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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.

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

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
...($1,250 @ 3/31/24)
...$350/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$2,025 to mortgage
...($0 @ 3/31/24)
...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 @ 3/31/24)
...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."}

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

My Pages

More of the same...

January 28th, 2007 at 02:10 pm

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/moneyhappy/22594

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/moneymatters/20375

My 2 favorite gals. Nothing much new, more of the same.

I woke up early and felt motivated today. I have been planning for a LONG time to formulate an article for the Dollar Stretcher on being a 1-income family. & right now I feel motivated and will give it a start. Hasn't been a new one in that category for a couple of months so we'll see. Maybe will motivate me to write more articles.

I have 2 things to focus on. One is planning from the getgo, which can only help people already with kids so much. But I still think it is important - to plan ahead best you can. GOod advice for people thinking ahead I guess. But even more importantly, to be flexible. Be open to doing things a little different than the norm, if it will work out better for you. Not a greater example than having the father stay home with the kids- how how weird is that? I know quite a few people who have considered the option, that it would work for them, but were just too scared to take the plunge to do things different, falling to the pressure of family and society. I also know plenty of people who make 1-income living work by constantly thinking outside the box. IT is a big key in figuring it out for many.

Posted in Just Thinking, Budgeting & Goals | 5 Comments »

5 Responses to “More of the same...”

paigu Says:
January 28th, 2007 at 08:43 pm 1170016993
1170016993

Good, sound advice. The one piece that I find hard to do is setting definite financial goals. I want to save money, but I'm still not sure what to save FOR exactly. Future planning is even harder when it feel abstract.
I'd love to read your article when it gets published!
living_in_oz Says:
January 28th, 2007 at 08:47 pm 1170017276
1170017276

OH! Hurry up and write that article! You're right, they haven't a new on one income families in a longgggg time. I've had a couple of them published, and I'm not the world's greatest writer, so I'm sure you won't have any problems with yours
monkeymama Says:
January 29th, 2007 at 02:33 pm 1170081182
1170081182

You know I wrote an article and it is way TOO long - LOL. I think what I really need to do is split it into 2 articles. One on tax advice and how to use taxes to your advantage going down on 1-income. THat is probably most important and not already covered. Of course I had to go on a big tangent on that.

Planning ahead and thinking outside the box can be a different article I guess.

I think they would be both be a lot shorter and readable then - LOL. I will probably get back to it next weekend - I will have the house to myself ofr a couple of days so phew - will have time to rework!

Thanks for the kind words.
Broken Arrow Says:
January 29th, 2007 at 03:36 pm 1170084969
1170084969

Thanks for sharing. I enjoy reading from those two authors.

Laura mentioned something that I never realized before, and that it is to negotiate your salary. I've never done that before, but it's something that I will definitely be planning for from now on.
monkeymama Says:
January 29th, 2007 at 08:14 pm 1170101666
1170101666

That reminds me BA, I read an article awhile back, one aimed at business owners, to not write-off potential candidated based on salary history. & to be open to negotiations. A big point of the article is sometimes people will settle for less money for a better workplace environment, or better benefits, etc. Employers often ask for a salary history and write off anyone who was paid too high. Just an interesting thought, it goes both ways. I could see having a really high-stress 100k job and wanting to scale back and settle for much less, easy.

But I found Laura's point interesting too. My first job offer out of college I turned down a really big firm because I was really uninterested - they kept offering me more and more. Too bad I was so uninterested. You think I would learn but my 2nd job hunt I got more than I expected and took it - no negotiations. I am trying to keep in mind for the future. I even had a boss negotiate a higher wage for me at my first bookeeping job while in college - I had never thought to ask. & if she wasn't looking out for me don't think the big boss would have offered.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

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