Currently DINKs but we will be starting a family in the next few years, so not sure whether my experiences are what you're looking for but here they are anyway. Our aim has for many years been to create a secure and stable home environment so that when we do start a family, we will be flexible enough that it should enable us to be individuals, a couple and parents. This has mostly been focused on moving close to family members who have their own young families so that we can pool our caregiving resources, as well as creating a family home with plenty of space in a good area but with a low and manageable mortgage payment (i.e. a DIY fixer upper!) My business is doing well, and our plan is to job share around a flexible schedule as much as possible so that both of us can dedicate enough to parenting. So essentially we're doing out best to invest now so that the stresses which most parents find difficult will be minimised as far as we can minimise them, we know it's still going to be the most difficult thing we've ever done. You can't plan for every eventuality, but we agreed on this plan years ago and chose to sacrifice some other things in pursuit of it, and we're just hope our luck holds and it pays off.

We both want children, and we want to be the best parents we can without taking a sledgehammer to everything that makes us us. The more energy, money and emotional resources we have, the better job we should be able to do in raising good, productive children.