They do AMAZING work! It’s a crew of the smartest, most talented and dedicated folks I know. I was amazed they even let me through the doors to be honest. =) They are all WAY out of my league.

Never head of International Justice Mission until Googling just now – wow. Incredible organization!

Nice!! Great blog name too ;)

That’s great! Thank you for the reply. I can’t wait until we find some way to reduce that health insurance cost – it’s our second biggest, after housing. Gotta tackle those big line items to get the monthly nut down!

We lived out that way for a while too. There are some really cool work opportunities, but it is pricey. I was able to volunteer with International Justice Mission while we lived there, which was so amazing! We were really fortunate to keep our health coverage as part of a military retirement. We still have copay’s, and deductibles but not a monthly charge for it. I have to pay for dental, which is $60 a month. And Mr. Mt pays for life insurance. With everything else, we are really mindful of the monthly obligation. I would rather have lots of margin and extra cash for fun stuff than big bills, if we can help it.

If you want to check out my free PDF, it can give some extra info on the practical side of saving up the money. I think it just takes time. If you are looking at taking a few months or year off in 10 years, then you don’t have to save a ton extra every month. Plus in 10 years, you might be able to create a good source of passive income. Over the last 15 years, our combined household income has varied between $30,000-$70,000 a year. And we have 5 kids. So I wouldn’t say it’s impossible on an average income. It just takes some intention.

We were able to negotiate the 2 month long leaves. One we did between jobs, and one we had to quit a job to get. I think if people have saved up the money and are ready, a space might present its self.

The “monthly nut” thing is a really great way to look at it. I was just looking at our monthly nut for comparison… big difference! We live in a high cost of living area (the same one as J Money, haha), so it’s going to be a pretty significant difference. And we’re somewhat okay with that, since we live here specifically because we couldn’t do the work we do anywhere else in the world, and we love it.

Still, only $650 a month?!? Our health insurance alone (for mom, dad, and newborn baby) is more than that – and it’s a high deductible plan, so we’re paying for much of the care costs themselves on top of it. How do you manage to keep health insurance costs out of your monthly nut?