when you get full time employment, what will YOUR income be relative to his current income? Do you believe that he has no better prospects? If so, then this is the income that should be counted.

But you're counting the wrong expenses. What you need to count is what will be YOUR expenses and whether you can meet them. It's not a matter of how much you LEAVE for him (extra, at the end of all his other expenses, to have fun with)... because if you can't make ends meet at all and NEED money, then you should probably get some. If you can't afford cable, then fine, but if he is getting cable and you can't afford HEAT, that's another thing altogether, see?

If you are living off of $1000 a month (and not making your rent and basic utility & food expenses every month) and he is living off $3500 a month and having $5 left over at the end, (including cable and a mortgage for a house he doesn't NEED), then it's highly likely that you DO deserve some alimony until you can bring your income up.

So figure out what YOU need, to make ends meet, and then look at whether he is wasting money (if that's on a house that's too big, then so be it, you shouldn't have to live in a tent just so he can have that big house)...

Now, on the other hand, if your full time income will approximate his current income, then it's unlikely that there will be a dime of support under any circumstances, and if the marriage was only 2 years in the first place, the judge will jsut say, "go back to full time, you have no right to expect less work and increased lifestyle after only 2 years".

So look at those things before you decide whetehr waiving support was a good decision. AND if you're this early in teh process, it's highly likely that there's nothing you've done that can't be un-cone. There are a FEW times where you do stuff that can't be undone without extra expense, (and you'll have to look at whether the extra delay and/or expense will be worth it ni the long run), but truly, there's almost nothing you can't change your mind about now.

And to the other poster, if you think about it, divorcing means that it's going to be tough to make ends meet, but if this guy can pay his taxes, his mortgage, his cable, car, food, electric, gas, and EVERYTHING and still have $5 left over at this particular income (artificially lower and we hope will double soon if he can get back into his industry)... and she is not making ends meet while apparently being the primary residence of his children, then that $5 (and maybe more) probably should go to her, in all fairness.

At least until her own income also increases.

By the way, Crazy, you need to increase your income now. Waiting till child support before you put the kids into daycare, UNLESS the job you're looking at will give you less money than the costs of daycare, is crazy. If you are going to earn $200 more per week with this new job and pay $100 per week in daycare to get it, then GET IT. You net $100 per week more than youv'e got now and that's enough to put quite a lot of mac & cheese on the table!

We don't know all the numbers, only you do, so only you can do all the figuring to figure out what's fair, but PLEASE do the figuring. If you find out that the proposed settlement is truly, objectively fair, then you'll feel better. If you find out that you cant' make ends meet and he needs to cut off his internet or cable or cellphone till the two of you get up to speed in both careers, then you'll KNOW what direction to go in. But either way, you'll know for yourself and won't need to ask a bunch of strangers who don't know the situation whether or not you're going to be able to make ends meet.

And don't be surprised if things look worse for a while then you were hoping for. That's the way it is in divorce. Everyone loses. People have to work full time to make ends meet, kids have to go to daycare and after school care that they were hoping to avoid, and there are two households to support. Until there is double the income to support those households, it's CLEAR that both people will have to lower their standards for a while. That doesn't mean forever, but it does mean that you'll be starting over. Hopefully not from scratch, hopefully you'll get SOMEthing back (like half the home equity, your car, etc), but truly, you each have to cut your life in half for a while till you get a new balance in your own finances.