It is just a fact that if there are disparites in income, each household will function differently when it comes to certain things. My husband and I are in a similar situation, except in reverse. He has two children with his ex, I have one. We don't any have together. My hubby pays 60% of his net pay to his ex. I make a very good living, and pretty much pay almost all of the household expenses. I love his children and would do anything for them if the need arose. We see them one or two night per month because the ex moved a cple of hours away. When we do have them, I feel what is most important is that they spend that time with their dad. They go to the park, visit his grandma, or just stay at our place playing. After all, that is what the time should be about.

However, if you compare the day to day lifestyles of my child and his, the differences are apparent. My son wears designer clothes and sneakers; they wear hand me downs. We take my son on vacation with us every year. My son has every game system known to man. I put 500 in his college fund monthly. Weekends are spent at various museums, events etc in NYC which aren't cheap.

My step children's lives are quite different as their mom doesn't work, so they live on CS. Innocently they have stated that mommy didn't have money for this or that and although I hate to hear it, that is just the way it is. But as long as all are loved, they will be ok.