your life in other ways. Supporting an expensive home should not endanger your ability to pay for utilities or even essentials such as food and medicine.
Some people who are house-poor resort to desperate means to pay bills, such as selling their possessions online. Properly budgeting and forecasting your future costs may tell you whether holding on to your marital home will truly be worth it.