Sure, most of our income is now spent on needs, and the wants of life get put off more frequently than in the past, but life is simpler and so much more enjoyable. Frantic mornings getting kids ready for day care have turned into enjoyable breakfasts with the family and conversations on which park or hike the kids would like to enjoy with Mom.

We were a two-income family with a 17-month-old-son in day care in Washington. We had not a financial worry in the world. However, we had little time to enjoy our firstborn, except in the car during the madness of D.C.'s rush hours or the seemingly endless number of days one of us called in sick to care for our son, who seemed to pick up every illness that entered his day-care center. During our son's hospitalization due to a respiratory illness, my wife and I looked at each other one night and read each other's minds. There must be more to life than this.

Here's the thing about needs and wants...when you want something bad enough, it becomes a necessity. Not because you literally need it to survive; life will go on either way, but because life just doesn't seem complete without it.

The lesson of our experience is twofold. First, it speaks to the enormous benefit one reaps beginning to save early. We had the independence to decide where we wanted to raise our family rather than have a job dictate where we would live. Second, it is a reminder that money does not in itself bring happiness.

I don't need a man to take care of me. I want a man who wants to take care me. Can I make my own chicken soup when I'm sick?...or at least order my own from the nearest take-out restaurant? Yes. But having a guy bring you soup, who genuinely cares about your well being, just does something special to your insides. It could be the crappiest bowl of Cup of Noodle, microwaved until it's barely inedible, and you swear it's the best thing to hit your taste buds, simply because he put in the effort.

If all you do is think about what you need, you’re no better than an animal in the woods, and no smarter either. To be human, you’ve got to want. It makes you smarter and stronger.