Hi all,

I've been on this divorce reddit for a few months now as I am currently going through the seperation process in Australia (need to be seperated for 12m before we can apply for divorce)

BACKGROUND:
As I'm sure many of you have experienced after I eventually got through the months of the 'lonely + wallowing in my own pity' phase I eventually started to come around to the idea this doesn't have to be viewed as such a bad thing. Credit to many of the posts and comments I see here for helping me see this viewpoint.

As such I decided now is high time to re-evaluate my life and start from the ground up, due to circumstances my wife and I have agreed that our children (2 girls 2+4) will be 70/30 her way for this year. Next year will be 50/50. Please try not to judge too much this works best for all parties included (especially the kids) and I am not trying to be a lazy father but that is our best option.

Now that essentially gives me 1 year to sort my things out and get prepared for having the kids proper 50/50. The first thing on the list is finances - I'd previously been reading 'The Barefoot Investor' (Australian Finance book) and picked up quite a few things I can re-assess.
I decided to create a spreadsheet to keep myself organized.

*DISCLAIMER* I am in no way an accountant or financial planner myself but I found this spreadsheet helped immensely to help me plan how I am going to set myself up for the future and look forward to the fun things I wanted to do for myself and the kids. Just coming from a young dad who decided to help himself - and hopefully can help some others aswell.

Using this spreadsheet I realized I am capable of much more than I ever expected (obviously seperating kind've reduces my expenditure but still)

I was able to schedule in the following:

- Paying off 10k Debt in 6 Months.

- Buying myself a 2nd Hand WRX (To be Paid off in 12 Months)

- Have a house ready and furnished for the kids by 2021.

- Booking a 1.5-2w Holiday to Tokyo.

- Possibility of taking out a small house Loan in 2023 to be paid in 15yrs instead of 30.

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Writing these things down and having a list of the small things that I would'nt have purchased while in a marriage (Wireless device charger/Electric Piano) has helped me focus on the positive possibilities from my situation rather than the negative - Hopefully this can help some other Divorcees do the same!

I just wanted to put it out there how big a difference it can make when you really start to get things organized and see the potential for the future, I've heard even buying small things like new underwear/socks and choosing your own body wash can have a big mental impact on how you view your surroundings and feel about the situation.

If there is anything I can do to help anyone who reads this post please feel free to reach out.

Few notes on the spreadsheet:

- It has automatic functions setup so when you put it bills it calculates totals and how much of your income goes towards bills

- Weekly Spending it setup as an 'Overflow' so any leftover income automatically allocates to that - I usually try keep it at 10% and allocate all other money accordingly.

- 2 Sections (Own House + Share House)

- Percentages can be changed and will then indicate how much monthly income goes towards each focus (Mine is currently very debt focused to clear that out first)

- The Goals section is auto added with timeframes included to show how long it will take to achieve that years goals with the current financial setup.

Spreadsheet link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FlBM5mmfORaGFTILQLA_MCXBmSTC7qvB/view?usp=drivesdk ​

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https://preview.redd.it/tw5vr40gs7b41.png?width=856&format=png&auto=webp&s=9dd9e74c79a7858b80075dc5cefb10151be8e23a