How to Bounce Back Financially After Divorce as a Stay-At-Home-Mom
- March 25, 2021
- by Chelsea
Why You've Got to Listen to This Episode...
In today’s episode I’m talking with best-selling author and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, Leah Hadley. Leah has faced many challenging life transitions including adopting three kids overnight, divorce, and losing her job. She now uses this experience to help moms discover how to bounce back after divorce or any other challenging life transitions.
We’re talking about how to take the emotion out of the hard decisions, how to stay in control of your income even when it changes, and why you need to let yourself dream again.
Moments You Don't Want to Miss
- [5:16] Learn how Leah works with couples to get on the same page financially
- [10:49] Listen to Leah tell about their foster to adopt journey with her three kiddos
- [18:55] Find out what resources Leah used most to bounce back after divorce
- [21:25] Discover Leah's advice if you find yourself needing to transition from 2 incomes to 1.
- [42:57] This is how you can stay stay in control of your income even in an unstable season
- [48:19] Chelsea’s Top Takeaways
Are You Protecting What Matters Most?
Grab our free Financial Emergency & Estate Planning Checklist to make sure you’re prepared for anything life may throw at you!
Key Takeaways to Help You Bounce Back Financially After Divorce as a SAHM
As always, we’ve rounded up our top three takeaways to summarize what we believe are the core points to remember from Leah.
1 - Navigating Financial Shock is Emotional - Acknowledge It
First, navigating financial shock is emotional, so please take a second to acknowledge it. If we try to act like it’s just numbers and push down our emotions, we are more likely to make impaired decisions. Be honest about how you’re feeling and give yourself the space to make as clear a decision as possible.
For those handling loss and grief in difficult times, please check out Episode 97 with Nora McInerny. In this episode we talk specifically about how “grief brain” is a thing. When we’re in the middle of it, it can prevent us from making the best financial decisions. So acknowledge the emotion, and ask for help when you need it. Also remember that you’re not going to get everything right, so don’t try to be perfect. Just try to take the best steps possible in the moment.
2 - Open Communication is Crucial
I don’t know how many episodes we’ve had on this podcast where this is a takeaway. Open communication is so important, especially when we’re going through dramatic or traumatic transitions. It might be learning how to talk to your ex, if you’re going through a divorce and making sure that you have the best communication skills as you co-parent. It could also be just knowing how to ask for help and leaning on our friends.
Being willing to be open and honest and not trying to be superheroes is so important to be able to reach our goals and not get overwhelmed. We have to go back to that first step of not making emotional decisions. Sometimes leaning on somebody in our circle can help us see where we’re maybe making a impulse decision or a grief decision when things are super overwhelming. Have open communication with the people in your life, trust them, and get the help that you need.
3 -Give Yourself Permission to Dream
Finally, when we’re in the shock of the moment we can feel like we’re even struggling to know what’s going to happen tomorrow or next week. We shut down and refuse to dream about what our lives could look like? You know things are different. But could it actually be better? Give yourself that space and permission to dream.
When we talk in the Motivated Mama Society, we talk a lot about making these decisions by identifying how you want to feel and what values you want to live out. This is really important because even when we’re not going through a big transition like divorce, we forget how to start from scratch and how to build a dream and make a plan to get there. So take these moments of upheaval as an opportunity to really reset because you are worthy of a healthy, thriving life that brings you so much joy.
Links & Resources Mentioned
- Join the Motivated Mama Society today!
- Grab your copy of Leah's Book: When It's Just Not Working
- Get Started with Grove and grab your FREE gift!
- Grab your FREE Emergency Preparedness Checklist
- Episode 36: How to Handle Money Effectively as a Blended Family
- Get Started with a Life Insurance Policy with Haven
- Blog Post: Why Stay-At-Home-Parents Need Life Insurance
- Leah's Favorite in Children's Lit: Llama Llama Book Series
- Leah's Favorite in Children's Lit: Pig the Pug
Connect with Leah
Leah Hadley will tell you she’s had a lot of challenging financial times in her adult life-becoming a parent of three overnight, getting divorced, and losing her job, to name a few. These have been times when her ability to hunt down appropriate resources and careful financial planning was critical to her peace of mind.
Now a best-selling author, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) and an Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC), Leah is the founder of Great Lakes Divorce Financial Solutions and Great Lakes Investment Management. She uses all of her knowledge and 15 years of experience to help her clients make wise financial decisions so they can begin the next phase of life with the strongest possible financial foundation.
Other Ways to Enjoy This Podcast
Have You Subscribed Yet, Mama?
Are you subscribed to the Smart Money Mamas podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to head over to Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen to your podcasts) and subscribe! I release episodes twice and week and as a subscriber, you’ll be notified right away so you can take checking the feed for new content off your mental to-do list.
Click here to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify!
