I got married 3 days after college graduation, so at least H and I had combined low-salaries. But we were entirely on our own - covered all bills, rent, car payments, insurance, and college loan payments. We even took a fairly nice honeymoon six months after the wedding that we paid for on our own. The only time we really felt poor was after our 2nd child was born and I wasn’t working. Lots of budgeting and scrimping. Lucky that our kids were too young to realize that most of their Christmas gifts were from garage sales.
Yep, my kids are living at a lower lifestyle than they did when they lived at home. But that’s the way it should be. They need to work for everything and build themselves up. H and I are just a safety net for emergencies and I know that we and they are lucky to have that!