A wise man once said to me: “Honey, you have to stop stressing about having enough money. When is enough, enough?”

That man was my husband.

I thought about his question as I began reading the next selection for the Color of Money Book Club. For January, I’ve selected “The Path to Happiness and Wealth: How to Enjoy Money and Life at the Same Time” by Steve Rhode (Myvesta, $19.95).

I chose “The Path to Happiness and Wealth” to start the new year because Rhode makes the case that many of us need an attitude adjustment if we are ever to become rich — in spirit.

“Financial success is measured more by your state of mind and internal prosperity than money in the bank,” writes Rhode. “Unless you can find peace with the money you have right now, more trailing zeros in the bank will not help.”

Most of us have enough

My husband asked me the question of when is enough, enough one night when I couldn’t get to sleep. Even though I work from home, I was complaining about my deadline-laced schedule, which includes writing a book. My husband suggested that I was trying to do too much. After all, he pointed out, we have three small children.

A bit annoyed, I snapped back that I was taking on so many assignments because we needed the money. I reminded him that the extra money earned today will help pay for our children’s college educations. More money, I said, is going to help us retire early.

“Look at you,” my husband said. “You’re cranky because you’re tired. You’re tired because you’re working too hard. You aren’t making enough time for the kids, or me. One of us could stop working right now and we would have enough money to meet our basic needs. We would be fine financially. The kids would get to college, even if they have to take out student loans.”

My husband’s question startled me. I didn’t have a pithy comeback. The realization that I may have lost touch with what is important in life made me cry. I had been trying to reach for so much that I wasn’t appreciating what I had. Shoot, I hate it when my husband is right.

For me, having money means financial security. I’m not obsessed with having stuff, but with saving enough money for life’s emergencies.

For other people, the pursuit to have enough in material goods leads them straight into a debt trap.

“When your money takes control of your life, your wants become needs and your needs become wants,” Rhode says in the book. “Spending money you can’t afford to spend only compromises your future.”

I like this book because it’s not so much a nuts-and-bolts blueprint on how to pay off your debts but a conversation about the need to understand how the mismanagement of your money can be demoralizing. Rhode reveals in the book that in 1990 he and his wife filed for bankruptcy.

But, he says: “From that pain and financial devastation I was able to go on to help others. God gave me a doctorate in financial defeat. And as strange as it may sound today, I’m grateful for the blessing.”

Nonprofit makes change

Rhode and Mike Kidwell founded Debt Counselors of America in 1994. Six years later, they changed the nonprofit’s name to Myvesta.

The name-change was prompted by the realization that people kept asking for information to be sent in plain brown envelopes.

“Debt Counselors of America” on an envelope spelled money troubles to the baby sitter, neighbors and visitors.

Along with the name-change came a philosophical change in how Rhode and Kidwell help people in financial trouble.

Rather than concentrating mainly on debt repayment plans, Myvesta now offers a wide range of programs and services.

Ultimately, Rhode said, the path to happiness and wealth begins by striking a balance.

“If you could get some balance in your money life, then you’d stop squirreling money away out of fear and you’d stop spending more than you can afford because you are bored, unhappy or deceiving yourself,” he writes.

And here’s how you achieve financial balance, according to Rhode: “Take the money you make, meet your obligations, save some and have fun with the rest. If you simply focus on saving for tomorrow, then you won’t be able to live the rich and fulfilling life you want to live today. If you spend everything today, you won’t have anything for tomorrow.”

That’s just what my husband said.