Me too. I tried my best to explain to the then wife YOU DON’T BUY MONEY.
Most people are in debt after a divorce. I paid off my house in two years afterwards with no other debts.
I have a house in my name, two elderly vehicles that run to my satisfaction, a stationwagon and van. I was thinking of buying a kayak for my river trips but since the service provides the transportation, I figured I would just go ahead and pay the little extra money to rent the kayak. They can handle transporting to the river and it’s possible damage. I have my son’s old mountain bike. He wanted to replace it but I don’t see the need. It’s not like bikes don’t get scarred up anyway if they’re used to their full extent.
The ex-wife? Broke and living in an apartment on a nurse’s salary.
I've borrowed money to buy a used backhoe, kept it for about 2 years to do some work on the property, and sold it for a more than I paid after cleaning it up and doing some mechanical repairs. The interest on the money was considerably less than I could have rented the tractor for, or paid someone else to do the work.
Don’t gloat. Convince her you are penniless and in debt up to your eyebrows. That way she won’t suddenly remember money you should have paid her.