Soon to be divorced stay at home mom

[u/mrskdubyah]

As the title says. My divorce will be finalized in the next 30 days or so. With the separation, I'm entitled to half the equity of our home, and myself and my children are the ones leaving the marital home. After debts are paid off, I'm leaving with a lump sum of around $38k USD. There will be alimony and child support with that, and I have a start date for a new job, but the lump sum is what I'm trying to focus on.

I've been married for just over 10 years. In those 10 years, every financial aspect of our lives was entirely handled by my husband. I quit working right after we had our first child 9 years ago, aside from side jobs and baby sitting other children. A lot has changed in those 9 years and I'm scared and overwhelmed about finances.

I've budgeted out what it will take to get my children and myself established in the apartment I've found for us (new beds and necessary furniture/household goods, first rent and deposit, first months payment for childcare after I start my new job) and it's around 8k. That will leave me with roughly 30k to work with.

I do not think I will run into such a large sum of money in my near future, since I'm literally starting over from scratch. I have no credit or recent job history. I'd like to know what my options are to stretch this money as far as I can and what I can do to make it work for me. I've opened a bank account, and talked to someone there and they suggested opening a money market account with 25k of it, as that's the minimum required balance. They have financial advisors that would work with me and help me grow it, and it has a 4.2 (not fixed) interest rate. Is that a good option, or do I have smarter options? I have no idea what I'm doing, and would love any and all advice.

[u/TJAJ12]

Since you have been a stay at home Mom and need career and financial advice, check out Dave Ramsey website and podcasts for your initial education on how to handle your funds and creating a budget. He has a few amazing books for everything you need to learn. Listen to his podcasts. He’s a little too churchy and right wing for me, but thank goodness he leaves most of his personal opinions out. He has the best and easy advice to get started. I think you’ll enjoy his podcasts and listening to his callers who may have been in your situation. He is adamantly against any kind of credit, which when you listen you’ll understand why. Call in if you can, they often give the callers books and budgeting apps for free! Good luck, you got this. Just be sure to get all the education you can get and stay out of debt . Good luck! 🍀