[djmcmath]

This "happy place" you seek really is a state of mind, Grady's dead-on. My parents have essentially no money, but live comfortably on a hillside in North Idaho. Happiness is fresh espresso in the mornings (I built the espresso machine for them), while watching the fog melt out of the valley below. Happiness is the pain easing out of your bones in front of the fire while watching Hogan's Heroes (or Andy Griffith, or whatever), after a long day of good manual labor. Happiness is finding a good deal at the local St. Vinnie's.

No, money sure doesn't buy happiness. But then, happiness isn't semantically what you're looking for; I think it sounds more like contentedness. Someone wiser than I once wrote: "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation." Sadly, he never really elaborated on the concept, so the rest of us are left in the dark.