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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

Okay People - Car Insurance

November 8th, 2006 at 07:22 am

Opting out of collission insurance on your car does not make you uninsured in the least. Gah. It is opting out of one type of a whole lot of auto insurance.

When you buy a car for $1k, have $30k in the bank, and the annual premium for a $500 deductible collision policy is $500, why on earth would you pay it????? Collission only insures the replacement value of YOUR car. If car is totaled, insurance company would likely value it $500, even if you just paid $1k. & if that is your deductible, then you are not insured anway. You get to pay the deductible, plus you just wasted $500/year on worthless insurance premiums.

End rant. LOL. I actually came on tonight because I Wanted to veg out and read other blogs. Just a little frustrated.

Insurance is clear as mud, ain't it. I've been trying to re-evaluate our health insurance and I feel like you have to be a rocket scientist to undersatnd it all. Luckily I think I got auto insurance figured out, but I am trying to be patient with the whole rocket-science aspect of it all.

But seriously, if you drive an old clunker, OR if you have a car that you have driven for many years and is long paid off - stuff to think about. I encourage everyone to UNDERSTAND their insurance policies. knowledge is power. Peace to you all.

So help me if anyone replies to this blog and tells me that it is illegal that I don't have collission coverage on my husband's absolutely worthless car. Or why this owuld have any bearing on liability insurance, personal injury, uninsured motorist, etc. - all necessary coverage if you ask me. & yes which I have!!!!! My newer car is fully fully insured. But I will be reevaluating it in a few years no doubt. Very case by case of course. So learn more about what you are paying and why. Wink

Oh yeah - and with having 2 cars and only *needing* one car at this point, affects my decision as well. sure, if you rely on your car and something happens it may be nice to have some coverage and maybe a rental in the meantime while it is squared away, etc. IS that part of comprehensive of collission??? I Don't know, but regardless, I could take the loss on an entire car and it wouldn't affect me much. When dh gets a day job and relies on the 2nd car more, something to consider I guess. For now, not much to consider.

& NOW I am off to read what you are all up to...

Posted in Just Thinking | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Okay People - Car Insurance”

Carolina Bound Says:
November 8th, 2006 at 11:55 am 1162986912
1162986912

I dropped collision coverage on my old car as soon as the replacement value fell to $1000. I'll do it again when this one gets there, but for now, it's still pretty valuable.
tinapbeana Says:
November 8th, 2006 at 02:47 pm 1162997227
1162997227

i understand where you're coming from MM! i have collision right now 'cause the law says i do. when the car's paid off, time to re-evaluate.
monkeymama Says:
November 8th, 2006 at 05:26 pm 1163006765
1163006765

OK phew, I Sense understanding now. LOL.
LuckyRobin Says:
November 9th, 2006 at 02:17 am 1163038630
1163038630

I haven't had collision on my cars since I paid them off. We have two vehicles, we really only need one, if one gets smashed we have the other. And let's face it, the only accident I ever caused was in 1988 (I was 18.5 years old) and that was parallel parking and scraped paint, cost $300 to fix both cars, and I don't parallel park anymore. I drive carefully. Really carefully. If there's a collision, I think there is only a 1% chance it will be me that caused it. DH is not quite as good a driver as me, but is pretty good, and his last accident that he "caused" was in 1994 and the other driver did not have his lights on in the fog at 4 a.m., but there were no witnessess, the guy wouldn't admit it, and DH did not have right of way. So, if I consider there is maybe a 5% chance DH would cause an accident. So we'd get paid by the other driver, anyway. Makes no sense to have collision on our cars. Now the new one, when we get it, we may think about it, but even it will be an older car that we pay for in full, so we won't have to carry it unless we want to.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Okay People - Car Insurance

4 Responses to “Okay People - Car Insurance”

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