The best financial advice I could give a young married couple is "be happy with less." Oftentimes, young couples want to have or be where someone who has been married 15 or 20 years is. But those couples have worked for years to be where they are and to have what they have!

I remember when I first got married, we had a fold-up card table as our kitchen dining table and we used my old hope chest as a coffee table. And we were happy. Completely happy because they were OUR things and it was OUR place. Even if our first home was an apartment.

Be happy with less.

With that being said, be wise. Look at where your money is going. Chances are there is something you have a hard time giving up. Is it clothes, eating out, movies??? In order to get ahead as a couple, you need to sacrifice.

Ask advice from parents or older couples who seem to be managing their money wisely. It may seem humbling, but honestly, most couples start out struggling and looking back, those are very tender-building years. I'm willing to bet that most parents would be more than happy to share what they've learned along the way to help you avoid some pitfalls! Just because it seems like they couldn't understand your struggles based on where they are now, doesn't mean that they've never been there.

There is so much more that can be said on this topic. But if you follow the general rule of "be happy with less" - I think it will help you focus on where you are, and where you need to be. Hard work truly pays off in the long run. But it takes commitment and time. Everything you earn or get along the way means so much more and is so much more rewarding if you've worked hard to get there - on your own two feet. :)