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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
...($1,750 @ 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

Oooooooh, nifty... (+ more links)

April 7th, 2007 at 03:18 pm

Well I gave it a whirl. Like the red, not so much the pink, but seems to be the best color match. I don't know what I am doing.

Anyway, other good links today.

#1:

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2006/08/the_10_best_mon.html

Is it the same old, same old, I don't know, but a good list to live by.

Of course instead of get out of debt I find it much easier to not get into debt in the first place. Wink

But I know for many it is too late so reads good advice.

& again with the giving. But I found a better article on the subject - more in line with my feelings. 3% I can swing, would consider a worthy goal. Wink

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney...

Which reminds me, in my family the women are the givers and the men never give money to charity - think it is a waste. So I was thinking about Suze and women and money - and well - she has a point. Then again I don't advocate not giving anything to charity. I guess I am middle of the road on the subject. & through time my dh has encouraged me not to give money we really didn't have to give (in our opinions) and I have got him to be a little more giving to the community in non-financial ways. Because there is still no way in hell he would give up a dime. I think today he would for a cause he really felt behind. Maybe. But nowhere near 3%. Wink

ETA: Oh yeah I bought an egg coloring packet for 50 cents or something the other day because I was at the drug store anyway - was a while back. Anyway, opened it last night and it had 2 shrinkwrapped packages inside. Thought it was a little odd and looked at the box. Opened one and starting counting. dippers and colors and stickers and such. Yup I got 2 for the price of one - a mistake - LOL. Nifty that it was all shrinkwrapped. I threw it in the cupboard for next year. Now the trick is not to forget about it. BM had a blast coloring eggs last night. Plus he dropped the darkest egg on the floor and when I looked at it this morning it looked so cool - the crack looked like a spider web - geometric and all that - we all thought it was pretty cool. Will probably attempt deviled eggs tomorrow, you know with all my spare time and all. Wink

Anyway, I spent a few bucks on candy and treats. Last year was like the first big easter and I got baskets and plastic eggs and all that. Initial investment, I am pleased this year is so cheap. We are providing chips and salsa for easter dinner tomorrow. Dh gets the chips on sale and will make his homemade salsa. Last time he made it with leftovers and said he spent less than a buck on peppers or something. So we have been eating a lot of salsa - very frugal. We eat so much peppers, garlic, onions, cilantro, mexicany stuff - we always have the leftovers. Add the canned tomatoes - we're not tomato fans. But for whatever reason I could live off them in salsa form - hehe.

Posted in Just Thinking | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “Oooooooh, nifty... (+ more links)”

jeffrey Says:
April 7th, 2007 at 03:26 pm 1175959581
1175959581

Play around with it when you have time. You can always reset back to the original colors if you want. We will also be introducing some color themes over time, but feel free to create your own color theme that you like...more to come later
Lux Living Frugalis Says:
April 7th, 2007 at 03:26 pm 1175959609
1175959609

If you don't like what you've worked out which looks fine to me, you might try looking at that scheme website that Broken Arrow has posted in his latest blog entry - That New Blog Smell. Very helpful.
Lux Living Frugalis Says:
April 7th, 2007 at 03:46 pm 1175960765
1175960765

Try here:

http://www.colorschemer.com/schemes/index.php
monkeymama Says:
April 7th, 2007 at 04:04 pm 1175961896
1175961896

Actually my scheme changed - not sure why. ????? Ack!

That will be great when there will be schemes to choose from - phew...
monkeymama Says:
April 7th, 2007 at 06:01 pm 1175968887
1175968887

Oh this is not so explorer friendly either? Just looks huge, doesn't fit the page. Was fine on firefox. Interesting.
monkeymama Says:
April 7th, 2007 at 06:02 pm 1175968963
1175968963

Thanks lux - that was what gave me this scheme. Well the dark pink is gone now. I was having trouble finding a scheme I really loved. Didn't help as much as I thought it would - hehe.
addheight Says:
August 25th, 2016 at 08:59 pm 1472158783
1472158783

great posts you got here. these comments though lol

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Oooooooh, nifty... (+ more links)

7 Responses to “Oooooooh, nifty... (+ more links)”

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