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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.

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

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

Christmas Politics Part 2

November 28th, 2006 at 03:00 pm

I know there are many worse things in the world than this, but OMG the in-laws are driving me mad - LOL.

I already posted about the christmas politics how when I give them a wish list they scrutinize it and they constantly ask for more. So this year I figure why bother. They will run out and spend $200 on a game system for dh, no questions asked, but everything on my list is up for debate. A wall hanging. Why would you need THAT???? Where would you put it???? Yes, and a game system is top on the list of necessity apparently - LOL. Um I have a house full of BARREN walls - there are plenty of places I could put a wall hanging. Gah.

So I went back to the old way where I ignore them. Well I Tell them cash would be nice or clothes - that is always what they get me. So they are really badgering me as usual, our usual dance. What else can I say - I want cash or clothes. IF you don't want to buy what I Want - be creative. I don't particularly like wish lists - takes the fun out of gift giving. & i am sure they equally frustrated with me because I am not aware of their invisible rules of gift giving apparently. I have no idea what they want from me...

So I as I checked my e-mail last night and saw the 20 e-mails me asking me what I Wanted for christmas (while also poo-pooing any prior suggestions) I was frustrated with dh's stupid wish list and their love affair with it. So I decided on a new plan. He has a pile of DVDs on there which I think is a useless waste of money personally, but I put some of his DVDs on my wish list. I figure in the long run it will save me some cash. LOL. I can even regift them to dh or something, what the heck.

HE told me that was very selfless last night. Are you kidding me? This is for my sanity. LOL. We'll see how it goes. These plans always tend to backfire - hehe. Hopefully this will stem the tide of phone calls and e-mails. It is only Nov. 28 - another month of this!!

I usually thoroughly enjoy their gifts which they usually pick out on their own. I have faith in their gift giving abilities. BUT I will sacrifice that to have a nice, quiet month I guess.

Posted in Just Thinking | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “Christmas Politics Part 2”

tinapbeana Says:
November 28th, 2006 at 03:08 pm 1164726480
1164726480

monkey, i'd be soooooo tempted to make a wish list they'd never forget!

new roof
porsche
leather pants
a massage a week for a year (actually, i'd take this one!)
ham of the month club
flowbee (the hair cutting vacuum attachment)

perhaps something a little more serious, contact your local homeless shelter/domestic abuse shelter and see what items they're lacking. then your list could say

50 women's deoderants
50 mens deoderants
100 bush/comb sets
100 botles of shampoo
100 bottles of conditioner
etc
OR you could please just give me cash and I'll make the purchases and donate them myself
kashi Says:
November 28th, 2006 at 03:37 pm 1164728262
1164728262

I just give in and make the stupid wish list. Not everyone buys from it anyway, but creating one gets the monkey off my back and helps me keep track of my "want" priorities. That said, if anyone commented about my list being frivolous...I wouldn't want to send it to them again, either!
Broken Arrow Says:
November 28th, 2006 at 03:38 pm 1164728318
1164728318

There may be worse things than in-laws... but not much.
kealina Says:
November 28th, 2006 at 07:47 pm 1164743241
1164743241

gee... i don't know what to say but i think it would drive me crazy too...i don't remember ever making a christmas list because most of the people in my family prefer choosing gifts and i really don't like asking for stuff (wasn't raised that way)... i think it's kind of funny that they ask for a list and then pick it apart... that was an interesting idea to take the DVD's from his list and stick them on yours... maybe you should ask him to add some of your stuff to his list to see if they'll take the bait just cuz it's his list...
LdyFaile Says:
November 28th, 2006 at 11:04 pm 1164755066
1164755066

I keep a list of stuff I want at Amazon and ThinkGeek. If people really pester me about wanting to know exactly what I want, I send them there. I've been fortunate enough to not have to worry about making a list for a while now. That is one of my concerns though if I'm ever not single around the holidays, making other people realize that I don't want gifts, that I'd prefer they spend their money on something worth while (angel tree, etc) in my name, and that they won't be getting anything from me.
LuckyRobin Says:
November 28th, 2006 at 11:18 pm 1164755920
1164755920

They probably don't want to give you cash because they don't have it. They want to give you something they can charge on a credit card. What about gift cards? Maybe a nice one to your favorite grocery store. Or would they think that was stupid, too. You could always give them a list of finance books you want, maybe they might skim them and learn something.
monkeymama Says:
November 29th, 2006 at 06:10 am 1164780644
1164780644

LOL.

No - they have cash. They will give us tons of cash. But they want to give us tons of crap too. I wish they truly understood I just want the cash. It's going int he bank - but I don't need any crap. Christmas is so crazy for them seriously - it involves a large chunk of cash, gift cards, but they want to give like 5 solid gifts too. They can not get past that I Am not interested I guess. Like it is the # of boxes that truly matters on Christmas - ???? Gosh, it's not even that I am not interested, it is the pain and suffering that it takes ot get to that point - hehe. If they just picked out a few gifts without badgering me I Would be happy. Or if I didn't feel like I was talking to a wall the first 10 times I Said all I Want was clothes and cash.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Christmas Politics Part 2

7 Responses to “Christmas Politics Part 2”

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