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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.

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

**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."}

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

My Pages

Amazon Complaints

November 16th, 2011 at 03:26 pm

Amazon Complaints:

1 - They told us that non-high-volume sellers can't sell during holiday season. Holiday season = November 1 through December 25th or so?? Not exactly sure on end date.

They did not remove dh's listings AND he had a game to sell, so he listed it. We thought maybe we didn't understand the notice and dh was okay.

THEN they sent him a note that he could not sell after November 15th, as per original letter. Original letter says November 1. So was that just a typo, or are they backing down a bit, but not really admitting it? Rolleyes

Last year we made about $200 during the Christmas season. Nothing life changing, but it's generally the easiest time of year to make money. So, BOO!

2 - Yesterday they told dh to give them his tax information or they would close his seller account.

Oh, they are getting worse than Ebay, if that is possible.

I understand they have a lot to manage with new tax laws coming up, etc. BUT, I don't like giving my SS# to people who do not need it. I am not sure of the legalities of them really asking for it in that manner. I am going to look into that a bit. Dh just gave it to them. After having my identity stolen, I am just extra sensitive about that.

Dh will never sell enough to have to be reported to the IRS. & I have a right not to give my SS# to people who don't really need it for tax reporting purposes. So, Bah!

3 - As of yesterday, Amazon had not shipped our Kindle fire or any of our Kindle pre-orders made ages ago. Plus, dh had ordered some Harry Potter Blu Ray that released last week but did not ship. For reference, when you pre-order things, they tend to be at your door they day of release. Particularly movies and books.

They must have TONS of these kindle orders. They have never been so slow on this type stuff. Anyway, dh griped all week, and then he called them to gripe at them. I don't know if it worked, but I decided to check on a whim. EVERYTHING shipped overnight. Dh will be pleased they shipped OnTrac - so everything should get here tomorrow. (OnTrac is lightning fast). Of course, this is free shipping, but we always order everything free shipping. It's usually pretty dang fast - in this case will probably just be one day to ship.

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

In other news, I ran into next-door neighbor a month or two ago. She was telling me the charter high school that her daughter got into. HIGH SCHOOL? When did that happen? She's "babysat" our kids before, at her parent's house, but really her mom insists we bring the kids over to play with their 7yo and then refuses to let us pay. So we kind of left it that she will be a great babysitting resource when she is older. I feel awkward otherwise - don't want to take advantage.

I am not sure much has changed. We decided to ask if she could babysit tonight so we can go to parent/teacher conferences without spending a ton at the drop-in place. OF course mom said, "bring the kids over." They are saving us so much gas, time and money that I think we will just offer $10 per hour. Plus, it's not like leaving the kids with a teen - will be adults too - and won't be at our house. We will INSIST on paying. Will see how that goes. Should only be $10 since we have two conferences back to back. This might save us $15, by the time we would have driven over to the commercial drop-in place and paid more like $13 per hour. Not to mention what a TIME saver!

Now we just have to remember in the future. If they take our money, this could be a much cheaper alternative for date night.

Posted in Just Thinking | 5 Comments »

5 Responses to “Amazon Complaints”

MonkeyMama Says:
November 16th, 2011 at 06:26 pm 1321467960
1321467960

This is all I could find on the subject of Amazon asking for ID#s:

Text is http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2011/10/1317656966.html and Link is
http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2011/1...
Reading the comments? For anyone making less than $20k on Amazon, this has nothing to do with tax fraud. The point is there is nothing to report to the IRS and so I don't want my SS# floating out there for NO REASON.

I am curious to see follow ups on this article.
frugaltexan75 Says:
November 17th, 2011 at 01:19 am 1321492746
1321492746

I have Amazon Prime (student) and should be getting all my (numerous) orders of books in two days ... NOT. Apparently the 2 day shipping guarantee doesn't apply to rural areas. As long as I'm here, I don't plan on renewing Prime -- there really is no point to it.

I pre-ordered the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book - it *might* get here by Friday. (It was released yesterday.) I have the minions chomping at the bits for it (I bought two copies.)
MonkeyMama Says:
November 17th, 2011 at 04:29 pm 1321547388
1321547388

I would assume it is this whole kindle fire thing - we have never had such slow shipping from them. In Sacramento we get generally everything lightning fast.

Though they show our items as "shipped" from lightning fast On Trac, there has been no further movement on out shipment tracking. We wonder if it's really even shipped. More like slapped a label on it so dh stops calling and complaining? Will see!!! Any other time it would have arrived in one day from shipment. (They day is not over, but I am not holding my breath. The tracking would have said it was in Sacramento by now).
Looking Forward Says:
November 17th, 2011 at 11:00 pm 1321570831
1321570831

Can't wait to see how you and DH like the Fire.

Getting a good, inexpensive, reliable babysitter would be great!
terri77 Says:
November 21st, 2011 at 03:35 am 1321846511
1321846511

That is so strange to me, the policy of only high volume sellers being able to list during the holidays. I guess it would overwhelm their site? I don't know, but it doesn't seem like it's very customer oriented.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Amazon Complaints

5 Responses to “Amazon Complaints”

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