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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

Fall Allergies

October 19th, 2008 at 05:32 pm

I can get pretty bad spring allergies but it comes and goes. I had a couple of horrid years in San Jose mixed with years with no problems (most years).

Of course, Sacramento has very high rates of asthma and allergies. Since moving here I have pretty much suffered every spring.

Anyway, I wasn't feeling well Friday and though I was coming down with a cold. I mostly rested all day.

Yesterday I felt good as new but spent a couple of hours outside. After that I couldn't stop sneezing and I woke up, not quite bad as Friday, but not great.

I just told dh, "I have allergies!" Though in spring it really affects my eyes more than anything. Thank goodness my eyes are not itchy - it's just the worst.

So I googled a bit. I can't recall ever suffering from fall allergies. Or maybe I have always chalked it up to a virus. I don't know.

It just occurred to me because the weather has been so unusually warm. I wondered if there was possibly more pollen in the air or something with the warm weather. Maybe there are some confused plants?

So I was relived to see fall allergies are fairly common in some areas.

At least I am not crazy.

I'll survive.

It's kind of a shame when the weather is nice I can't stand to go outside though. The weather is GORGEOUS here and predicted to stay gorgeous for the next couple of weeks. I think I will stay mostly indoors!

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Still no heat. It's been around 80 during the day, 50 at night, and the house has settled around 76.

Weather predicted the same for the next couple of weeks. So I probably won't update much on that until we hit November.

I turned the water heater back down to our summer level. (I had turned it up because it had dropped to the 40s for a few days overnight).

Posted in Just Thinking | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “Fall Allergies”

swimgirl Says:
October 19th, 2008 at 09:44 pm 1224452686
1224452686

Grasses are in bloom at this time of year and there are other things in the air, too. My allergies are worst at this time of year, because I am more allergic to grass than anything else. (although my allergies are severe enough that I got tested. And of the 38 things they test for in my area, I reacted to 35! The allergist was stunned...no one is allergic to that many things)

Check pollen.com for info on what's out in the air around here (or anywhere).

And the Northern California weather is GORGEOUS!
frugaltexan75 Says:
October 19th, 2008 at 11:51 pm 1224460306
1224460306

Allergies are the worst - at any time of the year. Like swimgirl I am also allergic to many types of grass (and trees). I've been having to take my allergy medicine pretty much daily for the last couple weeks.
monkeymama Says:
October 20th, 2008 at 02:14 am 1224468852
1224468852

Well, I am DEFINITELY allergic to grass. Just generally no problems this time of year.

I wonder how often I've been "sick" in fall and just didn't realize.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Fall Allergies

3 Responses to “Fall Allergies”

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