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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.

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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

Sales Tax Update

January 18th, 2013 at 02:57 pm

**Tracking sales tax, just to see how much we pay, on average.**

Observations:

**Groceries seem largely non-taxed. We pay taxes on cat food and cat litter and such. Those are the only things I noted being taxed, above (Groceries).

**I couldn't make heads or tales of my Target receipts, until I JUST figured out that the total "after 5% red card discount" was being taxed. GOT IT! It finally makes sense. I just had to say it out loud, and I finally figured it out. So, the RedCard is earning me more snowflakes than I really realized. I hadn't thought about also saving on sales tax for everything I buy. Woohoo!

At Target, we paid taxes on wine and socks.

**I never shared that when I went to grab Calendars at Michaels that the calendars were marked at $2 (full price). Which is where I always buy my calendars because they are so cheap (though nice). Anyway, I had a 20% off coupon, I believe. They rang up something like 70%-off and the cashier thought it was "cute" that I had a coupon. I don't know if I would have bothered to seek out a coupon if I knew they were basically 60-cents each. BUT, since I had the coupon, OF COURSE I was going to use it.

It was also the first smart phone coupon I have ever redeemed. Probably made it extra cute. LOL. "The lady with the fancy phone wants her 24 cents discount." Yes I do - I got to pay for this fancy phone! Big Grin **I did thoroughly enjoy saving ink and paper.**

**Oh - I asked dh to take care of the passport photos for me. At home. You can do that at home. (Is that awesome or what?) He told me it seemed complex, we didn't have the best printer or paper, yadda yadda yadda. I told him, "Whatever." Life has been so crazy this month. I really meant, "Whatever. Whatever works for you. Lord knows *I* do not have the time to figure this out, and I understand you are busy too." So he got the passport photos and said, "OMG what a ripoff!" Yes dh - I Was WELL AWARE. I guess what I should have said, "Whatever, but you know it will be like $20 to get them done..." Because if I had said that, he would have done that at home. Lesson learned!

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Dh just made the wise observation that this is one reason eating at home is so much cheaper. Our food is largely non-taxed. So true! This is especially true if you live in a a higher-tax state. I think 8% sales tax is on the high side, so maybe we notice more benefits eating home more than if we paid no sales tax on eating out. Paying a 8% premium on all your food, plus tips, sure adds up!

Posted in Just Thinking | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “Sales Tax Update”

creditcardfree Says:
January 18th, 2013 at 07:41 pm 1358538118
1358538118

I love the line about the fancy phone lady with the coupon! LOL. That is funny, and I would have used it too. I think I may have to get a smart phone...they have so many handy and money saving uses.
FrugalTexan75 Says:
January 19th, 2013 at 02:44 am 1358563467
1358563467

Love that getting a $.24 discount!

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Sales Tax Update

2 Responses to “Sales Tax Update”

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