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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.

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

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

The Problem with Bird Poop

October 27th, 2006 at 04:10 pm

I don't think we'll save much this year. This month's extra to estate lawyer. & next month to clean up bird poop. *sigh*

The pigeons love our house and we paid upwards of $1k a few years back to pigeon-proof the house. The guy was awesome though, he put spikes up all around and CLEANED UP the mess that was accumulating. We seriously had a hill of bird poop accumulating in the backyard - disgusting.

All was fine but the pigeons were starting to move in again. We had our house on the market earlier this year, we thought with prices falling was a good time to make a lateral move, since it has been too expensive otherwise, but quickly gave up after looking at houses for another $100 to $200k, sellers not budging on price, houses that weren't even NEARLY as nice as we already have. We decided to wait it out in the meantime. But during that whole thing I had called the Bird Guy, thought it would be could for a cleanup, and never heard back.

Forgot about it, because the bird situation wasn't too bad back then, but just looked out the window last night and saw a mountain of poop accumulating on our roof. I Also noticed the driveway was looking pretty icky. Gah!!!! So I Called today and the guy answers. Unfortunately he is in Arizona now. Boo. HE recommended Clark PEst Control. All I know is Clark charges you an arm and a leg for regular pest service, so I am wary. But I Can't find anything else so I Called. They said they don't even do cleanup. Oh well, what are you gonna do - *sigh*. They are going to come reinforce the area that the pigeons are hanging out and I guess we are going to clean up the mountain of bird poop. Honestly I don't mind doing it. I just am not sure if we will do a good job. Plus the other guy came out and cleaned ALL of our gutters, and scrubbed with the right chemicals, etc. I will have to do some internet research. Look up good bird poop removal techniques. At least this time is just localized to ONE area. Though I am not so sure fixing that one area will eradicate them. There are a few that like to sleep in our front windows but with the homeowners rules we can't put big spikes up front. Will talk to Clark about less noticable ones I guess... OR maybe simply sealing off the one area that have gotten back into it will eradicate the mess. I hope. There were a bunch of spikes AND it was sealed off but they wormed their way in. Pigeons are evil.

Oh well, Clark is coming out for the quote today. I hope it isn't too bad...

I know I know - need to start a bird poop emergency fund. LOL.

ETA: After doing a little research I don't think doing it ourselves is a good idea. I called another company for a quote after a lot of looking. IT is more of a hazardous waste issue - ick...

In other news my kids are making me work extra too. I noticed my older son figured out all the cabinet and drawer locks a couple of days back. Frankly I Am surprised it took this long. I have friends whose 1-year-olds were into everything. SO I Consider myself lucky. All the same, some items probably need to be moved, like steak knives and scissors. Actually that is how I noticed because he decided he needed the scissors and just went and got them himself. Ugh. Then last night after bath I put the kids in my older son's bedroom, closed the door, and ran out for a minute to pick up towels. Immediately the door opened and I start yelling, "DO NOT open your door" to my older son. I Am yelling/explaining that he can not open the door and for the millionth time that this is not for him, it is for his brother - he is too little to go out unattended, etc. After my tirade my older son yells - "It was the baby." LOL. I peaked in his room and yes my older son is playing quietly in the far corner where I left him. Indeed it is true that the baby, immediately after I left the room, got up and walked out the door.

Trouble I Tell you...

Damn lever doorknobs.

Overall it's okay - I Would not leave him alone in that room for more than a minute anyway, there is a big bed he likes to climb onto and he is too little to be careful not to fall off, but now my 1-minute upstairs holding corral needs some improvisation. Time to get the gate back out I guess. The second the 3-year-old graduates from all the gates, it is time to bring them back out!!!

But I must say I Am proud he opened the door all by himself. A milestone...

Posted in Spending, Just Thinking | 9 Comments »

9 Responses to “The Problem with Bird Poop”

LuxLiving Says:
October 27th, 2006 at 04:16 pm 1161965772
1161965772

Can you call the Arizona bird poop man {there's four words I never thought I'd string together -- and ask him what kind of chemicals you should use and where to get them and about how much you should be prepared to pay for them???
monkeymama Says:
October 27th, 2006 at 04:18 pm 1161965892
1161965892

LOL. I was thinking about that. Good idea...
JanH Says:
October 27th, 2006 at 04:24 pm 1161966251
1161966251

My parents had some sort of cherry tree in their back yard that made the birds poop a LOT and it was purple. All over everything. Don't know what they used to clean it up, but they finally cut down the tree. Hope you find a great solution to the problem cos it really is a mess, isn't it.
LuxLiving Says:
October 27th, 2006 at 04:33 pm 1161966784
1161966784

Also MonkeyMama - do you have a state extension office?? Perhaps you could consult with one of their wildlife experts.
monkeymama Says:
October 27th, 2006 at 04:59 pm 1161968389
1161968389

At least it is not purple I guess - lovely - LOL.
miclason Says:
October 27th, 2006 at 09:19 pm 1161983967
1161983967

...better call in someone ...bird poop (especially pigeon!) is really bad for your health...
Joe W Says:
October 28th, 2006 at 04:13 pm 1162051997
1162051997

Can someone remove the pigeons or their nests (much like someone who comes out to remove racoons in someone's yard)...Or can you throw rocks at them or something to make your house less of a safe environ for them, maybe they'll move onto someone else's house.
monkeymama Says:
October 29th, 2006 at 11:46 pm 1162165600
1162165600

There is no really removing them. They like to hang out. But blocking off the areas they like to hang out helps. We haven't had any problems for the last couple of years until they wormed their way back in to the one area that they love - I don't know. There are no nests. we are not their home, just their hang out - LOL.

anyway, Clark quoted $100 to close off the area again (hopefully a better job) and to clean up the mess so phew. They will clean the bad area. They just didn't want to scrub the whole house which is fine with me. Sounds like a plan...
petersteel Says:
December 24th, 2009 at 07:59 am 1261641592
1261641592

that was nice post.. it seem great information and idea .. great job...

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

The Problem with Bird Poop

9 Responses to “The Problem with Bird Poop”

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