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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

Tuesday Update - Sports in not our thing

September 14th, 2010 at 04:56 pm

I booked our zipline tickets. Big Grin Kind of for the middle of the trip. I found a place online that sold the tickets at a total $20 discount. They charged more fees though (they don't mention that) - so in the end it looks like we saved $13. Still came out ahead, so phew. About $250 for a 4-hour adventure (includes lunch and time at a swimming hole).

I really have never done anything like this - so am very excited!

ETA: I expect a $250 Chase rebate around 11/1, so consider that won't have to come from savings. Assuming I can squeeze out another $250 - I feel lucky every time I hit 200 points that they haven't lowered the rewards for me yet.

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We had our first real soccer game Saturday. Ugh! Due to a variety of factors, I just don't think sports will be our thing. The coach on the other team was downright scary. I think dh said it best when he said, "Geez, it's just a GAME."

You hear about how kids are growing up to be so non-competitive in this day and age. So I am completely thrown off by how intense soccer league is for 7-year-olds. Not only this, but we are behind the curve since most the kids started much younger.

Don't get me wrong, he has a really good coach. & BM has been a very good sport. But, I don't think we can get behind the organization as a whole.

We actually had other issues with the tee ball league, and with this whole thing, I don't think dh or I will encourage much more on the competitive sports.

It's funny because no one in my family has ever been into sports at all (but for my mom). We have much more brains than brawn. The truth is, none of us want to take any sport quite that seriously.

All that said, BM is lucky enough to have both brains and brawn. He has always wanted to get out and run around. He wants to try a little of everything, and we are happy to oblige. He will show interest in tee ball still, and probably soccer too, but no real burning desire. Which is why we will probably stop encouraging it.

It's not the end of the road for him - just the end of playing ball, probably.

Track starts in the winter (he wanted to run a mile the other day, for fun, so that is why we have been eyeing the track club - which he could have joined last year, but I thought he was too young). & dh has dreams of swim team, because he did swim team (I had no idea).

I may feel differently with age, but just think it is all way too much at this age. & I can't help but feel he will be left in the dust if he quits now.

The track team does not require you to compete, so I think I like it already. Will see!

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Has anyone here done Odyseey of the Mind? They have a team at his school. Again, I just assumed he was too young last year. But apparently no.

I have heard nothing but good things about it, and is so completely up BM's alley. He will probably join the team for this year.

From their website: "Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Team members apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and World level."

I think this will suit our own family a wee bit better than soccer!

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In other news, we had a delightful weekend at the family cabin. Weather was just gorgeous.

Posted in Just Thinking | 5 Comments »

5 Responses to “Tuesday Update - Sports in not our thing”

LittleGopher Says:
September 14th, 2010 at 05:32 pm 1284485537
1284485537

My family is like yours - the girls like playing, but not competing - so we too avoided the madness for the most part when they were younger. My youngest joined the middle school girls tennis in 7th grade (last year) and it's been great, even though I've yet to find one family on her team that hasn't done the whole lessons and challenge team stuff since age 3(!) She loves it, and plays her best (it helps she naturally athletic.) We're ok with bucking the system as we are able - doing what we want, when we want. I did tell her beforehand that most of the other kids had been playing for years with lessons and all. She said she knew how to play from her phy ed class, and she could ask for help. (Investing in the kid rather than the lessons works pretty well!)

Our schools have something very similar to OM - Destination Imagination. Every year there are more and more groups formed at our school, and I know kids and families who really love it. My girls haven't been interested so I have no personal experience. It sounds like OM might be an excellent match for your family.

Good luck in surviving the soccer season and finding what works for your family!
creditcardfree Says:
September 14th, 2010 at 05:55 pm 1284486912
1284486912

My neighbor's daughter has been in OM for two years. Her team has actually made it to Worlds and place pretty high. It seems like a wonderful experience. We aren't the competitive sports people either.
pretty cheap jewelry Says:
September 14th, 2010 at 07:59 pm 1284494357
1284494357

the team sports seem to be like this near us too - soccer/baseball/football/basketball
Both us parents were not willing to sacrifice Saturdays ad nauseum, (recall we were building a weekend house for 2 years ... on the weekends), so we steered our kids away from them. Also my boy is small for his age and therefore I wanted to avoid the eventual discouragements.

it's taken a little time but the kids have gotten highly involved in tennis (boy) and ice skate (girl). The tennis is really agreeing with my boy, the equipment was a drop in the bucket ($10 for a good intermediate raquet at Play It Again Sports). He took a spring after school tennis club for a month last year and made a new friend.

Ice skate is a lot more involved, and costly for equipment and shows, although the ice time/lessons are really cost effective and beat most other after school sports ($100 for 10 weeks, plus 5 to 7 more free practice sessions).

I never heard of OM, sounds great!
My English Castle Says:
September 14th, 2010 at 09:42 pm 1284500579
1284500579

I do think kids should be encouraged in some sort of physical activity--we love to walk and hike, but the hyper-organization of even little girls' soccer is too much for our household. In our wacky uber-competitive school district, I hear a lot about how sports rounds out kids' "resumes" and college apps. Personally--and I realize this is my own instructor point of view, many of the students who tell me how proud they are of some achievement in some sport needed to spend more time on sentence structure and proofreading and less time dreaming of athletic stardom that comes to very few. (Sermonette over)
FrugalTexan75 Says:
September 15th, 2010 at 12:17 am 1284509833
1284509833

OM sounds like a great activity for BM and your family. It's too bad that all the organized sports have to bring in the competitive factor. It seems like it would be so much more fun to just go out there and play!

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Tuesday Update - Sports in not our thing

5 Responses to “Tuesday Update - Sports in not our thing”

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