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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.

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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

Christmas Deals

December 9th, 2012 at 06:02 pm

My general goal is not to step foot into any retail establishment (& not to drive near any mall) for the entire month of December.

I am waiting for two presents to arrive in the mail so that we can wrap them.

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

Deals of the past week:

--$5 off $25 Amazon purchase:

-PASS-

--$10 off $50 Target purchase:

We were going to stock up on cat litter and cat food and stuff to take advantage. BUT, at the last minute MIL asked dh if he could pick up a gift she forgot for the kids. She already reimbursed him the $40 for the $40 gift. He might of just picked up regular groceries to get to $50. That basically meant a free $10 for us - score!!

--$10 off $100 Amazon purchase:

I am passing on this one, and I think dh probably will too - but I reluctantly let him know about it just in case. Will see. Both these Amazon deals would have been nice a few days earlier!! Especially the $25 one, since I just spent $25 on Amazon a few days back.

--Groupon 40% Dragon tickets

Too late!!

This one was e-mailed to me *two* days after I bought the tickets. Rolleyes I would have been 10 times more annoyed if I had gotten them first thing in the morning, the night after I bought the tickets. The two day buffer pissed me off less - HA! {I looked, and we could have gotten essentially the same tickets - I looked hoping to see they were crappy seats or something - no such luck}.

Lesson learned: Next time I might delay ticket purchases and keep an eye on groupon, just in case. There was no rush to buying these tickets.

Anyway, reminds me that the Christmas/birthday season total seems to be $150 from my folks. If Florida Grandpa sends the usual, the Dragon tickets will be paid for. & since both my parents and Grandpa tend to do a "one check for the family" thing it's nice when we actually spent it on a family thing. More in the spirit of what they would want us to use it for. {I often just use it for Christmas bills or save it}.

Posted in Just Thinking | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “Christmas Deals”

FrugalTexan75 Says:
December 9th, 2012 at 11:23 pm 1355095403
1355095403

Yep, I've had that happen before. Get a groupon or similar deal *after* I've already made a purchase.
EarlyRetirementJoy Says:
December 29th, 2012 at 04:48 pm 1356799737
1356799737

Sorry for the late reply post - it's raining here and I'm back reading some of my favorite Saving Advice bloggers rather than doing what I really should be doing - which it to get dressed for a rainy day run. :-(

I smiled when I saw your comment about not going into any malls in December. I share the same goal! I actually start enforcing it Thanksgiving Day weekend.

We did 99% of our shopping online this year as well. We used Reward Points to order cards for our DDs to their favorite retail stores, purchased Kindle Fires via Amazon for each other, and ordered a few other items directly from the manufacturers. Everything got delivered very quickly, and it was a joy to simply pick them up from my front door and take them inside to be wrapped. Kind of funny though - as a result no one knew what they got till they broke open the shipping boxes!

The only "in person" shopping we had to do was for stockings, but I cheated and used $50 in winnings I received from JCP by diligently picking up their promo buttons in early December, and a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card I received in the mail as an enticement to try out their store. I love when I can leverage these offers and feel I've come out ahead!

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Christmas Deals

2 Responses to “Christmas Deals”

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