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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
...($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.

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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.

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

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."}

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My Pages

Saving a Little/Spending Too

November 7th, 2006 at 03:11 pm

Oh well, my Tuesday update.

Got the electric & gas bill - $30 for last month. Woohoo. You don't know how refreshing it is to come to a site where this is the norm. I have been appalled on other sites I frequent - when gas/electric comes up - people's average bills are $500/month. Seriously. You hear how bad utilities have gotten and I wonder if this is somewhat norm BUT most of these people admit to keeping their house 72 degrees day and night in the winter, etc. The idea of conserving energy has apparently never crossed their mind. As for us, $30 is about as low as it gets, I can mostly thank the weather. We turned on the heat a day or two this last week, and right now it is 73 inside and no heat on for a few days. Next month will be a lower bill than usual probably too - yay. But overall with a new baby we tended to conserve a little less. This year so far I haven't been too quick to turn on the heat - the kids are running around like banshees, keeping warm, and the baby is a lot tougher now and can handle the cold a little better. We'll probably set it to 68 during the day and who knows at night, maybe 60 - it rarely turns on at night at 60 I believe - trying to remember. When the kids are a little older we'll just turn it off altogether at night like we used to!

I just renewed my AAA membership and was surprised looking through all the discounts available. I remember looking through in years past thinking it is all stuff I never use. But I noticed supercuts, payless shoes, a lot of restuarants, and even Pier 39 in San Francisco where we were going to go next weekend. I'll have to check that out. I am bummed though my not too smart with money friend who was going with me might bow out because she can no longer afford it. Am working on dh to come with me. Oh well, maybe it will be a little adventure with just my son and I. You know, just looking at $10 for the train and maybe a lunch out. So it is nothing huge.

Oh yes - and one more thing on saving money - was just paying all my bills and thinking in my head how much I am saving on stamps with online bill pay. I Am sure all you savvy savers use it, right? I used the service through my old credit union and it SUCKED. It was free. But they debited your account immediately even though they just wrote thec check for you - it would often take 2 weeks to clear. It drove me mad. Sometimes checks disappeared and they would want a stop payment fee to cancel it. They drove me mad. Talking to my co-worker who is a bookkeeper she said she worked somewhere before where people with online bill pay were always getting screwed like that. So I thought this was normal. But I was at a very small credit union and I just switched. OMG - my new online bill pay is still free but it is AWESOME. I just set up all my credit cards (before I did not trust the payment would get there in time). A few bills come directly to my credit union, and they do quite a few electronically. For the ones they actually write a check - they don't post it until it clears. HAllelujah. I love online bill pay. I post this because if you have a sucky service, shop around. The difference is probably that this is a much bigger credit union. More resources I guess. Well since I am using it a lot more, not just for the little bills I don't care if are late - LOL - I am now really saving on stamps. The only thing that is annoys me is I run through deposit slips way more than checks. Can I just order deposit slips I guess? I need to.

Oh well, I figured I was good on jewelry the rest of the year and did not intend to spend much this month. Nothing on the horizon, I haven't spent any money in about a week or so. & then yesterday I saw some new cookiee lee jewelry and I absolutely HAVE TO have it. I will probably spend $20 and it is well within budget, but it is annoying me. Darn Cookie and her cute jewelry. LOL. I'll just have to work on sellin gsome to pay for it...

Well, off to vote. Dh was cute when I said I Was going after work - he said - "But the lines will be SO long!!!" Is he serious? Bah. LAst time I went around 5:30 and I was like 100th to vote all day - something pretty dismal for a big city. So he is telling me - remember the RECALL election??? The line was huge. I don't particularly remember, BUT you now, it was the recall election. I think this year will be a little more quiet. I just find it extremely ironic, besides annnoying and frustrating, that Arnold has done everything that his predecessor did 10 times worse. His predecessor took a lot of contributions and had a lot of debt. That was their argument against him. Then Arnold came in and did it 10 times worse. ?????? I tend to vote 3rd parties, and I Was going to this year and thought better. I do not like the democrat in the least and feel he is very budget-responsible. But if I really think about it, I do not foresee him just using billions and billions in future bonds to pay for today's expenses, as arnold likes to do. I want Arnold out. *sigh* Not counting on it, but it will be interesting to see what happens. It would be nice if someone fiscally responsible ran for governonr - but that is just dreaming I guess... Oh well, my political rant for the day. Wink

Posted in Spending, Saving, Just Thinking, Budgeting & Goals | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “Saving a Little/Spending Too”

Broken Arrow Says:
November 7th, 2006 at 03:33 pm 1162913614
1162913614

WHAT?! My gas & electric was $40.

I'm going to have to keep an eye on mine, and see why it's so high.
ldyfaile Says:
November 7th, 2006 at 03:40 pm 1162914024
1162914024

I don't use my bank's online bill pay. Instead I pay directly at the web site. For credit cards I like that because they credit your account before the money is taken from your bank. With the whole daily accrual of interest thing, I like that. As for the rest, initially when bill pay cost money through the bank I said forget that and started researching the different bills websites. Once you get in that habit it's hard to look back. I dont mind going to each site every payday because it still makes me feel like I'm doing something, kinda like writing the check and mailing it only without the delay or the cost of stamps.
monkeymama Says:
November 7th, 2006 at 04:46 pm 1162917978
1162917978

I do that too. Everything I can pay directly on credit card I do because I get cash back. For now mortgage I pay directly and phone bills are all on my credit card. If I had a credit card option on the rest I would - but it has been a while since I looked into it. Considering my Bill Pay is free though it is super convenient. But stuff like the mortgage I like to check my balance anyway, etc. so I prefer to pay through their site. Both are good ways to go!
monkeymama Says:
November 7th, 2006 at 04:56 pm 1162918576
1162918576

LOL - I didn't even tell you the best part - our house is like 2600 square feet. & someone is ALWAYS home. Well one like I said is the weather, but our house is only 5 years old and they build them really energy efficient these days. Add the fact that we have a city-owned utility company for electricity - they have really cheap rates. Our highest rates are in the winter because our gas is way more expensive - PG&E. & also, the mild climate is probably the #1 factor for cheap bill. My mom isn't an electric hog or anything and she had a $500 PG&E bill in the summer. So the city-owned utilities REALLY is probably the biggest part of it all. It's not mild in the summer, hotter than hades, but the rest of the year is relatively mild.

Our bills were much bigger in our tiny little condo when we were never home - thank you PG&E...
Thrifty Ray Says:
November 7th, 2006 at 06:04 pm 1162922684
1162922684

I have a friend who is always tight on money. They inherited a good deal of money a while back and bought a huge home with a pool. A good investment as the value of the home has tripled and is now worth about 1m.

However, their electric bill runs between 300-500 per month!!! I couldnt imagine.
monkeymama Says:
November 7th, 2006 at 10:39 pm 1162939171
1162939171

Thinking about it we have fairly new appliances - all highly energy -efficient, etc. It really helps. Just replaced the washer and dryer a few months backs - that probably helped make this a record low. We do laundry almost every day with the kids - 1 in cloth diapers, cooking every day, etc. IT is amazing how low our bills are considering we use a lot of electricity and gas overall. But the energey efficiency measures are really noticeable.
Broken Arrow Says:
November 8th, 2006 at 01:10 am 1162948211
1162948211

2600 sq ft... and your gas electric is only $30?

That's... unpossible!

How do you do it?

(edit: ooops. I just read your latest response. I don't have new appliances. But STILL, I'm only 1 guy, and in a place that is NOWHERE NEAR 2600 sq ft.)
monkeymama Says:
November 8th, 2006 at 07:13 am 1162970027
1162970027

I think it was 80 degrees today - LOL. No heat this week? Crazy weather.

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Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Saving a Little/Spending Too

8 Responses to “Saving a Little/Spending Too”

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