I knew getting into marriage that my wife wanted a big home. For me, I just had to do some math. If I lost my job (unlikely, but you never know) what is the bare minimum we could survive on? We could live off of tuna and ramen (not literally) and pay all the bills as long as I netted $3K a month. So worst case, if I lost my job and the economy went to shit I could work enough mcjobs to make that happen. Or, my in laws would just move in.