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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
...($6,653 @ 4/30/24)
...$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% @ 4/30/24)
...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

Saving Energy on Lighting

November 8th, 2006 at 05:35 pm

Well I am honored you are so impressed with my low energy bill - hehe.

I Was driving to work today & heard an ad for energy efficient lightbulbs.

Reminds me that is abig thing for us as well. Plus the house has a lot of open space and windows so we rarely use lighting during the day. It's probably often assumed a big new house is an energy hog, but not the case at all in mant instances. They put extra insulation in teh walls and roof, dual paned windows, more natural lighting, etc., etc.

BUT one huge factor is the compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Our has came with light fixtures in each room, with these long-life CFLs. I am not even sure we realized we had such fancy lightbulbs until a year or 2 out and not having to change 1 lightbulb. We are coming up on 5 years in our house and we have replaces one bulb. One went out in the kitchen - probably the most used room - and I thought "oh no!" Are they all going to die at once? Will I have to buy 50 new bulbs? & how expensive are they anyway?????? I was a little frightened, surely lightbulbs that last upwards of 5 years are VERY expensive????

So I looked them up and they really didn't cost that much more than regular lightbulbs. They certainly cost more, but not what I had imagined. & I saw they were rated for 10,000 hours+. !!!!!! NEedless to say the one that went out is a fluke. & since we had 6 lightbulbs in the kitchen we haven't even replaced it. Maybe when 3 or 4 go out it will be time. For now we are just using less electricity than we were before. I should probably go throught the house and take out 1/2 the lightbulbs, probably wouldn't make much difference...

I also saw at the time that CFLs use 1/3 - 1/4 the energy of regular lightbulbs.

No doubt this helps the bottom line of our electricity bill.

We have really found that investing in the newer energy-efficient appliances and all this REALLY pays off. This is probably our lowest bill ever, and all I Can think this is maybe our first no-heat/no-air month since our new washer/dryer. We had a 30-year-old model before and recently upgraded to the super energy-efficient. Doing laundry every day with kids and cloth diapers and such, we see a huge difference I guess.

Well - check out the CFLs:

http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/promotions/change_ligh...

Posted in Saving, Just Thinking | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “Saving Energy on Lighting”

Broken Arrow Says:
November 8th, 2006 at 05:54 pm 1163008474
1163008474

That's mighty lucky of you have previous owners who are so forward-thinking.

I have recently replaced all the bulbs that I use to compact flourescent bulbs. At night, my one table lamp with a 7w bulb is enough light for me.

Still, I wonder if there isn't something more? I wouldn't be surprised at all if where I am living right now isn't well-insulated....
jersey jen Says:
November 8th, 2006 at 06:08 pm 1163009298
1163009298

CFL is the way to go! you're in good shape with an energy-efficient home. i changed mine some time last year when state of
Text is new jersey and Link is nj.com
new jersey offered 50% subsidy on CFL purchases.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Saving Energy on Lighting

3 Responses to “Saving Energy on Lighting”

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