<< 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

New Couch Sectional: $425

May 10th, 2013 at 08:32 pm

I looked up my old blog posts to see what the final "out of pocket cost" was for our 2012 Sectional Couch upgrade.

Total cost: $525
{We shopped carefully, paid with credit card rewards, and sold old couch to whittle down the actual cost}.

Well, we can bring the total down to $425. !!

We noticed some pink stains under the ottoman. We had noticed them before, but when we got the carpet cleaned and the stains did not come out, this really riled up dh. (Especially considering how filthy our carpets were and how brand new they look now and how all the other stains came out. These are probably the "newest stains" on the carpet, but they are doozies).

I feel pretty "meh" about it because it's under the ottoman and I figured these carpets are mostly toast anyway. The stains are not super obvious due to our carpet choice (which was chosen in an effort to hide pink stains because our cat was always puking up pink food). But dh wanted to go complain and ask for some financial compensation.

They readily appeased him with a $100 visa gift card. It never never never hurts to ask. I sometimes feel like a large percentage of our wealth comes from simply *asking.* & it's so beyond rare when people ever say "no!"

{When I think to all the haggling and price matching and legitimate complaining we do, and "non-refundable" refunds we have asked for, it easily adds up to *THOUSANDS* of dollars over the years. I think this is money that most people just leave on the table}.

Anyway, I informed dh he could apply the gift card to his Amazon account. (I knew this because received a visa gift card for Christmas). He seems pleased with this option.

He does want to buy a new car stereo and a new computer, and so I probably rather he use against one of those purchases. He told me that while he was out anyway he was going to do some stereo comparison shopping. So, will see...

The furniture store was really nice. We ended up at a small store. & I think one reason dh wanted to go complain was because they were right down the street. (A long drive might not have been worthwhile). In addition to the $100, they said they were complaining to the manufacturer about the colored adhesives they use on the bottom of the furniture. So, beyond getting $100, maybe we can save someone else from pink stains in the future. IT seemed like they genuinely were concerned and following up with the manufacturer.

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

This has been quite a month for extra income. Big Grin

Posted in Just Thinking | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “New Couch Sectional: $425”

starfishy Says:
May 10th, 2013 at 09:09 pm 1368220175
1368220175

very cool! and i think you're right, that a lot of discounts/deals can be had by simply asking.
rob62521 Says:
May 11th, 2013 at 03:09 am 1368241779
1368241779

My motto is you don't ask, you don't get. Glad it worked out.

(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

New Couch Sectional: $425

2 Responses to “New Couch Sectional: $425”

Leave a Reply