<prompt> Human: I had a bit of a realization today. Im in the middle of my second month at work at a great job in research, and the struggle of finances is killing me inside already 2 months after graduation. I feel like Im doing every thing I can to live as modestly as is reasonable for a family of three. We cant really downgrade from our townhome rent 1425, 3537; of takehome, we need the space its still quite small. I have run the spreadsheets I get mad at my wife just for spending a little extra on groceries and Its made me feel like a real monster... I havent gotten a haircut. I have to keep telling her NOT to spend money on mundane things, but its unreasonable. She needs to be able to buy the things she is, and idk what to do. I feel like I have to opt out of the benefits my work provides just to get ahead, but part of the draw of this job IS the benefits offered i.e. retirement planmatching and etc.Im still in my grace period for student loans, and havent made a payment yet like I planned. There just isnt the money.My wife makes a small amount of money from disability although its not very dependable or predictable, I cant remember how much but it pays for her fancy gym membership 300 bucks and high quality water 148.85 we get delivered which she feels is necessary for her well-being and the babies. I cant dispute these charges, she goes to the gym every morning at 8am, and they even watch the baby for an hour and a half everyday. Thats well worth the price for her, and probably downright necessary for her sanity.Now I know that I can easily make more than 70k in private industry two degrees B.S. Mathematics and B.S. Computer Science and even had higher offers, albeit in more expensive areas than Atlanta, I was interviewing on site at placing like Google and Facebook before, and for whatever reason working at this non-profit research company associated with a major university seemed like the right calling for me. However, I just dont think I bargained for enough money or realized how tight things would be... I think that to save my sanity I might have to find something that pays better because after paying off all the stuff Im left with nothing.Maybe you guys can help me find a thread in my spreadsheet where I can manage to actually get ahead. I have been looking into alternate sources of income, but honestly its hard when running a family aswell with a demanding job.EDIT: The gym is actually 175 a month the other 125 was smoothies, water, and clothes apparently. Also, apparently weshe is getting 5k for the next 3 months from disability??? I dont understand this at all, her doctor had to sign off on everything and send out of state paperwork to California. Basically I had a minor panic attack over nothing?Assistant: Im not a doctor, but I am a chemical engineer that works every day with water quality testing for TOC, TDS, etc and the water you linked has higher concentrations of other chemicals than almost any other water you can buy. It has more chemicals than most tap water which has more chemicals than purified water.Chemical concentrations TDS - or total dissolve solids: Mountain Valley Spring Water - 220 parts per million ppm Tap Water - Varies depending on location but is normally 50-100 ppm. Can be as high as 500 ppm legal limit, but people will complain above 300 ppm usually Purified Water - Less than 10 ppm Deionized Water - 0 ppm If the spring water truly helps her, then its not due to lower dissolved solids concentrations. Purified water is readily available anywhere and is extremely cheap. It doesnt contain the additives non-mineral of tap water, and you can buy a months supply 2Lday for 2 people and a baby for 20 bucks.Human: This good information, I was looking at installing a RO filter as per another redditor. I honestly didnt believe her at first and it was a source for arguments. The only reason why I would defend it now is because it did help her condition in a very visible way. Assistant: OP, I get mouth ulcers too and the fact that theyve diminished could be to something else. Certain toothpastes aggravate it, certain foods. Unless a doctor told her it was absolutely necessary, Id try the purified water. Human: Thanks! Gonna install the RO filter others recommended.Yeah! That was a big change for her she started using this non-alcohol based mouth wash like 3 times a day each meal and brushing with a different type of toothpaste and it really helped aswell.The problem is that there arent many doctors who know much about this illness and the drug cocktails dont work well for her or make her extremely lethargic, people have various things work for them in management. luckily, weve got her symptoms to mostly go away through avoiding certain foods.  <response>: Yeah, the changes could be largely from the toothpaste. Try the new water and see how she does. Theyre terribly painful so I get her desire to want to stop them but Ive never heard of certain waters being a trigger. 