<< 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

Refi Progress & Taxes

January 24th, 2012 at 02:50 pm

I think I am still in utter shock with this 4% refi. Like, I won't believe it until I see it.

But excitement factor is starting to increase as we near our lock deadline.

Plus, I heard from the CU. They wanted a copy of our HOA bill. So far - still very EASY stuff. Will see...

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

I took the time to finish up our taxes, after all. I have had everything I needed to finish since about 12/30. Our taxes are pretty darn simple.

When I had grabbed my medical expenses to estimate I must have looked at the wrong number. Was about $1000 higher than I had estimated. SO, I Was able to change our ROTH/Traditional IRA contributions from 75/25 to 80/20. Bigger refund from state (almost $70?) but net is still about $500 due in the end, as expected. I expect to do 100% ROTHs in 2012, but with the cash outflow of the refinance, I didn't really feel like giving the IRS another $400 or so, this April. I have a lifelong habit of making this decision about every January. How much to put into Traditional IRAs, for best tax scenario... I think 10% of our income to ROTHs is more than ample, and might as well put a little into the Traditional IRA since I probably won't make any more contributions for a long time...

I couldn't file though because our tax software was not updated at work. I might be able to file Wednesday.

Our federal tax rate is about 4% of income and state tax rate is about 1%. As I say, we don't pay much (thanks to marriage, kids, mortgage, medical bills, etc. If I had no mortgage I'd still be an itemizer). The medical bills are probably our biggest deduction. I know my boss is severely confused by my paycheck. Everyone else in my office has a working spouse and pays BIG taxes. I get to take home most of my gross, in comparison. Which is hugely key on surviving on one income. I know a lot of 2-income couples who make a lot more income than us but take home less (when it comes to taxes, daycare, working expenses, etc.). He must just think my mortgage is insane. Wink He has seriously like asked me if I Was sure on my withholding, before. & he's a tax guy. Funny enough, we usually owe about $0 - and sometimes get refunds - I withhold plenty.

Oh and Grandma wants me to do her taxes again, and pays generously. So, I think that means I won't touch my savings for my IRS bill come april. Heck, I will probably just pay the IRS when Grandma pays me. That is GOOD news! She gave me $300 last year, and the other $200 should be easy to come up with.

Posted in Just Thinking, Living on One-Income | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “Refi Progress & Taxes”

Jenn Says:
January 24th, 2012 at 03:45 pm 1327419918
1327419918

MM, I calculate my 'real' federal tax rate each year too. Last year was our best yet - about 3.5%. I think it'll be higher this year because our higher income may have hit some thresholds. We'll see.
MonkeyMama Says:
January 24th, 2012 at 04:19 pm 1327421955
1327421955

I should have said this is also by far the most tax we have ever paid on one income. About $3000 to the feds and about $600 to the state. Last year we only paid about $2000 Federal taxes, and the years prior I received substantial amounts of tax-free income. Though I did get a LOT of tax-free credit card rewards this year - I didn't include those to arrive at my tax percentage. Maybe I should...
EarlyRetirementJoy Says:
January 25th, 2012 at 04:38 pm 1327509530
1327509530

If memory serves, every one of our real estate transactions went smoothly till the last possible moment, when everything went to heck in a handbasket. Crossing my fingers yours will continue smoothly, but it it doesn't, consider it normal and just buckle up and enjoy the bumpy ride! ;-)

(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

Refi Progress & Taxes

3 Responses to “Refi Progress & Taxes”

Leave a Reply