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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.

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

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

More Best Buy Recycling

October 13th, 2008 at 02:44 pm

I took 2 old car stereos to Best Buy, for recycling yesterday. You can check your Best Buy, but ours takes 2 items every day (max anyway).

I combined it with my trip to Target for some clothes for BM and halloween candy. We walked between the 2. It is frustrating how there is absolutely no walking path between the shopping centers - it was not a far walk at all - but we mostly trekked through the empty parking lots and traipsed through some bushes to get over there. I was pleasantly surprised there was some sidewalk.

Brings our total to:

-2 computers (one ancient/one dead)
-vacuum cleaner (broken)
-cell phone (replaced)
-2 car stereos (ancient)

I envision one more trip for our PDAs from when we lived in Silicon Valley. (They are a decade old).

Dh tells me yesterday he wants to see if there is any resale value. Whatever, not holding my breath. If I just take them in and don't tell him he will NEVER know. Trust me. LOL. But I will let him look. I think I will just give him a deadline. If those things are still here 12/31, they are going to be recycled. !!

I have an old film camera I will probably donate.

I tossed an old broken lamp in the garbage yesterday. Dh tossed one when we cleaned the garage.

I am feeling refreshed with all this purging. !!!

I realized that fall seems to have a similar effect to me as spring. Not the same, but the change in weather has jump started me a bit.

We still have 2 fans that we never use. For now I have so much other stuff for sale (costumes and strollers) that I think I will leave them be. If I ever get through the rest of my sell list, I will consider it. It's something you can maybe see as useful, but has been sitting in our garage for almost a decade. I am inclined to take cash. Maybe earmark them for sale closer to summer. That is a good idea.

we still have to deal with my bed as well. Will sell it or freecycle it.

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Yesterday we weren't at one with nature. I think we did about 3 loads of dishes, 4 loads of laundry, and I spent a good chunk of the evening hosing off the front of the house. Ugh. It was well overdue. I should probably hose off the back of the house a bit next weekend. But the front is now nice and shiny. (I remember doing this in 2006 so it is not something I do very often - LOL).

We had cut our lawn watering in half now that the 100-degree days are over. It might even out a bit.

Then again it is forecasted to be 80 - 90 degrees all week. Yeesh. Might have to crank up the watering a tad... I thought we were done with this...

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P.S. My buy into VG Total Stock Index Friday was around $21.75/share. Almost 150 shares.

I looked back over the last 2 years since I opened the account and I have mostly paid $32-$36 per share.

Funny enough, my regular $50 monthly buy went through Friday night as well.

Posted in Just Thinking | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “More Best Buy Recycling”

gamecock43 Says:
October 13th, 2008 at 02:58 pm 1223909927
1223909927

oh I love purging! I have been purging on ebay and doing well$$. But I need to get started on useless stuff like old phones...
dmontngrey Says:
October 13th, 2008 at 04:10 pm 1223914202
1223914202

It hit me last week that there is about to be a surge of useless portable tvs early next year! No one is going to be able to use them after the changeover. I saw some while out yardsaling this weekend and I just wanted to tell the sellers not to bother. My radio in the kitchen will no longer pick up channels either. What a waste of a LOT of electronics all at once.
scfr Says:
October 13th, 2008 at 05:27 pm 1223918829
1223918829

I too tend to go through a "fall cleaning & purging surge" each year ... Am going through it now. Not sure if it is strictly the change in seasons, ingrained habits from "back to school time," or an urge to bring a sense of order to my own little world when there are so many serious things going on outside of my sphere of influence. Probably a combination of those factors.
monkeymama Says:
October 13th, 2008 at 06:43 pm 1223923433
1223923433

I don't remember fall cleaning before. For me, I think it is that I have some time now that the kids don't need constant supervision and care. *Phew* It's nice for me to remember I am truly not lazy, that I have really just been that busy and exhausted lately.

BUT - I think you nail it on the head scfr. Very subconscious, but the whole idea of ordering my own little world a little bit more while the rest of the world is in such a state of craziness, yeah, that rings true. I hadn't realized, but I think that is probably much of it.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

More Best Buy Recycling

4 Responses to “More Best Buy Recycling”

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