[dhbradshaw]

I supported a growing family while beginning my M.S. and the PhD. My wife chose to focus on the children rather than work, and we lived off my stipends. It worked out great. When I completed my doctorate, we had 6 thriving children. We had also learned how to be resourceful and create a great life without a ton of money. We saved up a solid down payment for a permanent home in the meantime.

Now I'm making a solid living, we're finishing paying off our permanent home, and we're expecting our 8th child. (By the way, I'm also 36. We didn't wait exactly because we knew that our time to build a family was limited while our time to make money was less so.)