I'm Nicole Lapin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand.

It's time for some money rehab.

So I'm not sure if you know, but I went through a serious breakup last year.

If you are going through the end of an engagement, the end of a marriage, or a long term separation,

I wanted to give a quick bootcamp on getting your financial booty back in shape.

I'm sure you're getting used to new life as a single person and there's a lot to that,

but one of the most important elements is getting to know and love your new financial life.

So here are five steps you should take to start this chapter off right.

Step one. Close it up. Closing any joint credit cards or getting your name off joint bank

accounts is your first order of business. You don't want to pay for half of whatever your

ex is doing to tackle the impossible task of getting over you, right?

But seriously, you're done splitting the bill. So if your work direct deposit goes into a joint

checking account or there are any other direct deposits, change that ASAP. Step two.

Show your budget some love. Sit down and have a face-to-face talk with your budget and

remove all signs of your ex. How is everything going to be different now that you're the only one

who's bringing in income, but also you're the only one you're going to have to pay expenses for.

Maybe you've been paying for two Netflix users or have a bigger account than you need or have

a package that you are never going to watch. You can digitally downsize as well and also change

that password. Bye. Step three. Do an ex cleanse. It's a cathartic experience to get rid of the

stuff that you shared or purchased together and it's even more cathartic if you can make a little

extra cash by doing it. That extra furniture, the king size bed, that your ex insisted on,

let's say, or the peloton they used like as a coat rack, get it out of there. Nobody wants to live

...