I got divorced a little less than 7 years ago. Ended up 100k in debt, between paying out equity and absorbing her fucking credit card debt. She thankfully ended up keeping her student loans (which she tried to pawn off on me as well, but I told her if they were a marital debt, then her degree is a marital asset, and she reconsidered).
Paid off the last loan this month. I have 5k left sitting on a 0% interest credit card, which I'm not terribly worried about, it'll get paid off before the interest hits. Kinda crazy, Crazy that it took so long, and crazy that it only took that long. It's not like I make great money or anything, I just make money.
I kept the house, kept my pension (which I put into an IRA that's now up 40% - almost keeps up with inflation!), got one of the kids (other one is at the age where she's not ready to see reason yet - but I figure keeping 50% of your kids is about all you can ask for). I needed my '04 Ram to last (it did), I needed my dog born in '11 to last (she almost did), and I told the new gal I wanted to pay off one marriage before I got another one, and I did that too. What a fucking slog. I might have some money to do something with!
It might sound fucking retarded to jump back into it, but there's a huge difference this time. My ex was always doubting me and doubting us. "Oh, I'm not sure you can do that, you better call a professional" Fuck - more money and more stress I don't need. This one is my biggest cheerleader. "You can do it. I'll help." The first slowly kills a man. The second makes him unstoppable. I knocked the whole south wall of my house out to fix a leaking window - and it's water and airtight today. Do you know how fucking terrifying of a project that is? I didn't realize how many hobbies I had/wanted that I couldn't do because the ex was standing in the way. My garage is now a full on woodworking shop, turning a giant tree that was killing my tomatos into beautiful furniture. I've got a reloading bench where she meticulously measures powder for me whenever I sit down at it. I built a gym in the basement and she tells me "You need to go lift, you'll feel better." I play chess every monday night and I'm getting pretty fucking good at it, and she makes homemade crunchwraps for me every week. This one isn't destroying me, isn't poisoning my very soul. This one encourages me to be better and helps get shit outta my way and takes things off my plate so I can focus on the important tasks.
If you're gonna get married, it should be for that.