The Day Marie from the Bank Became My New Best Friend

Unfortunately for me, I was not very involved during my marriage with our day to day finances. My husband ran the checkbook and paid the bills. Although I knew where we spent our money, I let him handle the details. Big Mistake!

When we split, I had to take control and fast. The process would have been daunting enough on its own, but it became a nightmare when I learned there was a lien on my house. Apparently, my future ex had stopped paying some of our bills for close to six months, and the one that turned into the biggest problem was the real estate tax. If you fail to pay, the government has the right to put a lien on your home and can even take possession of it if you do not submit the fee and penalties after a period of time.

To untangle the mess I found myself in, I gathered my bills, including those for my real estate taxes, and went to the neighborhood branch of my bank. There I met Marie. She turned out to be a lifesaver in those dark days.

Marie sat down with me and helped me add all of my payors to my online account. Now this sounds like a pretty simple task, and it was, once I actually did it, but the mental leap involved was difficult to overcome. At first, I had a hard time maintaining my concentration, but quickly got down to business once we got the process rolling. After all, I had my three children to take care of so getting my finances in order was key. I could not afford to wallow. Despite everything I was dealing with, Marie kept me calm and focused on the goal. After meeting with her for 45 minutes, we completed the task at hand. Of course, I knew this was just the start of gaining control over my financial future, but she gave me lots of smiles throughout and even a hug at the end.

As a result of my situation, I resolved to educate myself about my finances. I found a couple of experts (an accountant and a financial advisor) with whom I could review my budget and spending. But while they have provided excellent guidance, I cannot forget Marie. She helped me start on my new path. Needless to say, she was cool. Sometimes in divorce, you have to depend on the kindness of strangers, and I was lucky Marie was there for me!