I walked away from my family home with just a couple car loads of gear, and that was mainly books. It was hard saying good bye to everything, a lot of my tools stayed, particulalry gardening equipment.
Mostly I did it for my wife and the kids. The kids needed some stability, so that their home with Frances changed as little as possible, so that they always had that to go back to after staying with me.
Also I felt like it was a new start. Out with the old, construct the life I want. It was nice buying a big new bed to sleep in, new sheets, new table and chairs etc.. (put it all on finance eek), I felt like they were entirely my own, the way I wanted it. Of course financially I am worse off now. But I was lucky, my dad sold me a house for very cheap and I could use the mortgage to fund my surgery. It is still a struggle moneywise, but then it always has been.