I think do it one day at a time. What else can you do? It will be business as usual, as you save up money.

I don't know what kind of abuse you are talking about. I will have to read your entire other thread. But you do need to protect yourself as ongoing abuse will lower your self-esteem...and you need to preserve your self-esteem at all costs.

My ex and I decided to separate but felt we could not immediately part ways because our son was too young, we needed to save money etc. So we lived in separate bedrooms for about 15 months. Fortunately my ex had a job where he traveled a lot...so that naturally gave us space. But is was sooooo hard. I should add it was a twenty-year marriage.

He was the one who wanted to separate...yet he also seemed to be emotionally attached. He did not respect my boundaries during or after the separation. Of course, with children and shared parenting, it is more complicated. When he remarried he even suggested I find a new partner so we could all "double date." Madness! He sent me cards saying he still wanted me in his life. I remember I called him up (he was newly-married) and I told him, "Look, you can't have two wives...a new younger wife...and an old "best friend" wife. Forget it. I want no contact beyond co-parenting." Of course he raged and screamed. Stupid and childish. I felt sorry for his new wife, to be honest. My ex was a "rage-o-holic." I really wonder why men get away with this stupid, childish behavior.

There isn't a blueprint for this. What you need to do is to find ways to keep your sanity.

I would not venture to tell you what to do. I will only say you have two main objectives...to protect your sanity...and to protect your self-esteem from abuse.

During our pre-separation time we got a new puppy. When the rage-o-holic yelled the puppy would run under the kitchen table and whimper. He loved the puppy so he stopped yelling. The puppy was like a buffer. It really helped having the dog who was a real sweetheart. After we separated we co-parented the dog, too.