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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

Crazy Job News!

September 5th, 2015 at 03:14 pm

Ugh, I hate it when I don't blog much and I have a million things in my head and don't know where to begin. I have some catching up to do!

We did our So Cal trip and it was fine and lovely and lots to blog about that. It would be better if I could share pictures! But the trip went well. The short version is we got to swim with otters and pet and feed exotic animals. It was awesome! Dh had an LA meeting about his script, and it went as well as realistically expected. Nothing immediate is coming of that, but he got lots of encouragement to pursue his dream. As a realist, it's the most he hoped for. So yeah, that was one crazy trip! GOOD crazy!

I will share more later.

As to my dh's job situation, I am used to people presuming a lot and not having a clue. I married someone with a huge work ethic, who had never had any problem on the work front, who mostly saved every penny he ever made. I am always amused by the perception that I am supporting him. We wouldn't have half of what we have without his financial contributions to this marriage, and lord knows his parents are very generous and pick up a lot of the slack. & of course, I don't know if I could have married anyone else so financially supportive. Even if it's not in a traditional way at this very moment in time. But that's the thing. His current unemployment status means nothing to us as to the long run. It's just where we are at in this moment in time.

Anyway, my dh has had a rough time of it since we moved to our low-cost haven. Maybe that's the trade-off, but he's never managed one single job offer here. Since 2005-ish he's only looked for minimum wage crap work. Still. Nothing... The economy is the most of it. Overt discrimination was a lot of it early on. Over time it's gotten more complicated. With a disability that limits his working options, and not needing the money anyway, it's clearly evolved into more choice than circumstance. Even so, he'd like to work while the kids are in school, but even just a couple of years ago he couldn't get a job if his bff was hiring because 1,000 more qualified people would have applied for the same job. He's been referred to jobs or found jobs where he knew people or volunteered, but the feedback is always, "You have a hole in your resume and 1,000 other people already applied." Literally. The unemployment here is intense. & I can never get across what a star employee or volunteer he has always been.

All we can do is be blessed that we've absolutely never relied on his income and we don't need the money. My mom never worked past 25 (like dh) and we've since watched my parents retire VERY comfortably, on the early side. So over time we just let it go and move on with Plan B. Which is the irony of it all since I don't know that we ever would have been this efficient or on such an early retirement track without dh's lack of employment. We could be better off in the long run, strangely enough. OF course, Plan B is that *I* have been extremely lucky on the employment front.

With all that, I never expected 13 years of unemployment to end with a job offer basically falling out of the sky. ?!?! It's not official, but it seems pretty certain dh has a job. It's very part-time and with the school year but is absolutely *perfect* for the here and now.

Will see...

Oh I have lots more to blog about that, but I think that's all I can say until we know for sure. The past 13 years have trained us not to hold our breath. I didn't even want to blog about it, but then I couldn't not blog about it. It will probably just drive me crazy until it's official! It's just so unbelievable.

With that, I hope to have more details later about both the job and the wildlife trip.

As to the job, the pay is absolute crap and it's hardly life changing, BUT, it's the stepping stone he's needed to get back into the work force. Crossing my fingers!!

Posted in Just Thinking | 10 Comments »

10 Responses to “Crazy Job News!”

Ima saver Says:
September 5th, 2015 at 04:13 pm 1441469593
1441469593

I hope all goes well. I am crossing my fingers too!!
LuckyRobin Says:
September 5th, 2015 at 04:16 pm 1441469781
1441469781

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you as well!
CB in the City Says:
September 5th, 2015 at 04:21 pm 1441470076
1441470076

Wow, that's great!!
creditcardfree Says:
September 5th, 2015 at 07:27 pm 1441481252
1441481252

Exciting!!
VS_ozgirl Says:
September 5th, 2015 at 09:40 pm 1441489245
1441489245

Good luck to him!
Dido Says:
September 5th, 2015 at 11:06 pm 1441494379
1441494379

Fingers crossed it works out!
FrugalTexan75 Says:
September 6th, 2015 at 02:19 pm 1441549188
1441549188

Oh I hope this pans out for him!
MonkeyMama Says:
September 6th, 2015 at 02:45 pm 1441550708
1441550708

Thanks Everyone! It probably won't be official until later this week - after background check and whatever red tape. I've calmed down a bit. Blogging is good for that.
scottish girl Says:
September 6th, 2015 at 04:54 pm 1441558462
1441558462

I'll keep my fingers crossed!
rob62521 Says:
September 6th, 2015 at 09:22 pm 1441574542
1441574542

Hope it works out.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Crazy Job News!

10 Responses to “Crazy Job News!”

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