Having a wife by your side who inspires you, supports you, and fights alongside you really makes a difference.

When we were just the two of us, we valued money and things, but not as much. When our first child was born, we started to think more carefully about what we spent, and then our second child, who has Down syndrome, was born, and then we really started to value every penny.

I think it's because when we're young, we don't think much about the future, or about the possibility of an illness, accident, etc., coming into our lives.

guerratotal

AskSN

How much does it really cost to be poor?

This was a very different post than I expected. I loved this part:

> Our marriage has been strengthened through tears, sleepless nights, and difficult decisions. But also with hope.

To me, if you have that, you can get through pretty much anything.

I was only really poor when I was young and had no dependents. It's really not that hard being poor in those circumstances, if you're willing to stick to a budget.