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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. We've always saved 100% of MH's income, but we are starting to dial that down a bit in 2023-2024.

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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2025 Goals

[ ]Small monthly Charitable Contribution
...($0 @ 1/1/25)
...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
...($0 @ 1/1/25)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$5,000 to investments
**STRETCH GOAL $7,500**
...($0 @ 1/1/25)
...$300/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$1,700 to mortgage
...($0 @ 1/31/25)
...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% @ 1/31/25)
...This is the minimum for the match; I'd otherwise rather fund IRAs.

Goal savings rate = 25% of gross salary, plus funding IRAs from other sources.

[ ]$6,000 to IRAs 2024
**STRETCH GOAL $14,000 (MAX)**
...($0 @ 1/1/25)
...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 2025 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: $75,000 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
2024: +$95,000
TOTAL: +$665,000

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

Brussel Sprouts + Kumare

April 18th, 2013 at 02:19 pm

We finally got around to watching Kumare on Netflix. I thought it was excellent. The movie is about a man who pretends to be a spiritual guru and gathers a following - "hoping to prove the absurdity of blind faith." It wasn't quite as I expected, it's a movie that will really make you think.

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I don't know if I have ever particularly had brussel sprouts before. There were some brussel sprouts at Easter and I was pleasantly surprised how good they were. So dh tried a new recipe last night - we are brussel sprout converts. Even LM (the picky one) didn't think they were bad. BM (not picky) was not a fan.

Roasted Garlic Brussel Sprouts

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/roa...

MIL's recipe was just to roast in the oven with some salt and pepper blend. Probably tossed in olive oil. YUM.

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I invested in some tupperware last night. I got some divided containers so I could spice up the kids lunch a bit, and fulfilled some container needs we have. I just went with the cheap plastic stuff because most our current stuff is "disposable" or "came with food packaging" type stuff that has lasted many many years for us. So, it was not a big investment. Will see what works for us and at that point can buy more of what we like, and can clear out some of the old/sad stuff in our cupboards. It was a small investment, but will be a nice one. I also invested in some re-useable watter bottles.

Posted in Just Thinking | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Brussel Sprouts + Kumare”

creditcardfree Says:
April 18th, 2013 at 04:24 pm 1366298697
1366298697

We have been eating lots of brussel sprouts this winter. We roast them them with red potatoes, garlic, onion, mushrooms, oil olive, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. We have added sweet potatoes and carrots occasionally too.
baselle Says:
April 18th, 2013 at 06:48 pm 1366307324
1366307324

And cut them in 1/2 lengthwise, pan fry them with onion and pecans. Yum!
FrugalTexan75 Says:
April 19th, 2013 at 02:40 am 1366335632
1366335632

I had brussel sprouts for the first time maybe a year or so ago? I think it was at a church potluck. If I remember correctly, they weren't too bad.
creditcardfree Says:
April 19th, 2013 at 12:13 pm 1366370036
1366370036

For others reading...Brussel sprouts are like mini cabbages in my opinion and like baselle mentioned we cut ours in half when we roast them. I've recently roasted asparagus too...with olive oil, salt and pepper!

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Brussel Sprouts + Kumare

4 Responses to “Brussel Sprouts + Kumare”

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