With $6,000 in the Bank, I Felt Like a Millionaire

Photo by me 2015. Left →Sophia, me, Zia, and Adrian the cat.

Freshly divorced in late 2009, I was an independent mom of an 8-month-old and 4-year-old, working as a Senior UX Manager for a large/well-known eCommerce company. I had an $80k salary, health, and many other big company benefits that looked good on paper.

By contrast, I had a one-hour commute (each way, if traffic was good). Daycare was a requirement for my girls because work…