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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

Found $20 + Plastic Jungle

September 7th, 2011 at 12:34 am

Dh is so silly!

He told me that he went to the grocery store, and the cashier mentioned something about a $20 coupon that wasn't printing. So told him to go over to customer service to get the coupon. He had no idea what this was about, but "$20" perked up his ears. So, he goes to customer service, and their printers are not working either.

So...

They just hand him a $20 bill.

Big Grin

As dh tells me this story, and how everyone seems to know it is obvious he is due a $20 coupon, my guess was some kind of $20 gift card with purchase or something. (The only reason I imagine they would hand him cash in exchange!)

He was just completely clueless...

So, I google it. I just google the store, $20 coupon, and it pops up that today was the last day to earn "$20 off next purchase." You just had to spend $100 to get the coupon, which dh always does to get the gas coupon (25 cents off per gallon!).

We stopped getting our paper, so is probably the reason we were completely in the dark. I should probably bookmark the grocery store webpage or look it up on Facebook or something, to keep in the loop!

The store was Raley's/Bel Air - their customer service is always exceptional!

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

Well, I got an excellent first impression from Plastic Jungle.

The amazon gift cards I redeemed directly from Southwest Chase have still not arrived. On the same day I redeemed my Citi cards, which have arrived. Last week (Friday??) I mailed in $300 Wal mart gift cards to Plastic Jungle, in exchange for about $180 cash and about $95 amazon gift cards.

Today I got my amazon gift code e-mailed to me. Big Grin

So, basically plastic jungle was faster than direct redemption. Hmmmmmm...

Thank goodness. Dh really wanted to buy a roku box before we cut cable, and if it took much longer, I think he was going to pay cash. Which was really annoying with $600 amazon gift cards on their way.

The cash was mailed to me today. So, will see how long that takes. But I am uber impressed with the process. I will definitely do again some time.

I am sure the roku box is ordered and on its way. Only 2 more weeks of cable?? (We already have one roku - but apparently we need two rokus. Whatevah - it's FREE)!

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ETA: Gift cards arrived today! Woohoo! So annoying though - I ordered 10 x $50 gift cards (largest denomination offered) and they sent 20 x $25 gift cards. Oy vey!

I took 6 - it didn't take too long to enter all the codes. Dh has 15 codes to enter (14 from Chase + 1 from Plastic Jungle).

Dh ordered the roku plus some CDs and a Christmas gift for the kids. I want to get a watch for LM (BM got one from Grandma? Ignored it for a while, and now won't go anywhere without it? But I am impressed by the quality and want to get an identical one for LM). I still need to get wheels for my roller skates. So I will start with those 2 purchases and save the rest for later. It's that time of year where I pretty much put everything on the wish list for Christmas (dh's family is BIG into material Christmas). So, if it works out, maybe I won't spend the other $100 or so for a while... But it will be nice to have that balance there for when needs arise!

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Found $20 + Plastic Jungle

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