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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

Lunch / Amazon / Entertainment Update

February 19th, 2011 at 09:58 pm

Lunch Challenge:

Lunch In: 14
Lunch Out: 3

Lunch Thurs - leftover manicotti
Lunch Fri - PB sandwich @ home
Lunch Sat - OUT

No lunch dates this week (dh or otherwise). Work is crazy, but I generally allow fast food once a week - especially when I work weekends. Today I just wanted something really crappy. That said, it wasn't very fulfilling. I ate too good the past week (lots of good leftovers).

I've taken to choosing my work days by the weather. Today was supposed to be rainy, so I chose to work today. (Weather is not so bad, in the end, but should be nicer and warmer tomorrow).

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After many frustrations with ebay/paypal, we switched to Amazon selling, last year. Wow, it's been about a year.

Anyway, I don't have any complaints about Amazon. It's been so much nicer!

That said, dh got some negative feedback yesterday. He was super aggravated because he is trying to sell a bunch of stuff. The negative feedback might hurt his bottom line.

What was the feedback? That dh charged someone $1000+ for a $30 game. Rolleyes

For one, the buyer never said anything to dh (this was a month ago?). Secondly, Amazon does the billing. We have absolutely no control over that.

Anyway, that in itself is somewhat "whatever." BUT, Amazon refuses to remove the feedback.

In the end, I don't think it's that big of a deal. Amazon is still so much nicer than ebay. But, it's kind of back to the same old, same old. Buyers get away with everything - sellers can't do squat to protect themselves. IT's just step one down that road again...

& no - we did not receive an extra $1000!
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In other news, had to share a music artist that dh discovered on Pandora:

http://jeremymessersmith.com

Jeremy Messersmith

Not only is this guy so GOOD, but he has some interesting marketing. "Pay what you want" for some songs, and some other things along those lines.

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Breaking Bad - does anyone else watch this?

I am still hooked on this show. We just finished seasons 1 & 2 - getting through season 3 quickly. Well, they are airing 2 episodes a week, leading up to the premier of season 4.

I had warned it was pretty macabre. But, that said, the writing and the acting is superb. Beyond that, I can't figure out what I like about it so much. It's a step away from being totally stupid and unbelievable. But the writing is so clever and the actors are so great on this show. Somehow, it works.

If we drop cable - will just have to wait for netflix or Blockbuster. No biggie.

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Which reminds me - Game of Thrones starts on HBO in a couple of months. Dh has asked his dad to record those episodes for us. I am proud of dh because it's the kind of thing he would buy HBO for. He knows he's maxed out the entertainment budget though. Cable is $100/month + $30-ish for all his movie subscriptions (so we don't have to pay for HBO, etc.)

If we drop cable, will have to add Breaking Bad to the FIL request. He has a DVD burner we bought him a while back. The DVD burner was not bought for any selfish reasons, but has turned useful.

Game of Thrones - I whipped through Books 1 & 2 (around 1000 pages each) during my surgery recovery. My dh was just teasing me for my slow progress on book 3. I am about 700 pages in.

Medieval war saga? SO not my genre, but it is hard to put down. I have to admit I am pretty excited to see it come to life on HBO.

I gave the book/series a whirl because wherever dh took it, people would come up to him and tell him it was the best book series EVER. Since I have been reading it on my nook, I haven't got much feedback (no one can tell what I am reading).

Needless to say, I haven't had any lack of entertainment lately.

Posted in Just Thinking | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “Lunch / Amazon / Entertainment Update”

Looking Forward Says:
February 19th, 2011 at 11:08 pm 1298156888
1298156888

I've been thinking about watching Breaking Bad. I might have to try harder to work it into our tv time after reading your glowing review.
Freckles Says:
February 20th, 2011 at 12:56 am 1298163412
1298163412

I love love LOVE Breaking Bad. I decided to check it out after seeing that the lead actor, Bryan Cranston, won the Best Actor Emmy three times in a row. Thought that must mean something!

I agree with what you said ... it is pretty dark and macabre, but the acting is so good, who knew I could feel sympathy for a meth dealer???

My public library carries DVDs, so I signed out Season One through them. I have Season Two on hold; should receive it in less than a month and I can't wait!!!

Maybe your library has TV series DVDs as well and that may influence your decision about cancelling cable??

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Lunch / Amazon / Entertainment Update

2 Responses to “Lunch / Amazon / Entertainment Update”

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