We're DINKs in Austin who are waiting until we make $350,000 to have kids. Maintaining our lifestyle as parents is a priority.

• Matthew Bennett and his wife, Brooke, increased their income from $67,000 to $180,000 in three years.
• The couple has multiple cars and lives in a condo in Austin where they're enjoying life as DINKs.
• They plan to buy a house and start a family once they reach a combined income of $350,000.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Matthew Bennett, a 25-year-old mining equipment brokerage representative in Austin. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Before my wife, Brooke, 26, and I married in August 2021, we made about $67,000 in combined income from our data entry and construction jobs, respectively. We both graduated during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, so the jobs we wanted were hard to come by at the time.