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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

A chance for $4000

November 4th, 2011 at 01:34 am

It never ends!

I figured we'd be putting all these cards to bed and closing the *crazy rewards of 2011* chapter.

I am really bad at checking mail offers because I am just in the habit of shredding them. I have tried to be more mindful, but doesn't seem like we have gotten many lately.

Until today! I got some Gold AmEx offer - spend $1000 - get $250 in rewards. No fee.

*sigh*

I have to - I can't pass it up!

This will push our year-to-date rewards over $4,000.

WOW!!!

I will apply ASAP - hope to get those rewards this before the year is up.

(Interestingly, I saw several people were offered this card in May - per MyMoneyBlog - and when they ignored all the offers they were eventually offered $750 in gift cards for charging $500. Double wow! I could try that game, but I think I rather just take the $250 and run. I have no reason to be greedy. What's one more card?).

I hope I can just charge home insurance - total bill is about $1200 for home and flood insurance. This makes it easy - if insurer takes AmEx - that is the only question.

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

Oh, and my regular AmEx card offered me $25 cash today, if I spend $500 on groceries through the end of the year. Easy Peasy! (It was basically a 5% on groceries offer, through 12/31, capped at $25 reward).

Posted in Credit Card & Bank Rewards | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “A chance for $4000”

Analise Says:
November 4th, 2011 at 04:10 am 1320379849
1320379849

Wow! $4,000 is quite a tidy sum. Maybe I should start opening our CC offers instead of just shredding them.
baselle Says:
November 4th, 2011 at 04:27 am 1320380869
1320380869

Wow, that's impressive. I haven't gotten any cc offers like that in the mail and I'm not sure whether I should be jealous or thankful.
creditcardfree Says:
November 4th, 2011 at 12:04 pm 1320408294
1320408294

I'm impressed. I still can't convince DH that it is okay to do these offers. $4K is a nice amount to put towards retirement!! Or a vacation.
OneFamily Says:
November 4th, 2011 at 03:59 pm 1320422360
1320422360

You rock the rewards!!
MonkeyMama Says:
November 4th, 2011 at 05:58 pm 1320429524
1320429524

The mail offers are generally the same as public offers (see My MoneyBlog.com for offers). BUT, they usually offer better rewards, more fee waivers and lower spending limits to reach rewards. Because they really want to entice us for some reason (probably because we have little debt and really good FICO scores). My dh has gotten two offers this year that I noticed (better offers that I saw on mymoneyblog). This would be the first one for me (though I may have shred several without looking at them).
patientsaver Says:
November 10th, 2011 at 12:21 am 1320884468
1320884468

Maybe i was wrong to sign up for the No Junk Mail List.
MonkeyMama Says:
November 11th, 2011 at 07:18 pm 1321039104
1321039104

The funny thing is I never opt out of anything - I am always suspicious that it is just a ply to get my information. That and skeptical it really makes a difference, anyway.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

A chance for $4000

7 Responses to “A chance for $4000”

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