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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
...($6,653 @ 4/30/24)
...$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% @ 4/30/24)
...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

SICK

November 4th, 2006 at 08:11 pm

Those rotten germies got me this time. Whatever germies ds brings home from preschool tend to hit hubby the hardest, and have let me be overall, which is strange since usually I am the sickly one. But this time we all got hit and we all got hit hard. This is a nasty one.

The cost of preschool is far more than $300/month. We'll see if my boss deems me worthy or a raise this year even with all this sick time. Bah. The upside is the last few times I bowed out of work dh was really sick and I Was able to take some work home so I didn't lose a full day of work. We are getting more paperless and all that, which is really cool as I see in the future maybe dh will get a full-time job and maybe I Can keep mine and just work more from home. You know I am an early bird, I could see waking up at 5, doing some work, taking the kids to school, going to the office, picking them up, and being done for the day. I hate working from home having been there done that, but the added flexibility is pretty superb. Thank you internet! This week dh actually suffered all week and I suffered 2 days at work, but friday I just couldn't tkae it - I felt like hell. Even right now I really should be resting...

Oh anyway, I have mad withdrawls from savingadvice.com. HAd to pop by!

Oh yeah, it never really occured to me that there migh be a lot of accounting-type personalities around here, but makes sense I guess. If the idea of a budget doesn't scare you, or even sounds fun, maybe you are the accounting-type. Hehe. Just surprised at the response to my "75% of CPAs are retiring soon" freakout. I need to do some heavy recruiting here I guess. I will do more in the future. Wink

Posted in Just Thinking | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “SICK”

Ima saver Says:
November 4th, 2006 at 08:59 pm 1162673989
1162673989

Hope you feel better quickly! My dh seems to have the bug too, but not me, YET!
moneycents Says:
November 4th, 2006 at 10:55 pm 1162680949
1162680949

Feel Better!
yummy64 Says:
November 5th, 2006 at 12:11 am 1162685464
1162685464

I hope you feel better soon.

My feeling icky remedy is hot water, lemon juice, honey and brandy. Proportions to taste. I always feel better afterwards
janh Says:
November 5th, 2006 at 02:03 am 1162692238
1162692238

Hope you and your family get well soon!
PRICEPLUS Says:
November 5th, 2006 at 04:18 am 1162700326
1162700326

Glad you were able to pop by. My DD brought home a virus a couple of months ago that left me feeling like someone dropped a load of bricks on me!

Yummy64, I use the same remedy but I put in rye! When I was younger my mom would put a teaspon of rye when we had bad chest colds. We also got the Vicks treatment!
monkeymama Says:
November 5th, 2006 at 06:18 am 1162707508
1162707508

Oh my that sounds good right now. Must try...

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

SICK

6 Responses to “SICK”

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