When you started out on your own, what did you have?

[El Jefe]

I have been hearing a lot of stories from my church about what people started with when they first got married, and its pretty crazy. Of course times have changed since many of the stories, but many are still crazy. My grandpa said he got married with nothing, but 10 dollars to his name. My aunt got married, and they lived in a 1 bedroom apartment with one mattress, and
2 chairs and that's it. Did you start ahead of the game, or did you have to earn it. Big props to those who earned it, takes a lot of determination and strength.

[sedated]

depends on age. I'm sure religious people, who are encouraged to marry young and are persuaded against premarital sex, got married younger and therefore with less stuff than other groups.

[The Franchise]

That's what happens when you get married during the Depression.

[El Jefe]

depends on age. I'm sure religious people, who are encouraged to marry young and are persuaded against premarital sex, got married younger and therefore with less stuff than other groups.

Interesting thought. We had a customer who came in today, and he and his girlfriend haven't had a car since their child was born. Their daughter is 3, and Columbus has some buses, but not many, I have not a clue how they survived where they lived without a car. They have saved all they could since then and bought a 2000 Neon, and we checked it out, and the thing is a turd, felt bad for them. He was shattered, when I gave him the news and list of all the things that need done.

[El Jefe]

That's what happens when you get married during the Depression.

I know some of the good stories are from that time, but there are some crazy ones from the last 2 or 3 decades also.

[Bugeater]

When I got married in 1993 we were living in a mobile home furnished mostly with secondhand furniture and I was driving a 1984 Chevy Cavalier with 120k miles on it. We didn't even have cable TV for the first year we lived there.

[rambleonthruthefog]

two good jobs, and 4 great parents. couldn't have started any better. my household has truly been blessed.

[rambleonthruthefog]

course when i moved out of the house at 18 with a pregnant girlfriend all we had was 4 great parents, and no experience or money. it was much harder and ended in failure.

[El Jefe]

When I got married in 1993 we were living in a mobile home furnished mostly with secondhand furniture and I was driving a 1984 Chevy Cavalier with 120k miles on it. We didn't even have cable TV for the first year we lived there.

My fiances parents had it rough. They got married in 90, and the first car they had to buy on a credit card, bought a old turd oldsmobile. They had their bedroom set and little else. They bought a used mattress and put two pillows against the wall for a couch, pretty innovative.

[seclark]

got married in 1980. rented a 2 bedroom trailer. drove a 1972 merc comet. had $35 in a checking account.

since then, the trailer burned, the comet locked up and i have no idea how much $$ is in my checking account
sec

[KCUnited]

I waited until a wife was the only thing left.

[El Jefe]

course when i moved out of the house at 18 with a pregnant girlfriend all we had was 4 great parents, and no experience or money. it was much harder and ended in failure.

So I take it the previous post was the second time you attempted moving out?

[Iowanian]

By the time I was ready to Marry, I owned a house, had decent furniture, a career and some cash in the bank.

[Ebolapox]

not a helluva lot.

[El Jefe]

By the time I was ready to Marry, I owned a house, had decent furniture, a career and some cash in the bank.

Smart man.

[bobbymitch]

When we got married in '67, we each had a car and the clothes on our back. Since I was in the Navy, we rented furnished places. Our first was a 10x55 trailer in Maryland. All of our "stuff" fit in a Ford Galaxie 500 and a VW Fastback. No TV, only a clock radio and a portable record player.

Now we have two houses full of stuff and a boat. (trying to sell the city house so we can move the the lake house)

[rambleonthruthefog]

So I take it the previous post was the second time you attempted moving out?

the 1st attempt ended in failure and i wound up a single father with custody at age 20. i learned a lot about life between 18 and 23. i never moved back in with my folks cause i was determined to make it on my own. i got myself into debt but always managed to give my daughter her own bedroom and some semblance of stability. those years really made me the man i am today. they also attraced my current wife whom i've been with for almost 8 years(5 married) i struggled quite a bit with money, time and a social life, and i wouldn't trade a single day of it. my daughter and i are very close because of those years and it turns out she was my very first true love. upon engagement we moved in with my current wife and life has been smoother/easier ever since. its still hard as we now have 2 1/2 year old twins that i stay home with, but its a cake walk compared to 10 years ago.

[ModSocks]

When I left the group home at 18, I already had 8K saved up and a job. So yeah, I didn't struggle much initially.

[Saulbadguy]

By the time I was ready to Marry, I owned a house, had decent furniture, a career and some cash in the bank.

Same.

[alpha_omega]

Pffft, I had it all before I got married. Now...I have nothing.

Just kidding, it just feels that way sometimes.

To answer the question for real...I was pretty much set by the time I went to the hitchin' post.

[El Jefe]

the 1st attempt ended in failure and i wound up a single father with custody at age 20. i learned a lot about life between 18 and 23. i never moved back in with my folks cause i was determined to make it on my own. i got myself into debt but always managed to give my daughter her own bedroom and some semblance of stability. those years really made me the man i am today. they also attraced my current wife whom i've been with for almost 8 years(5 married) i struggled quite a bit with money, time and a social life, and i wouldn't trade a single day of it. my daughter and i are very close because of those years and it turns out she was my very first true love. upon engagement we moved in with my current wife and life has been smoother/easier ever since. its still hard as we now have 2 1/2 year old twins that i stay home with, but its a cake walk compared to 10 years ago.

Man that is awesome, you showed some major fortitude getting out of that. Good luck to you and your family in the future.

[El Jefe]

When I left the group home at 18, I already had 8K saved up and a job. So yeah, I didn't struggle much initially.

Hows things now for you? I know your career path is heading more to sales.

[mlyonsd]

We got married in 1980. I was 20, she was 18.

I was going to college and working part time. She worked at the public library. Her take home pay was $400/month. Our apartment rent was $200. My part time job paid gas for the month. I had a '73 Chevy truck, she had a '72 Ford Maverick.

I still remember the day after we were married we moved in together and went grocery shopping for the first time. The bill came to $114 mostly because we had to buy everything, salt, sugar, etc. I was so shocked at the checkout I remember telling her on the way home there is no way we were going to make it.

We still have a can of Campbell's WonTon soup purchased from that first trip on a pantry shelf. I wonder how long before the tin breaks down and it starts leaking.

[cdcox]

Married in 1983 at the age of 21. I was going to grad school but had a stipend that paid around $800/mo and covered tuition. My wife had a job selling office supplies. We lived in a 1 bedroom apartment. We had one car, a 197? Mercury Bobcat Wagon with 80K miles. Prior to getting married I could fit my worldly possessions in the trunk and back seat of a '70 Monte Carlo (which had been totaled and sold earlier that year). My wife had a similar level of possessions. To that we added wedding presents (dishes and flatware, bed linens, towels, some kitchen items). We bought a bed. My uncle helped me build a stereo cabinet and book case out of particle board and veneer (he donated the veneer). All other furniture was hand me downs.

[tooge]

Married in 1993 at age 26. Had maybe $40 in cash and savings equivelant, about $80,000 in student loan debt, some fishing and hunting gear, and a used chevy truck. Wifey brought two or three grand to the party and we went to my residency in chicago. Lived in an apartment and furnished it one room at a time, paycheck by paycheck. It seemed tough then, but I look back now and there was sort of this blind innocence about it that was kinda nice. You know, like the two of us eating ramen, chicken nuggets, and mac and cheese for dinner and watching tv on our big screen (19 inch). heh.

[RJ]

I had a guitar, a stereo and quite a few albums. Unfortunately, my then-wife didn't bring quite as much to the table as I did.

That was about it. For real. And yes, as a matter of fact she was pregnant.

[WilliamTheIrish]

Moved out the summer of 79. Was 17. Had a 1963 VW microbus, clothes, Marantz receiver, Pioneer floor speakers, Kenwood turntable, 400 albums, 2 oz of good weed, a job and maybe 200$.

Those were great days we were living, bros. We were jolly green giants (on acid), walking the Earth with joints. These people that got wasted here today are the finest human beings we will ever know.

[Nzoner]

My balls and my word.

[RJ]

We got married in 1980. I was 20, she was 18.

I was going to college and working part time. She worked at the public library. Her take home pay was $400/month. Our apartment rent was $200. My part time job paid gas for the month. I had a '73 Chevy truck, she had a '72 Ford Maverick.

I still remember the day after we were married we moved in together and went grocery shopping for the first time. The bill came to $114 mostly because we had to buy everything, salt, sugar, etc. I was so shocked at the checkout I remember telling her on the way home there is no way we were going to make it.

We still have a can of Campbell's WonTon soup purchased from that first trip on a pantry shelf. I wonder how long before the tin breaks down and it starts leaking.


LOL, I remember those first grocery trips. Needing literally everything and being able to afford next to nothing.

Salt? You gotta buy salt??

[Over-Head]

Not much the first time around,
2nd time was $64 in my pocket, the cloths on my back, and 2 duffel bags

[kstater]

A boatload of debt, a bad case of herpes, and a raging hardon.

[whatsmynameagain]

I've had a job since I was fourteen so slowly but surely I have created my empire

[RJ]

Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tanks of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.

Jake: Hit it.

[Donger]

I was pretty well established by the time I submitted. I refused to marry my wife until she got rid of all her debt.

[Oucho Cinco]

Got married with no debt, have no debt now.

[Iowanian]

In a way, I envy those of you who married young and broke and made it. That's conquering stress.

I think back to when I was 18-23 and there is just no way I was ready....even though I was pretty damn close to getting locked down with Satan the Rutt and ruining my life.

It made it so much easier I think that we didn't have the financial struggles. I had a small house I'd been remodeling for a year, she had a career and no debt and between us and the wedding gifts had about everything we needed to start off decent.

[damaticous]

We got married in 1980. I was 20, she was 18.

I was going to college and working part time. She worked at the public library. Her take home pay was $400/month. Our apartment rent was $200. My part time job paid gas for the month. I had a '73 Chevy truck, she had a '72 Ford Maverick.

I still remember the day after we were married we moved in together and went grocery shopping for the first time. The bill came to $114 mostly because we had to buy everything, salt, sugar, etc. I was so shocked at the checkout I remember telling her on the way home there is no way we were going to make it.

We still have a can of Campbell's WonTon soup purchased from that first trip on a pantry shelf. I wonder how long before the tin breaks down and it starts leaking.


I'd be putting that in a zip lock bag and putting it somewhere secure that she won't find.

Would make a great gift for an anniversary.

[DeezNutz]

A good wife.

And if you have that, the rest are details.

[damaticous]

I was pretty well established by the time I submitted. I refused to marry my wife until she got rid of all her debt.

Smart....good idea....wonder if my current gf of 6 years wouldn't mind holding off for another 6 so she could do the same thing.

[Donger]

Smart....good idea....wonder if my current gf of 6 years wouldn't mind holding off for another 6 so she could do the same thing.

Well, to be honest, I agreed to pay for everything else if she dedicated 100% of her income toward paying of her debt. She had been bugging me to agree to a wedding date, and I told her that it would be no sooner than the day after she was debt-free.

[El Jefe]

Well, to be honest, I agreed to pay for everything else if she dedicated 100% of her income toward paying of her debt. She had been bugging me to agree to a wedding date, and I told her that it would be no sooner than the day after she was debt-free.

That is hilarious, I can't believe it actually worked.

[vailpass]

One of the best things my father ever did for me was make me buy a house when I got out of high school. It wasn't an expensive house and yes there were some family funds involved but he insisted I buy the house and pay it off. I've owned at least one house outright ever since then and it has made a difference in many areas.

[boogblaster]

Picked up me mate .. we drove away with beer cigs buds and a half-tank of gas ... lived at the lake that summer ....

[Garcia Bronco]

I had zero. No car, no money, no job, but I did have an education and the will to succeed.

[Garcia Bronco]

I was pretty well established by the time I submitted. I refused to marry my wife until she got rid of all her debt.

It's sad. When I was young I was all about sex and love. Now I won't even date a woman with debt.

[mlyonsd]

We got married in 1980. I was 20, she was 18.

<O:pI was going to college and working part time. She worked at the public library. Her take home pay was $400/month. Our apartment rent was $200. My part time job paid gas for the month. I had a '73 Chevy truck, she had a '72 Ford Maverick

I still remember the day after we were married we moved in together and went grocery shopping for the first time. The bill came to $114 mostly because we had to buy everything, salt, sugar, etc. I was so shocked at the checkout I remember telling her on the way home there is no way we were going to make it

We still have a can of Campbell's WonTon soup purchased from that first trip on a pantry shelf. I wonder how long before the tin breaks down and it starts leaking.<O:p

[Dave Lane]

I bought a house in Overland Park when I was 18 with money I made from rebuilding cars and working at General Motors. Till then I had pretty much bumpkus other than flipping cars about ever month or so. Got all my furniture at garage sales other than the twin bed my mom gave me.

[tonyetony]

I've gone from rags to riches back to rags and currently on my way up again. I found that when you lose all your materiel items you gain a weird sense of freedom. I have always thought life was boring and stagnant when your just sitting at the pinnacle.

[King_Chief_Fan]

I have been hearing a lot of stories from my church about what people started with when they first got married, and its pretty crazy. Of course times have changed since many of the stories, but many are still crazy. My grandpa said he got married with nothing, but 10 dollars to his name. My aunt got married, and they lived in a 1 bedroom apartment with one mattress, and
2 chairs and that's it. Did you start ahead of the game, or did you have to earn it. Big props to those who earned it, takes a lot of determination and strength.

had nothing but a car and $500.....off to college we went...lived in a small house trailer. The Lord has been good to us, blessed us very well and I am looking to retire early!

[Frazod]

When I married my first wife we didn't have a pot to piss in. We lived in shitty furnished apartments in Norfolk and she went home to her folks when I was on a cruise. Whatever household items we did accumulate she kept when we split. I have no memory of any of them.

God what a miserable time. Much better the second time around.

[HemiEd]

When I got married in 1993 we were living in a mobile home furnished mostly with secondhand furniture and I was driving a 1984 Chevy Cavalier with 120k miles on it. We didn't even have cable TV for the first year we lived there.ROFL You were rich!

I was in Norfolk, Va in the Navy, and the Mrs. and I decided to go to Elizabeth City, NC to get hitched.

I was getting transferred and all the churches wanted us to attend 6 weeks of classes and crap.

She stayed in the car, while I went in the Marine barracks for a couple hours with my pool cue, and came out with enough cash for the license, blood test, Justice of the Peace, a night at the Holiday Inn, and a couple bottles of "Cold Duck."

She had a 67 Dart Convertible at the time, and that didn't hurt my feelings any.

[Frazod]

ROFL You were rich!

I was in Norfolk, Va in the Navy, and the Mrs. and I decided to go to Elizabeth City, NC to get hitched.

I was getting transferred and all the churches wanted us to attend 6 weeks of classes and crap.

She stayed in the car, while I went in the Marine barracks for a couple hours with my pool cue, and came out with enough cash for the license, blood test, Justice of the Peace, a night at the Holiday Inn, and a couple bottles of "Cold Duck."

She had a 67 Dart Convertible at the time, and that didn't hurt my feelings any.

Did you live in Oceanview? What a fucking pit that place was.

My ex worked at Dairy Queen for either minimum wage or not much more than that. I was an E-nothing making not much more than that. Once we paid all the bills, we'd have enough money to go to a movie and eat at McDonalds or something similar once every pay period, and that was it. I can't remember if we had cable. I can remember doing laundry in the bathtub when we didn't have enough change for the washer and dryer towards the end of the pay period.

I guess if the marriage had been happy I'd look back on those times fondly now. But it wasn't, and I don't. Ugh.

[LaChapelle]

People in your church are telling stories
hmmm

[HemiEd]

Did you live in Oceanview? What a ****ing pit that place was.

My ex worked at Dairy Queen for either minimum wage or not much more than that. I was an E-nothing making not much more than that. Once we paid all the bills, we'd have enough money to go to a movie and eat at McDonalds or something similar once every pay period, and that was it. I can't remember if we had cable. I can remember doing laundry in the bathtub when we didn't have enough change for the washer and dryer towards the end of the pay period.

I guess if the marriage had been happy I'd look back on those times fondly now. But it wasn't, and I don't. Ugh.

Yes sir, I hear ya. Good thing we were young then, to deal with all of that.

She actually had an upstairs half of a house rented, right on the beach, with no air conditioning. Damn it was hot!

The beach was kind of filthy with dead critters most of the time, but it was cooler than the house. I still remember it from 39 years ago, 590 Oceanview Avenue. It was for sale a few years ago, and I wanted to buy it, but she didn't want anything to do with it.

I wasn't making a lot, as an E5, but since we were married, they had to move our small amount of household goods (was all hers).

I bought one of those bumper bike carriers, for my 450 Honda, that made the headlights of the Dart point skyward for the trip up to Quonset Point, our next base.

[luv]

I've never been married, but, when I started out on my own, I had a few items of hand-me-down living room furniture, a bed and dresser, spare silverware my mom gave me, a bunch of plastic cups from Classic Sports that I had collected after a SB party, and some dishes a family I babysat for at church got me for my birthday one time.

[Frazod]

Yes sir, I hear ya. Good thing we were young then, to deal with all of that.

She actually had an upstairs half of a house rented, right on the beach, with no air conditioning. Damn it was hot!

The beach was kind of filthy with dead critters most of the time, but it was cooler than the house. I still remember it from 39 years ago, 590 Oceanview Avenue. It was for sale a few years ago, and I wanted to buy it, but she didn't want anything to do with it.

I wasn't making a lot, as an E5, but since we were married, they had to move our small amount of household goods (was all hers).

I bought one of those bumper bike carriers, for my 450 Honda, that made the headlights of the Dart point skyward for the trip up to Quonset Point, our next base.

Yeah, we were right across the street from the beach, but it was gross. Brown sand and gray water, both filthy and polluted. I think I wandered over there twice.

And I'm firmly in your wife's camp about not wanting anything to do with it. I wouldn't go back to Norfolk to take a shit. I assume you're old enough to have actually seen the "Dogs and sailors keep off the grass" signs - I just heard about them. Awful people in that area.

[ChiTown]

I had less than what McGyver needs to break out of a jail cell - a paper clip and some toothpaste.

[HemiEd]

Yeah, we were right across the street from the beach, but it was gross. Brown sand and gray water, both filthy and polluted. I think I wandered over there twice.

And I'm firmly in your wife's camp about not wanting anything to do with it. I wouldn't go back to Norfolk to take a shit. I assume you're old enough to have actually seen the "Dogs and sailors keep off the grass" signs - I just heard about them. Awful people in that area.

Oh yeah, I remember those signs, and they were real. Heck, at that time, it was pretty much a universal attitude towards servicemen, most every where I went. San Diego, Jacksonville, Norfolk, and R.I., not so bad overseas, but not great either.

We still have a couple in-laws that live in Va.Beach, so we are back there almost annually. They have cleaned that Ocean View area up a LOT, and it is pretty nice now. It has the look of a nice resort, and they did a lot to clean up the beach environment. I would love to have that old place to spend winters.

Was that old wooden roller coaster still in place, when you were there? I know they blew it up on a movie, but can't recall when. I lost my wallet, and what little money I had, one time on that thing.

[greg63]

A job, car, clothes, food and first months rent.

[siberian khatru]

Well, when I graduated college my future wife moved 1,000 miles with me to my first job and we lived together (IN SIN) for four years before we made it official.

So our first apartment was two rooms -- living room/kitchen combo and one bedroom. I threw blankets over old boxes and used those as end tables. We bought a sofa and chair at a used furniture place. Used a folding card table as the "dining room table," which sat in the middle of the living room in front of the TV. Our TV was a 19-inch minor brand from Walmart.

In the bedroom we had a box spring, mattress and frame that we got for $100 at a mom-and-pop bedding place and a nightstand I bought from Walmart and assembled. On the floor was my turntable, receiver, tape deck and bookshelf speakers from college. Oh, and two peach crates full of albums.

She drove a 1980 Pinto (this was 1988), I drove a 1986 Nissan Sentra hatchback that already had 80,000 miles on it. I had a full-time job making $300 a week. She still had two years of college to complete and worked part-time at a daycare center.

When she graduated in 1990 and got a full-time job teaching in the public schools, we upgraded to a nice two-bedroom apartment with a small screened-in porch. I thought we had finally made it!

[siberian khatru]

One other thing ... We moved from Missouri to Savannah, Ga., with only what we could fit in the trunks of our cars. As soon as we hit Savannah, her Pinto needed a new transmission. $500 expense on Day 1.

[siberian khatru]

Oh, and just in case anyone gets the wrong impression ... our start was modest by many standards, but I know some folks have it MUCH worse. We weren't complaining. We were happy to be independent and starting an exciting journey.

My in-laws say that they got married at the justice of the peace, spent their honeymoon night sleeping in their car and ate nothing but pancakes for the first few weeks of their marriage.

[sedated]

I threw blankets over old boxes and used those as end tables. We bought a sofa and chair at a used furniture place. Used a folding card table as the "dining room table," which sat in the middle of the living room in front of the TV. Our TV was a 19-inch minor brand from Walmart.

that sounds exactly like my current apartment, except I have a 46" LCD.

[Slayer Diablo]

So I started out with this Jumbo Paperclip. Some old guy thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world and didn't realize he could get them at Wal-Mart for a dollar, so he traded me the paperclip for his hat.
I took the hat and traded it for a deck of cards.
I used the deck of cards in a couple poker games to earn some cash, and then traded the cards for an old laptop.
The old laptop got traded to a kid for his bike.
The extra cash from those poker games earlier went into painting the bike, and then I traded the bike to the kid's dad for a better laptop.
Traded the newer laptop for a camera.
After taking an incriminating picture, I traded the camera for an ATV.
Traded the ATV for a motorcycle.
Traded the motorcycle for a car.
Traded the car for a Rollex.
Traded the Rollex for a plane ticket.
Traded a copy of that inciminating picture from earlier for Season Tickets to the Yankees.
Traded my Season Tickets for a month in a penthouse suite.
Traded the last three weeks of that month in the suite for a party.
Invited a smoking-hot woman to the party if she promised to bring a couple of her friends.
Traded her drunken friend a kiss for her phone number.
Ran into the old guy I gave the Jumbo Paperclip to, and he wanted her number after she left...I traded the number for a year in the mansion he owns, and he said only because he knew the paperclip was a good deal.
So now I have 11 months left living here at the Playboy Mansion.
...and not giving it up for the world. :)

[MOhillbilly]

who the fuck let slayer back in?

[KC Jones]

When we got married in '96 I had:
Debt and an '83 Corolla that was rusting apart, plus I was still working my way through school and taking out more debt to do it.

My wife had:
a 2 bedroom bungalow, a good job, a '79 280Z, and furnishings for the house.

Yeah, she made out like a bandit.

[siberian khatru]

that sounds exactly like my current apartment, except I have a 46" LCD.

That reminds me of an old Jeff Foxworthy routine on bachelor pads:

They're all furnished pretty much the same way. In your bedroom, you have the mattress on the floor, protected by a mountain of dirty clothes, milk crates for night stands, lava lamp with a permanent glob at the bottom, stolen road sign on the wall, a blanket for a curtain, out in the hall it was the mystery stain on the carpet, Budwiser mirror on the wall. Out on the balcony it was the rusted out Habachi grill, plant with no leaves on it, bike with no chain on it. In the den you had the spool. If you get one of those, you'll be like "it's coffee table time!" Next to that the $9,000.00 stereo. We're going hungry, but we've got tunes!