I've resisted some things my husband has wanted in the few years we've been together. I often felt justified--and still do--because he would overstate his case in an effort to get what he wanted. And by overstating his case, I grew distrustful of his definition of need versus want. This was especially true when we were first buying our house together and had expenses out the wazhoo. It took some time and some discussions to get to a place where he resisted the impulse to overstate his case and for me to get past my impulse to just say "no."