<< Back to all Blogs

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.

-------------------------------

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.

-------------------------------

**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."}

-------------------------------

My Pages

Teaching Financial Literacy...

October 20th, 2006 at 08:51 pm

I had a few things to blab about but I Wanted to say it feels real good to have GOALS. I really needed this. I have been feeling pretty blah lately like now what, kind of an early mid-life crisis. IT was like school, school, school, buy a home, get my CPA license, buy a better home, have kids. check check check. Okay, now what. That's really how I have felt lately. Now what??????? I know raising kids is a big endeavor, but at the same time I feel like I need another goal in my life.

I just put 2 and 2 together, thinking today that renewing my financial goals has really motivated me. I Am a goal person, I always need to be working towards something. Some things I have put off like getting an even higher education until the kids are much older. It is something I would like to do, but I know I do not have the time to devote. So I have been feeling like, what do I do in the meantime? On the other hand I look at us financially and think we have done pretty awesome. I Wasn't really scrutinizing or making any goals in that area. Now that I Am scrutinizing I wonder what the hell we have been doing. LOL. So what if we are loads ahead of the saps around us, what does it matter, we are BEHIND. I want to retire young!!!! But it isn't going to happen without a lot of work on our part. Ah, but it is a worthy goal to keep me occupied.

Along the same vein I was ready to devote a little more time to volunteering again after things were settling down from the last few years of bearing children and caring for small babies. I Feel strongly that financial literacy really needs to be taught in the schools because parents are not doing it for sure. I was looking into financial literacy programs and saw my state CPA society has a program so I signed up. I have not heard anything in months, which I Was kind of relieved because I do not enjoy public speaking - hehe. I know it is a good cause and I Want to do it - but overall I am pretty scared.

So yesterday I got an e-mail about a training next week. I am absolutely freaking out. I tell myself, calm down. I joined a local professional group for about a year between pregnancies and I spoke to the group a lot, and you know what they liked my speaking. But then I think - gosh - there were professional adults interested in any free tax advice they can get. How am I going to talk in front of high school students???? Can't I talk to the 4th graders??? LOL. But oh well. I Am trying to suck it up and move forward. All I Can do is try. If it is the most miserable experience of my life I don't have to do it again, right?

I actually wanted to start with doing some presentations for the state society and move on from there - getting more involved in the financial literacy movement. We'll see how it goes I guess. I need all the support I Can get though -t ell me I Can do it! Wink

Posted in Just Thinking, Budgeting & Goals | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “Teaching Financial Literacy...”

miclason Says:
October 20th, 2006 at 08:55 pm 1161377735
1161377735

You can do it!!! I think it's great that you are getting involved!
frugalmomof1 Says:
October 20th, 2006 at 09:04 pm 1161378284
1161378284

Teach 'em while their young! So many people learn about financial responsibility after it's too late. You can do it!
rduell Says:
October 20th, 2006 at 09:08 pm 1161378521
1161378521

Awesome! I have often thought the same thing. I know that we learned nothing about budgeting or anything in school and our children are not being taught in school either. I will have to look into this. Are there any type of qualifications you have to meet?
monkeymama Says:
October 20th, 2006 at 09:24 pm 1161379455
1161379455

I think this is where I got started:

http://www.jumpstart.org/states.cfm

Pick your state and see what they offer. I read a very good article on this organization and when looking how to get involved I saw that they had teamed up with my own professional society. I don't think you necessarily you have to have any qualifications. You can also donate money, etc. They are involved in legislature as well.
rduell Says:
October 20th, 2006 at 09:57 pm 1161381468
1161381468

Great! Thank you! I'm going to look into it.
Ima saver Says:
October 21st, 2006 at 12:40 pm 1161434425
1161434425

You can do it!! Good for you!!

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)

Name:	*
Email:	Will not be published.
	Subscribe: Notify me of additional comments to this entry.
URL:
Verification:	* Please spell out the number 4. [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]

Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Teaching Financial Literacy...

6 Responses to “Teaching Financial Literacy...”

Leave a Reply