Not that hard! One trick is to move to a cheaper part of the world, I'm currently spending most of my time in Madrid which is a lot cheaper than my old home of London, so socialising is easy financially. The tougher problem has been pushing through and continuing when the usage has decreased for 2 months in a row, but things always seem to turn around and improve, and as long as things are moving in the right direction long term, I have a roof over my head, and enjoy what I'm doing, I don't see the point in stopping. (My thoughts may change slightly in the coming months since we have a baby on the way!)
In my mind I could never afford having a partner while still bootstrapping, much less having a kid! That's very interesting to hear. Best of luck to you.
Looking back, I'm not sure I could imagine bootstrapping without having a supportive partner. Mine was earning slightly less than me, but she covered the insurance, so that was helpful too. Much more importantly, when there were times that there was no time to see anyone non-business related, when I would get buried in a problem and lost my ability to see the larger picture, and when somebody needed to just drag me away from the computer for a bit, she was there. Not to mention all the help on the domestic/not living like an animal front.
It seems like some people need work, problem solving, and/or success like they need to breathe, so their pursuit of those things seems to be enough fuel for them to live off. For the rest of us trying to solve big or small problems, I would say that a strong relationship is an incredibly useful asset. That's even bracketing all the important benefits in all the non-work areas of life.
My partner works, so up till now we've been 50/50 on everything, and in that case, having a partner reduces costs - since you can share lots of things.
EDIT: slight tweak