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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.

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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

Cell Phone

September 16th, 2006 at 02:32 pm

Bummed to admit we went over on our minutes for about 5 straight months. I really have no idea WHY. I look at our phones as an emergency vehicle, not much else. Though I do use often to call long distance.

I am not sure if we had EVER gone over our minutes before this last year.

Anyway, 2 months we went over in a planned manner because we were on vacation and used them out of convenience. At least once we paid extra that month for more plan minutes. Plus both vacations cost $0 to us so we decided more money on the phone was okay. But I have no idea why we have gone over every month since.

We cracked down this last month and I Was shocked to just open our bill and see we were 30 minutes over. That is $12. Blech!! So much for cracking down.

I have a habit of calling my mom whenenever I am out. & from work since it is long distance. Whenever I am home I have pretty much resorted to the land line at only 3 cents/minute. It's nothing really. & from work I ALWAYS call and have her call me right back.

Obviously I called my mom too much from the car this last month!!

This month I will try harder. I think overall I will get back to the emergency mindset and just put the phone down. I bet you all of those calls could have waited until I had gotten home. ; )

Posted in Spending | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “Cell Phone”

ldyfaile Says:
September 16th, 2006 at 03:08 pm 1158419339
1158419339

Who is your cell provider? Do they offer any sort of online account where you can see your minutes used (even if it's just a rough estimate) or do they have a number you can call to check mid month? I find that helps me. I have Verizon and lately I've gone over once, and gotten really close another. I don't need more minutes, I just need to be more aware of the minutes I'm using. With mine it breaks it down between peak/off peak/ IN peak/ IN off peak. The IN calls I can ignore, I have unlimited IN calling (calls to other Verizon customer) so I really only pay attention to the peak minutes used. I even go so far as to figure out how many days are left in the billing cycle, how many minutes it says I have left, and average out how many minutes I can spend per day. Ok perhaps I went a little overboard, but it works! For me at least.
monkeymama Says:
September 16th, 2006 at 03:13 pm 1158419625
1158419625

I do have verizon and do check. Last month I assumed I did good though so didn't check - LOL. I totally use your method down to a T and it failed me - LOL. I really did think I had so many minutes per day the last week (I had checked) and I failed. Probably why I was so shocked I Went over.

I have issues apparently. LOL. But yeah that reminds me I should put the phone down AND check my minutes often. My hubby shares plan with me, but he was not the problem. But I should keep an eye on both our balances more often, just in case he surprises me in the future.

Good tips for sure! Thanks!

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Cell Phone

2 Responses to “Cell Phone”

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