I'm not married yet, but live with my girlfriend, so it's a similar situation. She's OK with my trying to bootstrap it and also offered to help me with my share of the rent, if necessary, for a month or two. She doesn't make enough to support the two of us indefinitely, but it's helpful to have somebody else with more stable income. The other nice thing about having a spouse (that I can't cash in on yet since we're not married) is that you can use their health benefits, which will get you better coverage and save you money.

Having kids changes the equation altogether. If I had kids, there's no way I'd try what I'm doing now with as little safety net.