An informal poll of my like-minded sisters and girlfriends tells me 80 percent of them are back in the dating game, chomping at the bit to vote in the November election, and briskly moving their money from dangerous places, like mutual funds, and into safe places, like gold. Or crisply turning it into Euros.

Liv Tyler and I, however, are on another path. At least that's what I feel after reading today's celebrity headlines. The pouty, pretty actress was reflecting on her split with Spacehog guitarist Royston Langdon, equating it to "the loss of everything."

Tyler says, "I feel neurotic, like Woody Allen. Sometimes I just feel like a crab without a shell."

Okay. Do I dare admit that I can relate?

Women often feel lost without their men, even when the relationship sucks. It can be lonely trying to make the house, bank account, kids, and social life all work.

With the whole financial and political world reeling, I feel paralyzed. Even though most of the times I manage very well, there are moments, even weeks, when I feel myself totter.

During these episodes, my money doesn't feel safe, and neither does my state of mind. It's a little too late for me to correct the fault lines in my newly embraced financial portfolio. Divorce has left me not only poorer, but also woefully ignorant when it comes to investments and how fortunes are made and lost.

I can only hope to survive by worshiping at the church of Suze Orman (who preaches that a woman, or at least she, needs only one pair of earrings) and FWW's own Jean Chatzky, especially her advice to go on a money diet (oh god, another diet), and her instructions to always open your financial statements, which may be just too much right now.

A year ago, I was flying high.

Today, as I read about another debacle in The Wall Street Journal, I looked into the possibility of taking a roommate. I check Craig's List, chocked full of women looking for lodging. Some of them read, "Divorced. Need help, place to live, right away!" The sub-clauses say things like, "Although he'd like to see me homeless, I have other plans." 

There were also postings from women with one, two, three small children begging for a place to crash. Yikes.

I was wondering if I could fit my entire life into two suitcases. I was also wondering if there is any realistic way for a mother of four to have a quiet nervous breakdown, without anyone noticing.

Not likely, right?

In the past when business, children, or life in general got me down, I'd dream of far-off vacations. Now I'm thinking seriously of downsizing and simplifying. I might even reach out to one of these women.

I know the healthiest thing for me is to fall back on what's always sustained me - music of course. Time to schedule a band rehearsal and bash out a song about bailouts, the Fed, and the subprime mortgage crisis.

It also may be time to manage my finances with some down to earth basics, like actually going on that money diet. Even months and years out of a divorce, old feelings of loss, confusion, and fear come back.

These are the times when vigilance counts, and blasting through life at the speed of sound is the only option.

Editor's note: Members of the social networking site have also offered suggestions about managing debt after divorce. Mayabella has an inspiring post about what she did.