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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

Recipes!!!

January 5th, 2007 at 05:40 pm

I Am super excited I found a relatively easy way to share recipes. My dh types them in a database once in a bule moon, but it has been ages... & I have no way to share new things.

But with my newfound skills learned from TeanaP, and the fancy scanning capabilities with my work's copier, I have figured out a pretty easy way to share.

We tend to eat rather well, a family of 4(I know 2 are small but they eat as much as us sometimes, if not MORE). I Say we spend $450/month on food for the most part. So I have been wanting to share more recipes.

So here goes. I warn you that this one is a little unusual, but this is what we ate last night. & frankly quite good!!!! we eat a lot of spicy food so I have to forewarn you is all. If you don't like spicy food, or can't eat it, then don't look at my recipe category - hehe.

& tonight my dh is all excited to try some falafel pitas, which he says were very cheap to make (based on what we hand on hand anyway), so if they turn out good I will post it too.

We cook so much we have all the spices on hand, and then some. That is the pricey part if you just are starting more home cooking. But don't fret too much, a little spice lasts a long while, so once you stock up you don't have to buy too often.

Oh yeah and my older son is a little pickier and sensitive to spiciness, but he loved the tomatoes in this recipe. (I don't think he has ever liked tomatoes at all before and he seemd quite surprised. I Don't think he liked the meat particularly - but just thinking to that and you can make this a meatless dish if you like...)

Posted in RECIPES | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Recipes!!!”

jriessel Says:
January 5th, 2007 at 10:01 pm 1168034487
1168034487

your kids will eat spicy stuff? my 3.5 and 1.5 year olds will not at all. We put a little spicy rub on our pork chops the other night and the baby was trying to wipe it off her tongue (After the screaming ended it was kind of funny...).

I look forward to your recipes!
monkeymama Says:
January 5th, 2007 at 10:29 pm 1168036171
1168036171

Thanks!

We tried to expose the older one to a lot of spicy food from a young age but frankly he is not a fan. I know many Thai and Indian people who eat it all the time and the kids do just fine so our goal was to start young and often. HE actually does okay with lightly spicy things but not really spicy things.

We kind of backed off the younger one not expecting much after our first attempts with the eldest, and have recently found he really loves spicy food - the spicier the better. It AMAZES me. IT took me a lifetime to build up this tolerance to spicy food. I guess sometimes you are born with it. HE is almost 18 months. I told dh I must have been eating more spicy food while breastfeeding with him or something - I don't know. LOL.
boomeyers Says:
January 5th, 2007 at 11:19 pm 1168039197
1168039197

My kids love spicy stuff and I don't! They take after DH, I am too wimpy!
PRICEPLUS Says:
January 6th, 2007 at 01:18 am 1168046315
1168046315

That recipe sounds great I will have to give it a try! I like spicy tothe point my wife fearsthey'll need an ambulance for me. I am however a shamelss gastronomic thrill seeker!

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Recipes!!!

4 Responses to “Recipes!!!”

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