I think it all boils down to your decision of getting married, especially to someone who couldn't work and you had to support. That was the one big luxury you chose to splurge on.
I don't disagree. In theory she would have been able to work 90 days after we got married (the time it took to get a work permit). But 9/11 happened between the time we got married and that 90 days and it put her in a holding pattern for two years.
After she got her permit, she started working and things improved quite a bit.
