My wife and I went through this a few years ago. I can't tell you how difficult it was to tell our kids (or lie to them) that we cannot buy them something or was unable to go out to dinner. We ended up moving out of state and to reset ourselves (and lower cost of living) and are doing much better now.

Do you live in the US? I want to Grubhub you and your wife some dinner. You can DM the details.