I've got a question and need feedback from all of you that have been hit w/ the cs piece. I'm scared to death at this point, we go to the court on 7/2 to find out results of pat. testing, and cs order.<P>Right now, my H and I handle the bills in a way that has him giving me a certain amount every week. I know that once the CS order is established, I'll have to take a deep breath, but I want to be proactive. Here is where the a/b comes in:<BR>I will put two options on the table for handling money from now on. Option 1....we combine every red cent and pay the bills and household expenses together. We allow each other a certain amount of spending money each week to use at our discretion. Any extra $ spent on OC will have to come through me first. (in excess over a certain amount). This will help us view our situation as 'our' financial battle, not just his battle.<BR>Option 2 is much more non-marriage friendly, but an option I'll suggest anyhow. We split up the household bills right down the middle. He provides 50 and I provide the other 50. We take care of our individual credit cards separately. After that,all other $ is held and managed individually. <BR>At this point, these are the only options I see in order to deal with this financial blow. No more business as usual.<BR>Your thoughts????

<BR>I like option 1 the best, I think it's best to remain as much as a "team" as possible. Option 2 only leads to an area where more problems can potentially come up when it comes to communication. Such as, in Option 1, you will be able to discuss what extra is being spent on OC, in option 2 you will never really know for sure, and if he ever needs to "borrow" money from you, you may be suspicious or resentful on how he could be spending his money....possibly on OC.....<P>I certainly understand, no more business as usual, that's what got most of us here in the first place.<P>Good luck, please let us know what happens!

Option 1. Team is key to this situation. I would however keep an extra % for personal needs ie: manicure, pedicure, jewelry, other. Say maybe 20.00 a week?<P>What do you think?<P>Love<BR>Debi<P>------------------<BR>Imagine....