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About Me:

Monkey Mama

Just a 46-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. My kids are Monkey Monkey(MM) and Drama Llama (DL). I am married to Monkey Hubby (MH).

We were a one-income family for 13 years. In late 2015 my spouse returned to work (minimum wage/part-time/seasonal). Something recent on his resume just buys us more options for the long run. The main benefit of this job is that he just works while the kids are in school. As always, we are saving 100% of his income.

{2023 Update: I expect that MH will retire from this job when kids are done with college and/or home is paid off. I think he likes the idea of finding more interesting or full-time work, with kids both adults now. But practically, might just stick out the *good* and very flexible job as long as possible. The very part-time job is allowing him to pursue his film passions. We are only about 5-ish years away from financial independence. Would be very different if we "needed" the money or he thought he might have decades of working years ahead of him.}

We saved a lot while we were very young and also moved to a lower cost-of-living area, to make life much simpler. We still live in California though (in one of the most expensive regions of the U.S.). *Simple* and *inexpensive* is relative.

Likewise, we have never had debt aside from our mortgage.** My blog is a testament to how much simpler life is without debt; how we have that much more money to both save and enjoy!

**Caveat: I have no problem whatsoever with credit cards paid off monthly, or low-risk credit arbitrage (for example, 0%-interest debt while earning 5% on FDIC-insured cash). These are the kinds of debt we have had. Just not interested in high-interest debt, using debt to buy beyond means, and not interested in the hassle that comes with loans and payments. With age and means, the latter (hassle) is our biggest debt avoidance motivation.

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2024 Goals

[ ]Small monthly Charitable Contribution
...($35 @ 1/31/24)
...Trying to be more mindful about how the little amounts add up and are helpful.
...This is not an all inclusive list of charitable giving but it is a new habit I want to add in addition to other donations of time, goods and money

[ ]Pay cash for college
...This is so much a given, to me. But I realize not everyone can read my mind, and so will memorialize in my goal list.
...#1 We don't do Debt
...#2 The student loan system is a scammy and corrupt mess.
...Seriously, wouldn't touch these student loan servicers with a ten foot pole.
MM YEAR 1 ✔
MM YEAR 2 ✔
MM YEAR 3 ✔
MM YEAR 4

DL YEAR 1 ✔
DL YEAR 2

[ ]$10,000 to savings
...($4,529 @ 3/31/24)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$7,500 to investments
...($1,750 @ 4/30/24)
...$350/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$2,025 to mortgage
...($0 @ 4/30/24)
...Topping off with snowballs and/or excess cash
...Keeps us on track with $10K principal paydown per year

[/]9% of household income to work retirement plans
...(9% @ 3/31/24)
...This is the minimum for the match; I'd otherwise rather fund IRAs.
...Note: Total retirement savings rate is 20% (with IRAs)

Goal savings rate = 25% of gross salary, plus funding IRAs from other sources.

[ ]$14,000 to IRAs 2024 (MAX)
...($0 @ 4/30/24)
...Will fund with MH's income
...Will not fund until the year is over. This is for tax and planning reasons. I won't know what mix of Traditional/ROTH IRA we literally can contribute until we do our 2024 taxes. In addition to that, can make a more informed decision based on our financial and tax situation for the entire year.

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**Long-Term Goals**

[X]$500,000 in retirement accounts by age 45.

Current big picture goal:

[ ]$1 Mil in retirement accounts by age 52.

Stretch Goal: Achieve by age 50

Have decided to pretty much stay the course. Keep saving 20%+ to retirement. This means taking 401K match & maxing out IRAs.

NOTE: WE HAVE NEVER CONTRIBUTED LESS THAN 10% TO RETIREMENT. NO EXCEPTIONS.

If we can't achieve at least 10%, then something else has to give. I share because it's infinitely easier to save for retirement if you start early. Let the investments do the hard work for you.

-------------------------------

Debt: $85,000 mortgage
{Home Purchase Price $290,000}

Ongoing goal is to *never borrow money again.*

Took on a $230k mortgage in 2001 and have not added to that.

-------------------------

Net Worth: Increase net worth by $600,000 in the next 10 years. This is my "financial independence" goal.

2017: +$ 70,000 (partial year)
2018: +$ 51,000
2019: +$105,000
2020: +$104,000
2021: +$215,000
2022: <$ 65,000>
2022: +$ 85,000
TOTAL: +$565,000

This is in line with prior goal, saving 100% of our expenses every year.

{Our expenses are far more consistent than our income. Also, helps to prevent "living up to income."}

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My Pages

The Cost of Milk

May 4th, 2008 at 01:48 pm

Dh ran to the store last night to get some milk.

Since he does all the shopping he keeps telling me has NOT noticed grocery prices going up. As I track our monthly expenses I have to say he is not crazy. At first I thought it was just small increases he wasn't noticing, though he has a rather photographic memory and we don't even keep a price book (because it is way too time consuming but also he seems to do a good job keeping most of it in his head. Obviously a price book would be even better, but his brain/memory doesn't do half bad).

Anyway, so he runs out to get milk yesterday and considered just getting 1 gallon, since we were a little short on cash (credit card closed yesterday and I did not want to put more than we had to on it).

He came home with 2 gallons. He said - "I get it now. I didn't realize milk had gone up to $4/gallon" (even though he read it in the paper) because he has been paying 4.50 for 2 gallons. !!!

Anyway, we just all switched to the same milk so we could get it on sale - we switched around Jan. 1. LM is rather borderline and could have probably used 2% milk for another year, but the rest of us drink non-fat.

Not that long ago we were buying 3 kinds of milk as the kids were at different levels. There is apparently no discount for buying 3 gallons when they all have different fat content.

Anyway, we hadn't realized just how much we were saving with this move.

We probably have some advantage shopping for 4 and buying in bulk, when it comes to a lot of our groceries.

Of course we were going to wean BM off night-time and nap-time milk when he turns 5 this summer. I think it would be reasonable to do the same for LM. If milk keeps rising in cost, I think we will drink it a lot less.

Anyway, I can't help but wonder if grocery prices than affect single people and smaller families more dramatically.

Just kind of interesting.

Posted in What We Eat | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “The Cost of Milk”

Amber Says:
May 4th, 2008 at 02:01 pm 1209909713
1209909713

Milk and eggs are definately on the rise. I rarely drink milk but when I do buy it I buy the single consumption bottle and that is about $1.50. But eggs are costing me close to $3.50 for 18
mom-sense Says:
May 4th, 2008 at 02:04 pm 1209909867
1209909867

We are milk guzzlers here (family of seven) and go through one gallon a day (I'm trying to get it down to five gallons a week, but it is a stretch). I go Aldis most of the time, or Walmart just for the milk prices.
zetta Says:
May 5th, 2008 at 07:47 pm 1210016833
1210016833

The 2 gallon discount seems to be a California thing -- I don't remember that from anywhere else that I've lived. I found it really annoying when I was single, as I can't drink 2 gallons before they go bad, and I don't like having a gallon taking up so much room in my freezer.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

The Cost of Milk

3 Responses to “The Cost of Milk”

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