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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
...($1,250 @ 3/31/24)
...$350/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$2,025 to mortgage
...($0 @ 3/31/24)
...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 @ 3/31/24)
...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

More Doings

May 8th, 2016 at 03:01 pm

**BM told me that his school uniform shirts were getting too small. I just happened to luck out with a sale at Hanes. I bought him 5 uniform shirts and 4 casual shirts for $40. Thankfully everything fit well. They changed the material on the uniform shirts and he said it is way more comfortable. Should only be one more year of uniforms for him. Hopefully one of my last uniform purchases?

**Went to Robot Wars a few weekends ago and spent way too much money. But we had a blast as we always do.

**We finally got a Dungeons & Dragons game started for LM and his friends. I think the stars just kind of aligned on this. Dh was able to get like 30 electronic books and a starter game set for like $30? (I mentioned in Feb). Plus LM has just been kind of finding his people.

We decided to kick start things to have a game every Friday after school, but I am sure we will eventually dial it back. Maybe every other week. We've been serving dinner with the Friday games but thankfully LM's friends don't seem terribly picky. We started with pizza and are just kind of working our way down to our more frugal potluck type dishes.

As an aside, this reminds me that dh ended up making chili for his potluck game night group, recently. He's been going for a year or two and they told him they all thought he had been a vegetarian. LOL. So they were surprised when he brought chili with meat. We have this rice and bean dish that is so cheap and everyone loves so much, so that is our main go-to potluck dish. They mistook frugality for vegetarianism. Wink I do recall also he has made homemade hummus and salsa for that group. Don't remember what else he has taken. Though I wouldn't be surprised if he's taken a veggie tray to counter all the junk food most people bring. Which probably plays into the impression that everyone had.

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Since Mother's Day is always my first long weekend (or time off) for the year, it's always when I realize how disgusting my house is and I always seem to end up cleaning. (Tomorrow will be my first week day off this year, so making a 3-day weekend of it).

Plus we have a tradition that I take the kids over to the play place. Since it's only open for free play (on the weekends) rarely or on Holidays.

So I always joke that I do all the motherly things I don't generally do. That is definitely how today is shaping up. At the play place I take a book, buy some junk food from the vending machine, and generally enjoy a little extra bonding with my kids after busy season. This year I am not quite so deprived on quiet reading time or child bonding time, but will enjoy regardless.

I was surprised the kids even still wanted to go. They will outgrow this place any day now.

I probably won't be telling anyone else that I took the kids out by myself and cleaned the house on Mother's Day. They wouldn't get it. Wink

Posted in Just Thinking | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “More Doings”

Dido Says:
May 8th, 2016 at 06:12 pm 1462731164
1462731164

Happy Mother's day--and enjoy the three day weekend! I hope you get some R&R tomorrow since you are cleaning & doing for the kids today!
alice4now Says:
May 8th, 2016 at 06:57 pm 1462733869
1462733869

Happy Mother's Day, enjoy those kids and take it easy tomorrow!
ceejay74 Says:
May 8th, 2016 at 08:56 pm 1462740962
1462740962

I know what you mean -- my Mother's Day is the opposite; I get away from my kids completely and leave them with NT while AS and I go out for a mimosa-infused brunch! Although it's on the opposite side of the spectrum, I'm sure people find it strange as compared with the norm. But you have to find what's right for your life if you really want to have a good time.
MonkeyMama Says:
May 9th, 2016 at 01:23 am 1462757015
1462757015

Thanks Everyone. Happy Mother's Day!

Ceejay - Everyone I know can't wait to get *away* from their kids. So I thought that was the norm was to ditch the kids. & why I am tired of hearing about how I am not doing what I am supposed to be doing. I know people mean well, but yeah, it gets obnoxious. Most moms don't have house hubbies though. So maybe I want to be domestic-y on Mother's Day because I usually am not domestic-y. I hope you enjoyed your brunch!
ceejay74 Says:
May 9th, 2016 at 02:14 am 1462760083
1462760083

MM -- hilarious, everyone I know is always posting pics hanging out with their kids all day, so I feel like I'M not doing the norm! So funny that it's the polar opposite yet we end up being the odd ones out.
LivingAlmostLarge Says:
May 9th, 2016 at 03:46 am 1462765599
1462765599

happy mother's day.
FrugalTexan75 Says:
May 14th, 2016 at 01:26 am 1463189197
1463189197

I'm glad you spent Mother's Day the way you most enjoyed.

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More Doings

7 Responses to “More Doings”

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