Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - What It's Like To Stay Together For the Kids— and the Mortgage Rate
Episode Date: October 9, 2025Would you live with your ex to keep a 2% mortgage rate? That’s the question Morgan Dickson and her ex-husband faced— and ultimately said yes. But for them, the decision wasn’t just about dollars... and cents. Keeping the home was the best decision for their kids—but the real estate market has become an unexpected character in their story. Today, Nicole sits down with Morgan , whose story recently went viral after being featured in The Wall Street Journal. Morgan talks about how the interest rate “lock-in effect" played a role in her and her ex's living arrangements, and how they manage expenses as a divorced couple cohabitating. Then, Nicole and Morgan dive into the economics of divorce, and what happens when personal and financial decisions become intertwined. All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal. This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Always do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any financial decisions or investments. All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal. Brokerage services for US-listed, registered securities, options and bonds in a self-directed account are offered by Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA & SIPC. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1890144), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC. *APY as of 6/30/25, offered by Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Rate subject to change. See terms of IRA Match Program here: public.com/disclosures/ira-match.
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I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand.
it's time for so many rehab.
Would you live with your ex for a 2% mortgage?
That is a very real question that Morgan Dixon and her ex-husband Ryan had to ask themselves,
and ultimately they said yes.
Today I chat with Morgan, who you might have seen in the Wall Street Journal,
in a piece that went viral for all the right,
and as I find out, a few wrong reasons.
The article spotlated how Morgan is still living with her.
has been because of a 2% mortgage rate.
Although, as Morgan tells me, there is more to the story, as there always is.
But as a side note, two X is living together because of a mortgage rate is my dream rom-com, just
same.
Anyway, Morgan is a real-life example of the lock-in effect, the phenomenon where homeowners
don't sell their properties because current mortgage rates are relatively higher than what they
have now.
The article that features Morgan and her ex says that between mid-2020 and mid-24, the lock-in
effect prevented nearly 2 million home sales. Today, Morgan shares her story. And then we dive deeper
into the financial side of marriage, divorce, and everything in between. The interview after this.
Morgan, welcome to money rehab. Hi, thank you so much for inviting me. This is so cool.
It is so cool to be able to talk to you. I was so taken by your story. And I just love to get right
into it because I saw the headline, you and your ex-husband are holding on to your home
because of your mortgage rate. How did we get here? Yes. And so for me, that title was a bit
deceiving. We're definitely doing this arrangement. Our primary reason is for our kids,
you know, the benefit of our children to have us both accessible so they can see their mom
and dad every day. There is obviously this financial gain. We just,
I think looked around in the neighborhood and prices if I wanted to buy something else, even a few
blocks away.
It's just so expensive now and the interest rates are so high.
I think the last I checked with 6%.
And then I was also looking, I mean, our property value from the time we bought our properties
has almost gone up at least 75%.
I mean, it's very, our values are increasing.
And so in our settlement, Ryan and I agree everything after we die is going to go to our kids.
And so if we can hold on to these properties for sure, after we are, our time is here in the world.
Hopefully our kids will have these, you know, very nice properties that will be worth a lot that they can either live in or, you know, cash in or whatever.
So, yeah, looking at it and the big picture of what could we afford now and then also,
you know, 50 years from now or 20, even 20 years, 10 years from now, you know, it makes more sense
for us to hold on to these properties. So how could we make our new way of living work like
that? How do you make it work? Like, what are the sleeping arrangements? We use a note,
an Apple app every week to kind of decide who gets what night, you know, it's usually three
nights with me and four nights with him or vice versa. We'll decide that at the beginning of every
week. We try to allocate times where I have the house totally to myself with the kids and then
vice versa for Ryan, a lot of communication and planning. If I sleep in the house, I'm sleeping
with the kids, you know. We basically, because I live in the Airstream trailer, or I was,
I found out after the article was published that that's illegal and the city code came. And I came
home with a note on the door saying no living in the airstream, so.
What? Wait, so they saw that from the article that you were living there?
And I love our city. Like, we were unaware that that was illegal. And they were just so kind
about it. And so since then, I've been sleeping in the house. I do store some things out there
just because I'm preparing for a build and we're just kind of sorting through stuff. So I'll be kind of
in and out throughout the day in the airstream. But yeah, we don't want you to get a ticket. So
whoever's listening, you're not living there.
I'm not living there. I've since moved out. The city was just so wonderful. And that's another thing. I mean, we just love this community. You know, we go to the library. I know the librarians. My kids have known the librarians since they're like weeks old. We have nothing but love for where we live. And so when we decided, you know, we're getting divorced, but how is this going to work? Neither of us wanted to move, you know. Before I met Ryan, I had owned a home in Orlando. And so the very obvious choice would be for me to have moved.
back to my old house and get my old job or find something there.
I mean, it would be very easy for me to find, or I should say, it would be easier for me to
find work in Orlando.
But then, again, just thinking what's in the best interest of our kids, that's more than
an hour drive one way if they want to see their dad or their friends.
Again, like we have so many friends and so many people we love around us here, it's just
it just didn't make sense, thinking of their best interests.
We wanted to disrupt their lives the least amount of possible, you know.
You're doing great.
So when you guys were separating, it sounds like there were a few options for living arrangements.
It was sell the house.
You know, one of you could buy the other out, I presume, or you could share, which is not
the most conventional option.
Were you guys on the same page with that from day one?
or did you want to sell or he want to sell?
No, we both surf.
We live three blocks from the beach,
and they touched on this a little bit in the article.
I mean, we've really invested a lot in our garden
in the house that Ryan now owns.
We've renovated a lot.
I mean, a lot of love has gone into this house
and then the adjacent property.
And so we just did not want to sell.
And even if one of us ended up here,
I mean, again, to keep,
the other one in the nearest proximity just did not make financial sense.
And I don't want to ever come off.
Like, I have all the answers.
Like, we are very, this is a very much experiment for us.
Like, we're taking it one day at a time.
We definitely still have our hard moments.
Some weeks are much better than others.
It is kind of just a lot of communication and being honest with what's working and what's not
working and yeah so I definitely don't ever want to seem like this is it I know how to do it
this is very much like today it's working kind of situation I'll take it I mean I think everybody's
is still figuring it out but don't really think of this as a potential option so are really
curious to see how it's actually working with you guys and I would love to follow the numbers a little
bit so it sort of colors how this all came to be and how this makes sense
when did you guys buy the house and how much was it when you bought it yeah we're married in
2018 so we bought this house in 2017 and we bought it for 265 i want to say and now zillow is
estimating it to be i don't i don't know let me look it up that yeah is estimate for it's off
it's 583 okay and then i'm on a different property and there's a vacant
property next to me and it's just the dirt there's nothing no structure there and that's listed at
440 you guys own that no i own the one right next to ryan which is the i don't know if i want to say my
address on it's okay but i'm directly next to ryan and then there's a corner lot next to me
and that corner lot is being listed at 440 something so my point being that that lot that i'm on is
even gone. I mean, it's at least going to be 440 maybe, you know. So you guys did the math and
what would it be like to rent something in the area? So because when the city said I couldn't live in
the airstream, I was looking for apartments because we just didn't, we didn't know if we could,
you know, if I could move back in. And basically, the one bedroom studio that I really wanted was
1,300 a month. But because I have two children, they were denying me. I didn't qualify for it
because they're only allowing two people per bedroom as like a contingency. And so the places I was
eligible for were at least 1,700 a month. But my current salary situation wouldn't allow me
afford that. And so I was really in this predicament like, well, what really are my options? Because
the other thing is you're not just working with owners. You're working through HOAs. A lot of the
buildings and the homes, properties in this area are run by HOAs. And so they are much harder to work
with the owner what is going to let me that one studio bath place for 1,300. The owner was like, yeah, just move
been. It's great. You know, my children are little. When I was in the airstream, all three of us were
sleeping in a full-sized bed. Like, we're fine, like they said, you know, but it just kind of puts things
into perspective for what a single family can actually qualify for and what salary they have to be
having in order to live here. You know, it just kind of put things into a big perspective for me.
So thank you, by the way, for being so honest about how you guys.
guys are divvying everything up and the ins and outs of your separation and divorce agreement.
Did you guys have other shared assets, like a joint bank account or retirement accounts?
How did you handle a little of that?
Not really, actually. You know, we were both very independent before we met and got married.
Like I mentioned, I had owned my house. I had my own bank account. I had my own retirement.
And so we did dip into that. We dipped into my pension to buy the adjacent property.
Also, I received some inheritance in our marriage, which funded a lot of these renovations.
So I think in his mind, too, like, this is a fair route to go because I have, you know,
I was a stay-at-home mom for five years.
And I had a great career before then.
I loved my job.
I loved everyone I worked with.
We had our son and the pandemic hit.
And it just didn't make sense, you know, for us to try to find child care for me to continue
because I was commuting to and from Orlando.
So, yeah, we just decided I was going to be a stay-at-home mom.
And so I think, again, just coming back to the bigger picture,
when we decided how is this going to look,
I think we both did realize, like,
we both gave everything we could to our marriage.
I mean, not just emotionally and, you know, but financially.
And we both were really, Ryan put a lot of work into the Orlando house.
I'm not going to lie.
I mean, he totally renovated that.
I think if you are to go this route where you do the nesting practice, you know, there is a lot of hard
conversations, but it's a lot of honesty too. It wasn't just so one-sided because even though Ryan
was the primary, you know, quote-unquote breadwinner for five years, I was keeping him fed and, you know,
I was keeping his laundry clean. Like, I was like, because he's a rocket scientist engineer and I was
like, they should put my name on that rocket too, you know. You wouldn't be showing up.
That's right.
If it wasn't for me, and I think that a lot of all stay-at-home parents, you know, I mean,
the other one can't be as successful, you can't be as successful without the other.
100%.
And there's not that, you know, monetary value attached to the other side.
So one time I tried doing the numbers, you know, if we hired a nanny and a lawn care provider and
housekeeper, a cook, that's value, that's money.
And I think, you know, thinking of the stay-at-home.
home parents' role in that way, you know, really helps me frame like, okay, this is a
contribution for sure. But I struggled with it at first, having come from a career and, you know,
always since 16 being very financially stable, like independently. So why isn't your name on the
house? Well, so in our settlement, Ryan has this house and I ended up with the lot. So my name,
I have the deed for the lot next door.
And then I will build on the lot.
Hopefully by March, you know, we've submitted our plans to the engineer.
So hopefully I'll be submitting permits next week and we'll get going.
You know, I kind of wanted to avoid the hurricane season.
But now I'm just really, that's how I'm motivated to just get going.
So the plan was basically you guys had two adjacent lots.
your ex-husband took the one that the house is on you took the next door one and you're planning
to build a house so you guys will always live next door to each other it sounds like and it's you
know we say always but it's really again for the benefit of my kids once my kids are 18
nothing's permanent when you have children every year is so different and so I think in
these early years when they're young, even throughout school. But the way I'm designing my house
and, you know, we talked about it is I love to travel. I lived in Italy for a while. I'm originally
from Minnesota. Like, I'm ready to go. Like, as soon as my kids are old enough to go on adventures.
Once you decided that you were going to share this home and do a nesting thing and do, you know, a different
schedule every week, it sounds like, were there some ground rules that you guys set up to try
to make this arrangement work? Yeah, 100%. We both agreed, you know, we're not going to bring guests
around here, you know, romantic guests for at least a year. Have you guys started dating again?
No, we just even talked about it last night. We have a family dinner once a week, which I like.
It's really nice for the kids and we'll try to hang out at least once a week. If it's not a family
dinner, we'll try to do something, a bike ride. But no, I think he was saying last night,
it's so early, and I agree, you know, it's all just kind of hitting us, you know, where it just
happened. I mean, it was in April, but it's October now. It still feels very different. And I think
because I'm still in the house so often, it just, I don't know, it's not like as clear of a cut
break. And again, I need the kitchen. I need the laundry. And if there were,
was another option for me. I think we would both be open to me finding an apartment for a year
while I complete my build. Financially, that just doesn't make sense because I have these funds
allocated for my build. If I start spending that on rent, you know, it just doesn't add up.
So I'm just hanging tight. It sounds like you guys are cool with each other. Yeah, we do. We get along
really well. You know, I'll speak for myself. Again, like we do have our hard moments. Something
happened last week i'm trying to remember what it was oh we had a birthday party for my son and that was
always just kind of we're always you know stressed out when we're hosting things and i'm cooking you know
like four cakes and 18 cupcakes and you know those moments are always heightened but you know we get through
it and like again like i just want to emphasize this point like i don't know if this is like the best way
for every family like i don't even know if it's the best way for my family like i don't even know if it's the best way for my
family. We're trying to figure that out. So far, we're getting through it. And so far, like,
those hard moments we can handle, you know, Ryan and I both can flare up. And so if we just give space
sometimes and then come back to it, it's always better for us. It sounds like, yeah, the big picture
is that this makes the most sense for you guys in the long term financially. And there are a lot of
potential growing pains and some things to work out. But overall,
all this is the right financial decision for you and your kids.
Yeah.
Yes, I would say that.
How do you guys divide expenses now, like utilities, things that you're buying for the kids,
property taxes?
Yeah, I'm paying the property taxes on my lot.
Utilities, I pay him a certain amount every month.
Their school, my daughter is four, so she didn't qualify for kindergarten.
so she's in this BPK program and my son is a kindergartner,
but we're choosing to put them into a school for three days of the week.
It's like a hybrid homeschool program.
Anyway, it's not public school.
So there's a cost to that and we split that evenly.
Groceries, we both contribute.
I go to the grocery store a few times a week.
He does too and we just kind of share everything in there.
That hasn't changed.
Do you share a car?
No.
I have my own car.
that's paid off and he has his car that's paid off. Yeah, it was very easy because he also had a house he inherited from his dad. So when we did the settlement, it was really just straight down the line. I had my Orlando house and the lot and he had his Daytona house and our family's home. And so it was just kind of us deciding that together. And then we found a peaceful mediator who just kind of formed it all up. We had the judge sign everything.
And then it was done. I mean, it was like the fastest divorce, everybody tells us. But it was a lot of us
deciding what we wanted and how we wanted it to look and what the holidays would look like. And that's
something that we could just figure out on our own, which I know isn't the case for a lot of other
situations. But again, if you can do it, that is also a cost saving. That whole process cost us
$4,000 and we split that evenly. I know some divorces.
can get a lot more expensive. And some are, I will say, and some are cheaper. I mean, you can file
your divorce independently and just take it to the court. Yeah, but I know people who do that and
we just didn't have the time. Like, we just are so, I feel like I'm taking it. I wouldn't have
had the capacity to do that. Yeah, we've had a show on how to save on divorce. I mean,
oftentimes the lawyers really win at the end of all this. And it sounds like you,
you guys were amicable enough to work it out and really think about what's best big picture
for you guys financially and not let emotions get in the way, which is so admirable.
What did people around you think about all this?
Like, were people confused?
Were they supportive?
Were they judgy?
Some people have done very similar things.
This isn't, you know, this is for a lot of people.
this isn't kind of groundbreaking a lot of families live like this and they were very supportive
and understanding you know if you've lived through it or even if you have kids i feel like
there's a lot of understanding there just from the situation of having your own kids
there have other been you know there have been other judgments of you know like this this is
crazy i think the worst was this lady be like well love heals everything and it's just
It's like, oh, does it?
That's kind of, those kind of, like, comments really heal.
But I think it's a mixed bag.
And at the end of the day, it doesn't, the society's perception of this,
this is how the Wall Street Journal found me is because I was in these groups on Facebook,
support groups for separated and divorced parents.
And this woman was writing, you know, I want to do this.
It feels like the right step for us.
but I'm getting a lot of pushback from almost everybody in my life.
And so I chimed in and said, do it.
You know, I'm doing it.
It's working for us.
Like, you're not crazy.
You know, I think a lot of that fear of going this route is the society's perception or, oh, man, and reading the comments on the Wall Street Journal when it published, oh, oh, I was like I can't.
Oh, sister.
No, I just turned it off.
Those are rough.
I just, you know, the things they were saying about both of us and I, you know, wanted to pipe
in like, he's a great dad, you know.
But, you know, that's the hard part and you just have to bring it back to what's the best
for your family.
There is a financial gain, 100%.
But the fact that our kids, I think our kids, if you ask them, what does divorced mean?
They'd be like, well, my parents don't sleep together.
You know, I don't think they're phased by anything else.
They don't have to move between cities.
They don't have to, you know, even go down a different block.
I mean, their lives have literally just not changed at all despite us not going to bed together
and waking up together.
But even some mornings they do because I'll be in here before everyone gets up.
Everyone in my family sleeps in except me.
And so they wake up and I'm in the kitchen.
And it's like, nothing's changed.
And I think that's our vision, too, you know, especially for big moments, like big moments,
birthdays, holidays, like we envision us being together as a family for those moments, you know,
for our kids.
And knowing what you know now, what would you tell someone who's thinking about keeping a
property with their ex?
Because the interest rate thing is definitely real.
Like we hear about this for families or individuals, your situation.
is really unique, but there's this inertia with giving up low interest rates.
Well, just to also clarify one thing, Ryan has a property and I have a property.
So in one year, we might not be seeing each other as much. Today we are because we're sharing
this, I'm living in here. So for me, I think a huge differentiator between others who are actually
sharing one single property, that is it, you know, because
I know at the end of the day I'm going to have my own house and my own yard. This is very temporary
and that's a saving grace. But for now, you know, I can speak to living together in this house
and I would say, you know, you really have to ask yourself, like can you communicate on a
level-headed way? Because again, you're modeling everything for your kids. Like your kids are
all, at least my kids are always around. So like if we have a disagreement, we both have to
understand how we're going to get through that disagreement, that isn't going to traumatize our
children, you know, and I think that is a really big thing. You have to be honest with, like, can you
both handle that? Because if you can't, you know, it might not be the best solution for you. Because
there will be hard moments, you know, in this arrangement. It's just inevitable. And so, how do you
communicate? How can you handle yourself? And when things are heated, when it's hard. Yeah, finances
or things like you were talking about, how do you divvy up groceries?
And because, again, I don't think he'd mind sharing.
But, like, when I make coffee, I spill the coffee grounds everywhere.
Like, he drives him crazy.
And, like, that's always been a thing.
And so, like, you know, can we really tolerate these, like, things that we know are going to irritate us?
But if you can also, I have so many Excel sheets on finances and, like, what I need to be out of this situation.
And so does that make sense?
I think knowing that this is temporary is very helpful for me to deal with it every day.
And so I would suggest, too, for like couples who are doing this, just telling yourself, this is temporary, this is the best for your children.
Like have some kind of like sound bite or something to come back to you.
That's like reassuring you because when it gets hard, you're going to want, you're going to have to stay strong somehow.
And that's what works for me.
Yeah, when, not if.
for sure would you have done anything differently in terms of getting a pre-nup or a post-nup or
putting the house in both of your guys's name well we did actually we had it in both of our names for
a while we had my both of our names on this house and the property and my Orlando house
and so I just I took care of my Orlando house and then I had my kids and so I just handed all
the financial stuff over to him when I had the kids because I was barely hanging on the last
why I don't know, but my name was on it. And so we, again, like, we kind of sat down and
divvied everything out and said how it's going to look. And then we did the quick claim deeds,
you know, Ryan, he's a very, he's a really good person and a great father. And so
working this out wasn't a challenge. Like, does that make sense? Like, yeah, not every,
not everybody can be a Ryan for sure. And so would you tell other people to maybe spell it out before
hand or do a pre-nap or post-nap?
Yeah, or have some kind of plan.
I mean, we never sold my Orlando house.
I never wanted to sell that house.
And I wonder if, in a way, I did that because I don't know.
I really don't know.
I mean, I always thought I was going to, you know, it's going to increase in value and I was
going to leave it for my kids.
But if I didn't have that, and I don't know how it would have, you know, you know,
worked out if you know he refused to get his name off that mortgage or something like that it
would have been much messier of a divorce that's for sure you mentioned you had a career before in
orlando at a hospital you left to be this stay-at-home mom and now you work at a boutique right
and you also babysit yeah before the divorce were you planning on going back to work
I didn't know actually right it was like making fun of me the other day I'm like very much like one a day at a time kind of a person and so you know I have these visions of what I want to create in my life and where I want to be but just kind of taking it a day at a time of how it's going to get there and I thought I would be more fulfilled as a stay at home mom than I was and that I don't want to say it's my fault but I did it
that it would be a better fit for me than it actually was. And so I definitely struggled and
started thinking I always wanted to create my own things. And with the two little kids, it was
just becoming more and more challenging. But yeah, now that I'm working again, I love it. I feel
much better. And so I feel like my old self. And I think that's hard because you don't really
know you think you're going to be happy going one way and then when you're not as much
you know it's challenging to pivot for the other person I think but what surprised you
about that what do you think it was that made you feel unfulfilled no it's a good question I
I feel passionate working with other people I'm very project oriented and so I like being
involved in effective change. I was involved in my old previous job. We were transforming
healthcare delivery models. And when there are so many problems around us, and you can design
a world that is just so much more effective for all of the stakeholders involved, you know,
that's exciting to me. That brings me energy. And I love having my kids. And you can apply it
to any industry. I was in healthcare, but, you know, look around. Look at all the problems that
everybody faces every day. I mean, there's just an endless amount of opportunities. And so when you
can co-create a new way with invested individuals, that lights my fire. And being with my
children, of course, lights my fire too. I mean, I love being with my kids. I think it's just a
balanced, you know, I need, I put all the eggs in that basket. And so I was doing my best to
I have a surf group.
I started a surfing bitches.
It's a parent surf group and we take turns watching each other's kids.
I was starting to find other ways that I could create things in the community that would be beneficial.
But it's still just, I just felt like I could do more.
I can be doing more.
You know, time is so limited in our life.
And I think that was kind of starting to drive me more back into, I'm.
want to get, I want to get back involved in the work field and, and I think also them growing up,
you know, they're less reliant on me. They want to be with their friends. They want, you know,
and they're still little kids, but they just, my daughter loves going to school. She loves
learning. Like, that is now their phase, their stage in their life. And so for me, I'm ready
to also go back to what my passions were and to get more involved in supporting myself.
but again you just can't predict you just can't predict that you know i thought it would be i'd feel
differently and i just was wrong so it was the divorce but also your own feelings it was right around
the same time it just made sense for you yeah yeah 100% was there anything else about the financial
side of divorce that has surprised you so far not really again like i was kind of prepared
because I was kind of geeking out on these Excel sheets, like, okay, well, you know, if I can find a car insurance for this amount, then, you know, my overall monthly income that I would need to survive would be this. And what if I tweaked my home insurance this way, you know? So I was just kind of having fun. And so I really am not surprised moving forward with the jobs I have and what I'm working. And there haven't been any surprises yet. You know, I have like emergency funds built in. And,
everything like that. So,
oh, my brain to God, there is an emergency,
but even then I feel like I'd be
okay. But
again, coming back to looking for the apartment,
that was surprising to me, that there was
just absolutely no flex from these
HOAs when I
needed a place to live. I mean, I just imagined
like, well, what if I didn't have this option
of moving back in with Ryan?
You know, then I would have to go to another
city or
I don't know, but
then I'd be dipping into my
build fund and so that whole plan would change it just really kind of made me sad for a lot of the
families living around here how challenging that that process is and people it's not like an
instant it's not like we're texting and these landlords are getting back to you i mean it's days
and and you have to apply a lot of heavy applications and background checks some ask for fees
I mean, the process is kind of treacherous, in my opinion.
I just thought, oh, my gosh, how do families do this?
How do single moms do this?
They can't, you know, or they're going to, you know, work here and then live, like, 30 miles away.
And then that's an expense.
So, you know, that was a surprise for me.
Well, Morgan, you've given us so much insight.
I so appreciate how open you've been about this.
We end our episodes by asking all of our guests for a tip that listeners can take straight to the bank.
Is there a final piece of money advice that you would give someone separating from their spouse?
Craft and Excel sheet.
Dad, what's in there?
Dan, like your basic funds needed.
Gosh, I could pull it up.
How do I do it?
I have my home insurance, my car insurance.
I don't have health insurance, which is hilarious coming from health care.
No?
I don't.
That is something I just couldn't do this year.
But my kids do.
My kids are under Rhyme, so that's good.
And there was no option for you guys to technically stay married so that you could have health care and the rest of it.
No, no.
And I understand and it's all right.
Like that's, yeah, but one day I will.
And I do have dental insurance, so that's good.
Yeah, water, electric, internet, phone, car insurance, mortgage, child care, house insurance.
I have a food category and then a miscellaneous.
And so I know what I need to survive every month and then to just find ways to meet that number.
Know that before you start entering separation or, you know, I don't want to say it because every situation is so,
different, you know, for everybody. Like, I don't know. This is what worked for me, what I'll
say. Money rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lapin. Money Rehab's
executive producer is Morgan LaVoy. Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money rehab? And let's
be honest, we all do. So email us your money questions, money rehab at money newsnetwork.com to potentially have your
questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me. And follow us on
Instagram at Money News and TikTok at Money News Network for exclusive video content. And lastly,
thank you. No, seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself,
which is the most important investment you can make.
Thank you.