What Will New Normal Life Cost?

I advise my College Station divorce clients to create a list of their anticipated new normal cash flow needs. Do a monthly expense list for your repeating and regular living expenses. Multiply them by 12 to get your annual total.

One of the tricky steps is to remember to add lines for those expenses that do not occur every month. The cost of gifts is one that people frequently underestimate. To get it right, make a list of the friends and relatives you give gifts to each year. Birthday. Holiday.  And then start listing the not-so-regular gifts such as graduations, weddings, hostess gifts, dinner party gifts, etc. Remember the cost of cards, gift bags, wrapping paper and bows.

Other occasional costs are tires, auto insurance, vehicle registration, insurances, holiday decorations, holiday groceries. And the list goes on.