I already know what they want.

1. Money
2. Cute guy (brain optional)
3. Compliments (truth optional)
4. Guy with biceps
5. Romantic dinners
6. Guy with a nice car

I did pretty well on that...

1.) I had enough money to take (who I thought was) a friend to France for a 2-month long vacation.
2.) I do not know about cute or not...
3.) I frequently pay complements (even without ulterior modives), but only truthful ones.
4.) Technically, I have biceps, but not as you mean it.
5.) Candle-lit dinners on the Riviera? Are they romantic enough?
6.) I cannot remember if I drove an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider or a Lotus 26 at the time, but they were pretty nice.

All I got in return was abuse. She complained I did not make enough money. How much was enough? I could afford to take two months off from work, pay all our expenses, ... Good thing I found out before marrying her. Of course, she would not think of such a thing anyway. AFAIK, she is still not married and must be about 48 years old now.

(practicing being bitter, since it's all the rage now on this board)

I do not need to practice that. I work on setting the bitterness aside.