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About Me:

Monkey Mama

Just a 47-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. We've always saved 100% of MH's income, but we are starting to dial that down a bit in 2023-2024.

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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2025 Goals

[ ]Small monthly Charitable Contribution
...($0 @ 1/1/25)
...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
MM YEAR 5

DL YEAR 1 ✔
DL YEAR 2 ✔
DL YEAR 3

[ ]$10,000 to savings
...($0 @ 1/1/25)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$5,000 to investments
**STRETCH GOAL $7,500**
...($0 @ 1/1/25)
...$300/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$1,700 to mortgage
...($0 @ 1/31/25)
...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% @ 1/31/25)
...This is the minimum for the match; I'd otherwise rather fund IRAs.

Goal savings rate = 25% of gross salary, plus funding IRAs from other sources.

[ ]$6,000 to IRAs 2024
**STRETCH GOAL $14,000 (MAX)**
...($0 @ 1/1/25)
...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 2025 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.

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Debt: $75,000 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.

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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>
2023: +$ 90,000
2024: +$95,000
TOTAL: +$665,000

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

Tuesday Update

December 19th, 2006 at 03:29 pm

Now that I have settled in I think I will try the $20 challenge starting Jan. 1. Took me a while to figure what it is all about - hehe.

For now we start the countdown to dh's surgery. The big snip in just 3 days - oh I can hardly contain myself. I am not a big fan of hormones and pills and drugs and such, so for me I Am just so happy as I near the end of the journey of birth control. For me it will probably end around March - yahoo.

I don't think dh is so excited, he was never a big fan of the snip, but having 2 kids scared him into it I guess. He was dead set against it and then when #2 came, I don't think he could get in soon enough. I wasn't ready for anything so permanent but I got real with myself and realized he may never offer again - LOL. On the plus side he gets a vacation for 5 days because no heave lifting. Once he survives the surgery and see everything still works he will enjoy the following few days I Am sure.

Yesterday I got my cute black shoes in size 9w, because they didn't have 1/2 sizes. Too small. Bummer. The good is I peeked online on return policy, because it wasn't obvious, and saw free shipping and a $5 off coupon, on top of the sale which was STILL going on. So I reordered the same shoes in 10W and saved $11. I will pay a few bucks to ship back the other ones, but will come out ahead! Woohoo! I thought 9 would be fine and 10 would be too big anyway, but man those 9s were small. I underestimate how much my feet have grown in recent years I guess.

Oh well, lessoned learned. I shopped through a conduit - shop.com, and didn't check the website specifically. When I did last night the coupon and free shopping popped out at me. I could have gotten that with my first purchase too. Oh well. The Cutest shoes for $24 now. Just have to wait wait wait. Almost there...

I know that with travel - I always start with cheap tickets or something and then call or check the website directly because there is often deals if you buy direct. I should have known the same for anything when a 3rd party is involved. Will keep it in mind for the future!

For now I am just sad I have to wait another week or 2 for my shoes - hehe. Oh well!!!! Will be worth the wait...

Posted in Saving, Just Thinking | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “Tuesday Update”

Ima saver Says:
December 19th, 2006 at 05:41 pm 1166550082
1166550082

My husband had the big "snip" and everything was fine. He did enjoy tight undies (the sexy kind) and an ice bag the first day. This was almost 30 years ago, but it was nice not worrying about birth control.
StressLess Says:
December 19th, 2006 at 11:16 pm 1166570167
1166570167

God bless him! I'm the one that got snipped at our house, and it wasn't too bad--but it IS supposed to be a much simpler, more trouble-free surgery for the guys than it is for us. Enjoy!

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Tuesday Update

2 Responses to “Tuesday Update”

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