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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.

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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

Borrowing Ideas from Thriftorama

May 22nd, 2010 at 05:09 pm

I am in the way super early stages of thinking about gardening.

I've never had much luck in the garden, and don't consider it really my thing. But as I look for new ways to economize, gardening is kind of the next obvious step. Dh is also a little more into it, and has always liked the idea of growing a garden with the kids.

"Sacramento's long growing season (240+ days) gives us two major vegetable planting periods� spring and fall. As you'll see from the calendar below, however, there's actually something edible to plant every month of the year."

{I am having no luck pasting the link here - something like sacramento gardening dot com.}

I suppose we will start with peppers (easy and May is the time to plant). Next would be carrots, radishes, and deciding on some herbs. Those seem obvious, anyway.

Anyway, yesterday, I came across a blog entry on gardening (on another local blog). The blog mentioned it is nearly impossible to grow edibles in our soil, and went into "frugal" ways to build raised garden beds. May be on the fugal side, but seemed pretty complicated to me. Ugh.

I thought, "there has got to be something more frugal!" So I googled "cheap raised garden beds," or something of the like, and probably got a zillion ideas on re-using recycled materials. Much more my speed!

OF course, then I came across the best idea of all:

I have been storing these forever (to freecycle, or use, at some point. I might have at least 6 laying around the house right now (some white ones too!). We will probably cut them in half (top half/bottom half) and make holes in the bottoms of them.

So, today I was ruminating on where to make space for all these plastic containers, in our soil. I am sure we will invest in some nicer looking ones for the patio and such. These will be good around the yard as we find places to sneak in some veggies around the yard.

I thought of Thriftorama's plan to hide her veggies behind bushes in her front yard (you know, due to the "no gardens in the front yard" thing to which I have the feeling my HOA would subscribe to). Even if that wasn't an issue, fact is, we have very little yard to grow anything out front.

So I Was ruminating, and then it hit me! I totally forgot that we had some unused space in our front yard, hiding behind a pile of bushes. We used to fret about what to do with that space and eventually just figured no one could see it so who cares.

ding ding ding!!!

We will have some weeds to clear out - but it ain't half bad - looks like it even gets water back there? Big Grin

SO, I have to think Thriftorama for that idea.

Time for a secret garden! Wink

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Finally, I need all the luck in the world. The only thing I have successfully planted, ever, is my wildflowers (from seed). As I mentioned earlier. While taking pictures, I snapped a pic.

My little wildflower jungle! Big Grin

Hopefully I can expand my horizons beyond wildflowers...

Anyway, if nothing else, I feel relieved that it looks like we can start gardening, whenever. Summer and fall is a good time for lots of plantings. Yay!

Posted in | 10 Comments »

10 Responses to “Borrowing Ideas from Thriftorama”

creditcardfree Says:
May 22nd, 2010 at 06:31 pm 1274553109
1274553109

Nice plan! Make sure the area your planting in gets enough sun for the item you are planting.
MonkeyMama Says:
May 22nd, 2010 at 07:11 pm 1274555505
1274555505

They will, I took this picture very early in the a.m. - it gets sun most of the day.
MonkeyMama Says:
May 22nd, 2010 at 07:13 pm 1274555607
1274555607

They will, I took this picture very early in the a.m. - it gets sun most of the day.

But yes, I will be keeping an eye on shadows/shade spots while we figure out where to plant.
whitestripe Says:
May 22nd, 2010 at 10:27 pm 1274567279
1274567279

my tomatoes grew really well, i grew them from seed and was really surprised they gave us enough tomatoes for a couple of salads within the first few months!

i just bought some trough-like pots from the hardware store, they were about $13 each and I have four. they are 'watersaving' ones.
zetta Says:
May 22nd, 2010 at 11:43 pm 1274571832
1274571832

I'd suggest a fewthat would be fun for the kids: sunflowers, beans/peas (with a stake or trellis to climb), pumpkin. Nothing beats home-grown tomatoes, so definitely plant a couple!
Analise Says:
May 23rd, 2010 at 05:46 am 1274593601
1274593601

Using the cat litter tubs for planters is an excellent, frugal idea. You could drill several holes at the bottom and use them as taller, "portable" planters if you wanted. I've had success growing Swiss chard, bok choy, and tomatoes in planters smaller than litter tubs. At my condo, my only option is container gardening since all I have is a small patio.
MonkeyMama Says:
May 23rd, 2010 at 01:56 pm 1274622970
1274622970

Unfortunately, no one in our house likes tomatoes! I keep hearing they are the easiest to grow.

BUT, dh does make homemade salsa. So, the more I think about it... I suppose we could use some tomatoes.
MonkeyMama Says:
May 23rd, 2010 at 02:02 pm 1274623338
1274623338

whitestripe - BM's teacher got those troughs outside his classroom - which kind of motivated me as well. I know they were relatively inexpensive.
Looking Forward Says:
May 24th, 2010 at 06:46 pm 1274726806
1274726806

I've wanted to get some raised beds made in our backyard for a veggie patch. Add it to the list of things to do!!!

I suggest planting sugar peas, lettuce and spinach. As a child I loved picking and eating these right in the garden!
Broken Arrow Says:
May 27th, 2010 at 08:41 pm 1274992896
1274992896

By the way, those are very nice picture!

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Borrowing Ideas from Thriftorama

10 Responses to “Borrowing Ideas from Thriftorama”

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