There's a transition through several states: not enough, barely enough, just enough, and more than enough. It's a sharp transition; there's a small difference in income needed to go through these stages, but a huge difference in stress and happiness from one side to the other.

My definitions:

- Not enough: you're having to choose which necessary expenses to pay and which ones to not pay. Are your children going to be hungry, or are they going to be cold?

- Barely enough: you can pay necessary expenses, but you have to micromanage every dime and make sure deposits clear before expenses are paid. You're forced to buy cheap things that don't last instead of quality things that are less expensive long-term. The slightest mistake in timing deposits/expenses with the resulting fees, or the smallest unexpected expense, throws you back into "Not enough"

- Just enough: basically the same as Barely enough, but you've got a little leeway on the cash flow timing and sometimes you can spend more on quality.

- More than enough: You can set up automated payments for regular expenses, and no longer have to worry about cash flow timing. That's a HUGE stress reduction. You're building savings for unexpected expenses.