<< 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

February 2 & 3

February 4th, 2016 at 05:44 am

February 2:
-0- Spending
Dinner: leftovers*

*Leftovers included sloppy joes, meatballs, gyozas. There was more but these were the only leftovers that I Was entertaining.

Today I Realized that I should probably get a haircut this week. It's a once or twice a year thing for me, but today we posed for pictures at work and it is client meeting season. In all that I realized it's time for a hair cut.

Of course thinking of this I remembered February is not a super low spend month for us because I like to sneak in stuff like this when we have a couple of less days in the month for gas and grocery spending. So more random spending might pop up. It's nice to have a little extra breathing room.

Accordingly, I did reach out to a friend to try to set up a lunch date this month. I've got more budget room for that and might not have the time next month.

Last night we did go to the movies. I had forgotten about that but it was $5 night and dh had a gift card (credit card reward) so it cost us $0 out of pocket.

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

February 3:
$6 Groceries
Dinner: Spicy tofu w/coconut rice

I ran to the grocery store on the way home to grab some fruit and dh asked me to pick up some bread. I had also been wanting to make pumpkin bread and so picked up a can of pumpkin.

We tried a new tofu recipe and it was really good! It was a hit with the kids too. Now that I think about it I think I might steal that for lunch tomorrow.

Posted in Just Thinking, Daily Expense Challenge | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “February 2 & 3”

livingalmostlarge Says:
February 4th, 2016 at 04:35 pm 1454603733
1454603733

Sounds yummy. How do you make your spicy tofu and coconut rice?
MonkeyMama Says:
February 4th, 2016 at 05:14 pm 1454606087
1454606087

LAL, here is the recipe:

Text is http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/04/spicy-stir-fried-tofu-with-coconut-rice-from-the-new-vegetarian-cooking.html

It was not particularly spicy. IT was one of those things once you mix it all together though it just came together really well and Link is
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/04/spicy-stir-fried-...
MonkeyMama Says:
February 4th, 2016 at 05:16 pm 1454606164
1454606164

My comment got cut off there! I was going to say, it wasn't particularly spicy but it was one of those things that just came together really well when you mixed the rice and tofu.

(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

February 2 & 3

3 Responses to “February 2 & 3”

Leave a Reply