[Grishnakh]

Both are true. Having kids basically dooms you for 20 years; raising kids as a single parent is a miserable task. And before you say anything about married couples raising kids, remember that 50% of first marriages end in divorce, so the odds are not good. And that number doesn't include people who just stick together in unhappy marriages. If you can find someone really great for you and you can find a situation where you can have kids without it ruining your life, then you're really lucky. Most parents I've seen have a miserable time of it.

Not spending more than you make is a big, big factor too, that many Americans seem to have a big problem with. From what I can tell, they simply do not understand the concept, at all. They basically seem to think they "deserve" a certain lifestyle and level of spending, and just do that, regardless of how much actual money is coming in, and simply refuse to look at ways to economize or maximize the value they get for their spending (such as by not eating out all the time because they're too lazy to cook).