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About Me:

Monkey Mama

Just a 47-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.

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
...($230 @ 8/31/24)
...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
MM YEAR 5

DL YEAR 1 ✔
DL YEAR 2 ✔
DL YEAR 3

[ ]$10,000 to savings
...($7,749 @ 10/31/24)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$7,500 to investments
...($4,786 @ 10/31/24)
...~~$350~~ $400/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs
...Note: Bumped up to $400 9/1, re: reduced food expenses

[ ]$2,025 to mortgage
...($0 @ 10/31/24)
...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% @ 10/31/24)
...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 @ 10/31/24)
...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>
2023: +$ 90,000
TOTAL: +$570,000

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

SanwichThins - Yum!

October 23rd, 2009 at 06:08 am

Fiber optic internet has been useful. I downloaded Quicken to my new Netbook today. It turns out I needed to remember my Quicken login, and it took a while to track it down. But, phew, I did.

Anyway, I asked dh how long it would take to download (quoted something like 20 minutes DSL/10 minutes cable). Before dh could answer it was done. Um, ONE SECOND? Sweet!

Um, so it is like 1000 times faster than DSL??? (I've downloaded some small things since the switch, but nothing like this).

I spent the evening setting up my skype account and testing it out. Quicken was a breeze to set up. Phew!!!

I never felt comfortable keeping all my financial data on my laptop so I have the data stored elsewhere. Perfect in this case, since the Netbook is so small and portable. Don't worry - I won't cart around all my financial data with it!

ETA: Dh checked the specs on my laptop, and this machine is slightly better. Hard to imagine something so small can be more powerful.

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In other news, I couldn't tell you how much these cost in the stores because mine were free. Big Grin

But, oh my, did I mention how yummy the Oroweat Sandwichthins are? & no I am not a health nut, so the health nuts can pick it apart. I grabbed them because I thought they almost looked like panini. I didn't expect them to be so good!

http://www.sandwichthins.com/

We got the multi-grain one.

I did eat one with my egg salad recipe. I think I have been eating them completely plain otherwise. Haven't even tried toasting it yet. Because they taste so good! I am sure they would be great with many food stuffs. Dh was going to whip up some hummus for the weekend - these will be perfect with it.

Posted in Just Thinking, What We Eat | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “SanwichThins - Yum!”

Broken Arrow Says:
October 23rd, 2009 at 02:34 pm 1256304852
1256304852

FIOS can be crazy fast. As much as 5 to 8 times faster than cable and DSL.

However, results may vary on a number of factors. The real test is to run it through a bandwidth tester such as speedtest.net. I'd be curious as to what you're getting in terms of real bandwidth.

Personally, I'm using DSL, and really, it's fast enough for me. Nothing on YouTube can slow it down, and HD videos only takes a few seconds to get ready but runs smoothly. Netflix takes about 10 seconds to buffer up and get ready, but that's not a problem for me either. Again, smooth playback.

Unfortunately, my neighborhood does not have FIOS available, but I suppose that's just as well since they also tend to cost more per month. Anyways, I'm perfectly happy with my DSL.

Me jealous? NAAAAh ok maybe a little.
monkeymama Says:
October 23rd, 2009 at 03:06 pm 1256306783
1256306783

That's the thing BA - I agree on the DSL. We had a slow speed and worked for most anything we'd need. But the downloading feels literally hundreds of times faster. That is pretty sweet! (Everything else is about the same as always for us). My spouse does a lot of video uploading and stuff though. Just the first time *I* REALLY appreciated it!

We got 13 Mb/s (per your website).
homebody Says:
October 23rd, 2009 at 03:59 pm 1256309983
1256309983

Our new staple in the freezer, Sandwich Thins. We get them at Costco. They are really yummy with the salmon patties and mango chutney also from Costco!
Broken Arrow Says:
October 23rd, 2009 at 04:41 pm 1256312467
1256312467

Yikes, MM! Is it me or is it hot in here? I feel funny.

My DSL gets 5.8.
monkeymama Says:
October 23rd, 2009 at 05:08 pm 1256314087
1256314087

BA - we had 1.5 Mb/s with DSL, which was ample for just about everything.

But our current service is 10 times as fast. Surewest offers up to 50/Mbps.
monkeymama Says:
October 23rd, 2009 at 05:11 pm 1256314271
1256314271

Cheryl - great tip on the Thins - freezing is a good idea - and good to know they are at Costco too.

If they are still free when I go by Saturday, I will stock up! (I'll stock up on more tea to earn more free bed).
Analise Says:
October 23rd, 2009 at 06:11 pm 1256317895
1256317895

I will have to try the wheat Sandwichthins next trip to Costco. These will be good for my dh who is diabetic.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

SanwichThins - Yum!

7 Responses to “SanwichThins - Yum!”

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