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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

The IRS is Hard to Pay

March 8th, 2013 at 06:34 pm

How is my attempt to go "checkless" going? Not so hot.

I easily paid the state online this week, but when I went to pay the IRS I could not figure out how to. Not without crazy fees anyway. Ugh! You think I would know, but most my clients get refunds. OR are older and would not pay online. Though our state often requires it, so I knew the state was easy peasy.

I could have set the payment up when I e-filed. Mental note for next time...

I gave up and wrote a check. *sigh*

On a whim, I checked all the checks I wrote this year. I am already up to FOUR. (& it is barely March).

--2 checks for passports (no other option)
--1 check for repairman (no other option)
--1 check to IRS (Just easiest and cheapest)

I could easily see using no other checks for the rest of the year. Will see!

Property taxes are due in about a month, but I will probably just pay them next week - after payday. I have taken to paying those online with a $1.50 convenience fee. Our mail SUCKS, and this beats it getting lost in the mail. I have had online bill pay for well over a decade and so mostly stopped buying stamps a decade ago. Spending $3/year to make sure it gets there on time, is worthwhile to me. & does avoid the hassle of stamps and checks. & yes, I will probably start paying the property taxes all up front, so it would only be $1.50 per year. I considered it last December, BUT with AMT up in the air, it was possible I would not have gotten a tax deduction for the extra payment. This year I will reconsider, as our cash coffers are replenished, and I know the extra payment will be tax-deductible. (& interest rates suck. Pre-paying $2,000 will cost me about $5 in interest over 4 months. Yeah, whatever).

Surprisingly, I have never paid our entire property tax bill at once. Interest rates were too high last we both worked and were flush with cash. I wouldn't have thrown away that interest. These days I am leaning more towards simplicity - pay it once per year and be done.

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Other than that, I am just watching the pot boil. The spread between our investments (cash/mutual funds) and our mortgage balance is about $2,000. It is very possible we will cross over this month - more investments than debt. !! I think that is as good as debt free. Obviously it means more the more on the other side we get.

I just think that reaching that milestone is awesome. Next, the goal will be to "keep it that way." Big Grin

Posted in Just Thinking | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “The IRS is Hard to Pay”

rob62521 Says:
March 9th, 2013 at 03:30 am 1362799825
1362799825

We pay our property taxes all at once so in case we would forget...no penalty.
scfr Says:
March 9th, 2013 at 01:59 pm 1362837566
1362837566

Y'all are doing great. (Yes, after 5-1/2 years of living in Texas I have starting using "y'all.")

I wish I could remember when we hit the crossover point (I probably mentioned it in an old blog post), but I think we were in our late 30's, so our households are on a similar trajectory ... and we have the "advantage" of not having children. (Financial "advantage" ONLY I must stress ... lest anyone reading this think I feel anyone's dear children are a "disadvantage.")

I don't like paying convenience fees so I have a bias towards writing checks, but I've started paying our vehicle license renewal on-line even tho I have to pay a fee. Not only do we get our new tags much more quickly, the system also automatically checks & verifies that we are meeting the state's insurance requirements so I don't have to mail in proof of that. In the past I've said "I refuse to pay fees" but I also know to keep an open mind. Now I say "I refuse to pay fees unless there is a clear advantage for ME."

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

The IRS is Hard to Pay

2 Responses to “The IRS is Hard to Pay”

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