Dating-app con artists are professionals. — I just watched The Tinder Swindler on Netflix. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a new documentary that recounts the story of a man who scammed multiple women around the world out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. It seems like it would be impossible to fall for such a…

It’s a struggle to get by, but I alone control the narrative of how I view my financial situation. — I grew up in an upper-middle-class family. I always assumed I would live an upper-middle-class life as an adult. That would not be the case. I would end up struggling financially in middle age, a single mother. This is my story. After college, I lived the life of a “poor” hippie. I went away to college at eighteen years old…

At least I’ve kept my dignity. — F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.” As someone who was once married to a man from a wealthy family, I can attest that this is true. My now EX-husband is used to a way of life…

I’ve learned to be a better, stronger person. — I’m going to be honest with you: my relationship with my ex-husband is a mess. We don’t get along. This has created a lot of unwanted stress in my life. I look back on my decision to marry him and see it as a bad one. …

Here’s how that felt. — I’ll never forget the experience of going to bankruptcy court to process my bankruptcy. It was located in Downtown L.A. First, you waited in a big room, packed with people, where you sat for hours. This was pre-pandemic Los Angeles, and so nobody was masked. It was like being at…

“Nesting” is the practice of keeping one home for the children to live in full-time after a divorce. — What happened to the parmesan cheese? I wondered on Sunday night after returning to my apartment after having been with my boyfriend all weekend. My son will only eat his pasta with parmesan cheese and there wasn’t any in my refrigerator. It had disappeared. He was hungry because my ex-husband…

I chose to leave the big house. — I recently read a story by Honor Jones in The Atlantic called “How I Demolished My Life” and it really hit, well, home. Jones wrote about her desire to renovate her house where she lived with her husband and children only to realize afterward what she actually wanted was a…

Here’s how to protect yourself from married people on dating apps. — Imagine you’ve recently met the greatest guy. He’s swept you off your feet. You feel like he may be “The One.” You think you’re falling in love with him. Soon, he’s invited you to go away for the weekend. You drive together to this destination and have a fabulous time. …

It was a struggle to leave my marriage but my kids are happier for it. — During the last two years of my marriage, my husband and I became strangers to one another. We were two people living in the same house, even sharing the same bed. Apart from that, we lived separate lives. When we did talk it was only to argue. Mostly we bickered…