In reply to Chris Lema.

If you think you need to be making 5 figures a month before you can spend quality time with your family, then very few of us will ever be happy.

You have to be happy every step of the way. Like Chris says "...we have to learn to be happy living on less than we earn. All the time." We can't live our lives -- working and neglecting our families, friends & ourselves -- waiting for this imaginary day when we can finally be happy.

There will be periods of time that suck, like someone close getting sick and dying, or a super stressful work or relationship situation, but they have to be blips on the timelines of our lives.

When my wife has to make a work vs. family decision I always tell her "years from now what you are going to remember - that you went to visit your mom or that you worked extra hours on some project?"