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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

Not My Day, Financially or Otherwise

February 1st, 2009 at 11:49 pm

I did a sum up of the last few days in my last post.

But I had to share my bad spend day today.

I work in a pretty horrible area really and so if I come in on the weekends I prefer not to leave the building until the end of the day. Particularly Sunday because I thought I would be alone.

(But I wasn't - yay)!

Anyway, made a quick sandwhich in the morning and figured I'd grab a soda and chips at the gas station across the street. It's my "weekend working" splurge - I usually grab some soda and a high-calorie snack. I figured it would complement my sandwhich.

Anyway, ran to the store, bought some soda and chips, and drove over to work. Somewhere along the way I realized my sandwhich seemed to be missing AND the car was awfully low on gas.

I called dh to ask if he noticed the gas light come on yesterday on the drive home. He said no because *I* was the one driving. *Doh* I hadn't noticed, but my powers of observation are pretty shoddy. LOL. So I am wondering if it has been on for 50 miles or if it just turned on. I think it had just turned on.

Anyway, I also whined I forgot my sandwhich and he said he would bring it. But the whole thing seemed kind of silly. So I ran back to the gas station a couple of hours later, for a frozen dinner. (At least those prices aren't bad).

Anyway, I decided to just grab 3 gallons of gas at the Chevron. Last I saw gas was $2/gallon (at the ARCO anyway) so I figured $6 would be well enough so I wouldn't have to fill up again until Wednesday.

I peaked at the sign while I was paying and saw $2.13, so seemed well enough. Until I got out to the pump and saw it was $2.23. "What the heck?" I peeked around the corner at the price sign again and saw it had been divided into cash or credit. Ugh. Though all I Could see was the cash side from the inside of the mini mart. I don't like carrying cash and any other time I would have charged it anyway. We usually don't pay near as much as Chevron prices anyway. BUT it was just $6. If I had noticed at all I would have paid cash.

So anyway, today ended up a little spendy!

Posted in Just Thinking | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “Not My Day, Financially or Otherwise”

frugaltexan75 Says:
February 2nd, 2009 at 12:32 am 1233534758
1233534758

Oh that would tick me off! Having two prices for gas. I know I have heard of that happening in some places, but really it is not a legal practice - those stations could get in trouble with the card companies.
gamecock43 Says:
February 2nd, 2009 at 01:32 am 1233538342
1233538342

yeah those pesky gas stations always confuse me to.
reginaastralis Says:
February 2nd, 2009 at 02:22 pm 1233584530
1233584530

I really hate those stations as well ... and they get me everytime.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Not My Day, Financially or Otherwise

3 Responses to “Not My Day, Financially or Otherwise”

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