Just Blabbing about Finances! Excuse my wordiness...
About Me
Monkey Mama
Just a 31-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. Big Monkey (BM) is 6 & Little Monkey (LM) is 4.
We have been a one-income family for 6.5 years. This arrangement used to be "temporary." Our goal is to make this a long-term arrangement.
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. "Simple" and "inexpensive" is relative.
Likewise, we have never had much debt but 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!
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2009 Goals
**Financial**
[ ]$8k to Savings
Revised Goal: $10k to Savings
....(7/31/09 Bal: $7,950)
[ ]$4k to ROTHs
Revised Goal: $5k to ROTHS
....(7/31/09 Bal: $2,416)
[X]Review Insurance Coverages
[X]Close BT Cards (3)
[X]Close IRAs with $0
[ ]Invest CD Maturing October
**House**
[ ]Fix Gutter
[ ]Have Trees Trimmed
[ ]Plant Fruit Tree
[ ]Fix Tile/Sealing
[ ]Clear junk from Master Closet
[ ]Buy Mattress/Bedding for LM
[ ]Paint BMs room
[ ]Price Security Screen Door
[ ]Price Stucco Repair
[ ]Price Security Upgrades
**Personal**
[ ]Take it Easy
[ ]Monthly skype dates with mom/sister
[/]2 weekends away, with just dh
[ ]1 camping trip
[X]1 trip to the snow
[X]More trips to the cabin
[ ]More biking & hiking
[ ]Season passes to Great America
**Long-Term Goals**
[X] 15% gross to retirement
...(Goal Met 2009; Currently 16%)
[X] 10% gross to cash savings
...(Goal Met 2009; Currently 10%)
[ ] $30k Cash Savings (minimum)
...(7/31/09 Bal: $22,500)
[ ] Max out ROTHs ($10k)
...(Currently contributing $5k)
[ ] Pay mortgage off by age 45
...(7/31/09 Bal: $211,000)
...(Current payoff age: 61)
***We plan to hit it as hard on the back end as we did on the front end (same method - with second income).
[ ] Paint Exterior of Home
[ ] Replace Fence
[ ] Replace 2001 Ford with a Prius (ideally, 2013 or later)
[ ] Purchase a used convertible in the $5k range
Increase Net Worth by 50% of expenses, annually:*
[x] 2007 +$30k [ ] 2008 down $2,750
[ ] 2009 +$17k (as of 6/30/09)
*We measure our financial progress in terms of annual expenses because we don't live up to our income. Our income has been all over the map the last decade ($10k - $100k, and everything in between). Our expenses, on the other hand, have been rather steady. They actually have not increased much at all since we have been homeowners. If we return to a 2-income family we have little desire to change our lifestyle. So we measure our progress in terms of our spending.
