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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

Dh found $14!

March 10th, 2008 at 11:38 pm

I was looking for a game or puzzle or something and pulled out a few from the closet for ebay or Craigslist.

The main one being Cranium. Someone gave it to me for Chsristmas in 2004, and fankly I hate the game.

Dh got annoyed at me when he saw there was a receipt taped to the bottom. !!!!!

I had to admit that I might have known it was there, but kept it around for friends who love the game. Of course, nice as that gesture was, the game has never been opened.

Dh said Target had a good return policy and he would try to take it there. He cased it out first and said the new boxes look very different and who knows if they would take it.

For whatever reason, he tried today and they gave hime $14.

Not bad...

It retails $20. I think we would be hard pressed to find $14 for it otherwise, much less with so LITTLE effort. So I am really rather pleased with this find.

Dh used the money for Easter stuff and some groceries at Target.

Anyway, he was really peeved at me when he saw the receipt. But he couldn't be peeved for long. I had actually found some nice shirts in a box (from EARLIER than 2004 - indeed). No doubt from his mom, which she buys him clothes every year that he never wears. They looked nice and simple and so I hung them up in the closet. When he saw them he asked where the hell did they come from and he never intended to wear them.

I don't think I brought up the receipt to him, though it did peeve me. Not sure why he didn't just return them then.

So when he brought it up I told him there was a good $30 or more in unreturned goods in his closet. so yeah, be careful who you point that finger at.

I think we will be double checking each other's tossed aside gifts going forward. LOL.

I also redeemed my BK coupon today. Got an entire chicken sandwhich value meal for $2.50 (saved $3.65 since the sandwhich was free). Not bad!

I saved 1/2 the sandwhich for tomorrow. Was WAY too much food. But will stretch out nicely to 2 lunches with a yogurt from home and some water from the tap.

Oh, one final thing. Dh called to redeem our free month from Verizon (by signing up for a year contract). Anyway, I don't remember the last time I called Verizon. I never call them. I leave that stuff to dh. He has called many times to turn on roaming if we went on vacation (to the east coast and such). He was the one who called to change our plan last year. HE totally changed our plan to a new one and signed a one-year contract.

So he calls today and they say they won't even talk to him because he is not on the account.

Go figure.

LOL.

So now I have to waste my time calling them. Bah. I knew we went through this ages ago but I thought we had gotten that squared away, ages ago. Figures.

Posted in Saving, Just Thinking | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “Dh found $14!”

dmontngrey Says:
March 11th, 2008 at 04:16 pm 1205252202
1205252202

You lucked out at Target! Target actually has the worst return policy and normally doesn't accept ANY returns after 90 days. It doesn't matter if you have the receipt or not. It's Walmart that has a more lenient return policy.
monkeymama Says:
March 11th, 2008 at 09:01 pm 1205269270
1205269270

Hmmm, I am not so sure that is true. Target does take things without receipts. IT could be a rather new policy? That is why dh had the idea to try Target.

Plus dh got a price match on his PS3 at 91 days. ($100 back!!!) I think the girl melted over a guy with a baby in tow though - seems to work to get what he wants - LOL. I mean, he expected more trouble, but they just gave it to him.
monkeymama Says:
March 11th, 2008 at 09:03 pm 1205269403
1205269403

Oh - I looked it up - they don't require receipts for anything under $25. That's what it was and why dh had the idea to try. I don't even think the game came from Target.

& well, Target was more convenient for us.
dmontngrey Says:
March 11th, 2008 at 10:51 pm 1205275891
1205275891

Odd. From their own receipt: "A receipt dated within 90 days is required for ALL returns & exchanges." Same thing is stated on their website. I'm curious where you found something that says no receipt required for under $25. I've never seen that written anywhere for Target.

And why does IE not allow me to post responses anymore?? This is new.
monkeymama Says:
March 12th, 2008 at 11:57 am 1205323022
1205323022

I just did a quick search online and found the $25 rule (when I replied yesterday). I am not sure how my dh knew about it.

In IE I can not reply either (never could) unless I uncheck the "subscribe" box. Is that the problem you're having?
dmontngrey Says:
March 12th, 2008 at 01:20 pm 1205328046
1205328046

I'm all logged in and that box is checked off, so I shouldn't have problems in IE. I was able to post up until yesterday morning. It's probably this computer that has SERIOUS ISSUES. lol...

Strange, I looked and still couldn't find the $25 rule you're referring to. Either that was an old rule or someone bent the rules. Either way, that doesn't appear to be policy and I still think you lucked out! $14 is $14 no matter how you look at it!
monkeymama Says:
March 12th, 2008 at 07:38 pm 1205350687
1205350687

I asked dh how he gleamed this knowledge and I did a post about it. There were certainly some catches.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Dh found $14!

7 Responses to “Dh found $14!”

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