<< Back to all Blogs

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.

-------------------------------

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.

-------------------------------

**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."}

-------------------------------

My Pages

Fiscal Chores and Such

September 2nd, 2011 at 02:45 am

Busy *Financial Chore* kind of day...

Deposited my paycheck and paid the mortgage.

Paid off my CU credit card (like to just pay it off at CU website, monthly).

Downloaded interest in all Quicken accounts (about $15 for August).

Transferred money over from savings so I could fund our ROTHs. Will put back with next paycheck. This solved *flow* problem from wanting to pay off all the one-time-reward credit cards and be done with them ASAP. I decided to pay off Target card with next paycheck (since it was due 9/28 or something like that). ROTH money from savings - and moved the Target pay off - and my checking balance stays in the black for the month.

I usually just round up and pay whole amounts on the credit cards (I am lazy that way), but had to remember to pay exact amount due on all these cards I intend to close! (Just what I need - some credit balance of pennies on every single card).

I shouldn't have anything to juggle around next month since I will have killed 4 credit cards.

Today I received all the Citi gift cards. Barnes and Noble gift card went to my balance online. Now I can mindlessly buy ebooks for a while. Dh asked if I was going to buy the latest Game of Thrones (Game of Thrones is all I have bought with my last gift card - too long to borrow from the library and read in time). Anyway, I checked and I am getting very high up on the ebook waiting list. Think I will save the gift card to buy deeply discounted/on sale books - or things I can't find at library. I expect the balance to last a LONG time.

Kohls cards - I locked up for later. Will probably buy some work clothing - will need some pants at some point.

Visited Plastic Jungle to trade the wal mart cards for cash and amazon gift cards. Dh already dropped them off in the mail. I should be mailed a $180-ish check in a few days, and e-mailed an amazon gift card code. Dh is chomping at the bit to buy a second roku for our cable ditching experiment. Hopefully this gift card code arrives very quickly!!

Cash will go to mortgage paydown.

-------------------------------------------------

I have not taken my van in for anything more than an oil change in over 2 years. This morning it was acting up (out of nowhere). My uneducated guess is O2 censor. (2nd guess would be transmission - UGH).

I am not sure what I would do with a vehicle with pricey transmission problems. For all the OLD cars we have driven, we have never had major repairs or decisions of that type. (Dare I say it - never a transmission problem??) So, was worrying a bit.

Anyway, since we have driven such old cars, I often get complimented on how we must keep them up. Which I find kind of funny. It's more what we don't keep up (we don't do anything unnecessary). My rules are pretty much change the oil every 6 months, keep an eye on tire pressure and fluids, and take our vehicles in the second they have a problem. For the long run, this has worked very well for us.

For the short run? Problem could not be re-created, so dh just thought I was crazy, and repair shop did not find anything. Rolleyes So much for that method. Big Grin Actually - I just wish they had kept the car overnight - I expect it would act up again in the a.m.. But if it does, I know it should be okay for the daily commute or errands. Will see...

BUT, I had been planning to take the car in anyway for a lookover. Had some fluids topped off, got an oil change (was due anyway - so might as well get it done) and ended up needing new brake pads. No surprise there since no brake work has ever been done on car - hitting 90,000 miles.

I have the feeling I will be getting the O2 censor replaced soon. I can hope that's all it is, anyway. For now, whatever. Crossed a chore off my list! I got off easy - about $300. (I had wanted to wait maybe a month - since we JUST took dh's car in - but that is how it goes).

Oh - and it doesn't help that I am due for a smog check. I will hold off and see if I can get this diagnosed and fixed, first. Last thing I need is to fail, take it back to the shop, and then have to re-smog! The smog check is expensive. The car was spewing fumes today when it was acting up, of course!

--------------------------------------------------

It's been a LONG week at work, this week. I am so ready for the 3-day weekend!

Posted in Just Thinking | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “Fiscal Chores and Such”

Looking Forward Says:
September 2nd, 2011 at 04:50 am 1314939047
1314939047

Your van story sounds all too familiar..
mamasita Says:
September 2nd, 2011 at 10:06 am 1314958005
1314958005

Ditto on the van story!
FrugalTexan75 Says:
September 3rd, 2011 at 02:08 am 1315015730
1315015730

I know in Texas if for whatever reason the car failed inspection, you could take it back to the same place within a time frame for free. I'd be surprised if it didn't work similarly in CA.

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)

Name:	*
Email:	Will not be published.
	Subscribe: Notify me of additional comments to this entry.
URL:
Verification:	* Please spell out the number 4. [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]

Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Fiscal Chores and Such

3 Responses to “Fiscal Chores and Such”

Leave a Reply