Tyrone,
Glad you did it right.
Oh, no! I think I did it fairly wrong!
On the positive side, I don't think I could have found a better wife. So I didn't do it completely wrong. But, it took me that long to figure out what a good woman is like, or, I was too caught up in chasing sex, not believing that I'd ever find the right woman. I think culture is totally counterproductive to the formation of stable families. I finally had to say in my own mind "screw all that stuff, I have to do what I think is right".
Another misconception is that you have to be rich or well off to be happily married. Sure, it helps, especially for materialistic individuals. But it sure isn't totally true as BillyGoatGruff pointed out. He had the sense that I lacked and as a result, he has gotten to have many more happy years devoted to a wife and family than I have.
My wife sometimes says "If we could have just met 10 years earlier." Personally, I don't think it would have done any good. I would have foolishly wrote her off in pursuit of something "better".
I fully intended to get married and have a family, but didn't intend on doing it at 21. I did have a set of criteria, and prayed deeply that I didn't create a life by accident with the wrong woman before that. I'm not a very religious man, but one of the things I absolutely credit the Creator with is bringing my wife and I together. That she's still here is another miracle lol. 