[¶ 1] Gevaine Shields appealed from a district court judgment which granted the parties a divorce, divided their marital property, and denied either party spousal support. 1 Gevaine challenges the denial of spousal support. We hold the failure to award spousal support to Ge-vaine is clearly erroneous, and we reverse and remand the judgment of the district court.
I
[¶ 2] Gevaine and John Shields were married in September 1984. During the course of their marriage, they had three children, born in 1987, 1988, and 1992. Gevaine had earned a bachelor of arts degree in communications prior to the marriage. While John searched for permanent full-time employment, Gevaine worked outside the home at various jobs, unrelated to her degree, to supplement John’s income and to obtain health insurance for the family. Gevaine quit working after the birth of their third child, who was born with an “immune deficiency,” and became a homemaker and the primary caregiver for the parties’ children. She is now 40 years old and unemployed.
[¶ 3] John is 44 years old and works for Qwest Communications (“Qwest”) in Wahpeton, North Dakota. His employment with Qwest began on a part-time basis in 1985, and he has worked there regularly since 1990. John’s yearly income varies depending on the amount of overtime he works, but his gross income for 2001 was $64,138.
[¶ 4] Gevaine and John separated in November 2000, and he filed a complaint in April 2001, seeking a divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. Although Gevaine did not respond by serving an answer, she did respond by motion, asking in part for custody of the three children and “temporary support, alimony, attorneys fees, and costs.” An interim order awarded Gevaine $1,100 in child support and ordered John to pay the parties’ mortgage payment instead of paying spousal support, stating “[n]o spousal support shall be awarded at this time.”
[¶ 5] When Gevaine and John divorced in April 2002, they agreed Gevaine would have primary physical care and custody of the children, with John having visitation. Under the child support guidelines, the district court calculated John should pay *715 $1,402 monthly for child support. Gevaine received $55,149 in net property distributions, and John received $54,226. Under the property distribution, the district court awarded Gevaine the marital home in Kindred, North Dakota. She had requested permanent spousal support in the amount of one-half of John’s net pay, after it was reduced by his child support obligation. However, the court declined to award any spousal support and also specifically divested itself of jurisdiction over the issue. Gevaine argues the district court’s failure to award spousal support was clearly erroneous because the evidence demonstrates she is a disadvantaged spouse.
II
[¶ 6] A district court’s determination on spousal support is treated as a finding of fact which will not be set aside on appeal unless clearly erroneous.
Sommer v. Sommer,
[¶ 7] According to N.D.C.C. § 14-05-24.1, “[t]aking into consideration the circumstances of the parties, the court may require one party to pay spousal support to the other party for any period of time.” A court must apply the
Ruff-Fischer
guidelines when determining whether spousal support should be awarded.
Heinz v. Heinz,
the respective ages of the parties to the marriage; their earning abilities; the duration of the marriage and the conduct of each during the marriage; their station in life; the circumstances and necessities of each; their health and physical conditions; their financial circumstances as shown by the property owned at the time; its value and income-producing capacity, if any, and whether it was accumulated or acquired before or after the marriage; and such other matters as may be material.
Mellum v. Mellum,
Ill
[¶ 8] We have held “[a] disadvantaged spouse is one who has foregone opportunities or lost advantages as a consequence of the marriage and who has contributed during the marriage to the supporting spouse’s increased earning capacity.”
Walker v. Walker,
Gevaine has a B.A. Degree from Con-cordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, which was obtained in 1984. She has worked for various periods of time for the Fargo Forum, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and 3M. Since the parties [sic] children have been small, Gevaine has *716 stayed home raising the children. Ge-vaine does not wish to have to seek employment as she prefers to remain at home with the children, and there is no evidence that she has attempted to find any employment since the separation of the parties. Gevaine is intelligent and articulate and in good health and is capable of full time employment.
[¶ 9] However, the facts of this case suggest • Gevaine is a disadvantaged spouse. As we stated in
Weigel v. Weigel,
[¶ 10] Spousal support awards must be made in consideration of the disadvantaged spouse’s needs and of the supporting spouse’s needs and ability to pay.
Moilan v. Moilan,
[¶ 11] The district court made, no specific findings regarding the reasonableness of Gevaine’s stated monthly expenses, although John challenged some individual expenses. The court simply found: “Ge-vaine is capable of employment sufficient to meet her reasonable monthly living expenses when combined with the child support she will receive from John.” We do not know whether this means Gevaine is capable of employment earning the $2,370.50 per month, as required in her prepared budget, or if some other amount was intended by the phrase “reasonable monthly living expenses.” Assuming the district court intended the $2,370.50 figure, it made no findings regarding how Gevaine could earn this amount given her career and educational history or to account for childcare expenses if she obtained full-time employment. Furthermore, assuming the court believed Gevaine could find employment to meet her expenses, the court did not retain jurisdiction to consider spousal support in the future if she was unable to obtain employment that would enable her to do so.
See Kopp v. Kopp,
[¶ 12] John also submitted a list of his monthly expenses. Because the district court did not award any spousal support, no findings were made regarding John’s needs or ability to pay. On remand, the court will need to consider the needs of both parties and John’s ability to pay.
[¶ 13] Gevaine requested permanent spousal support, but we conclude this request also encompassed lesser forms of support. Permanent and rehabilitative spousal support are recognized as distinct remedies:
Permanent support is appropriate when the economically disadvantaged spouse cannot be equitably rehabilitated to make up for the opportunities and development she lost during the course of the marriage.
Rehabilitative spousal support,- on the other hand, is appropriate when it is possible to restore an economically disadvantaged spouse to independent economic status, or to equalize the burden of divorce by increasing the disadvantaged spouse’s earning capacity. There are two approaches to awarding rehabilitative spousal support. One is the “minimalist doctrine” which has as its objective rehabilitating the recipient for minimal self-sufficiency. We have rejected this doctrine in favor of the more “equitable” approach to determining rehabilitative spousal support, which attempts to provide education, training, or experience that will enable the recipient to achieve “adequate” or “appropriate” self-support while improving her employment skills.
McDowell v. McDowell,
[¶ 14] While Gevaine may not have presented a specific plan for the future or started applying for jobs, we have stated, “[a] specific plan of rehabilitation may well be preferable to platitudes about wanting to go to school, but we have not required such specificity in the past.”
Corbett v. Corbett,
[¶ 15] We conclude the district court erroneously failed to consider other factors, including Gevaine’s foregone opportunities and contributions to John’s increased earning ability, Gevaine’s monthly needs and John’s ability to pay spousal support, and the likelihood Gevaine will require further education or training to reenter the job market.
See Moilan v. Moilan,
*718 IV
[¶ 16] We reverse the judgment and remand for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.
Notes
. Gevaine's notice of appeal states she is appealing from an order dated April 3, 2002, which is titled "Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order for Judgment.” We treat a party’s attempted appeal from an order for judgment or a memorandum decision as an appeal from a subsequently entered consistent judgment.
Thompson v. Associated Potato Growers, Inc.,