About Me

Monkey Mama

Just a 41-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.

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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**Ting Referral Code**
https://z181d126bt4.ting.com
$25 off for you & $25 credit for me

In 2017 we are adding both our kids to our cell plan. This will add a whole $12 to our monthly cell bill, which was only $30/month for the two of us. Thank You TING!

BTW, Ting did also lower their rates, if you haven't checked the numbers recently.

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2019 Goals

**Financial**

[ ]$12,000 to IRAs 2019 (MAX)
...($0 @ 1/1/19)
...Not entirely sure how we will fund this. Because my salary decreased by $12,000 this year, this was the obvious thing to give. It will have to come from gifts, MH's income, my bonuses, and/or shifting money from taxable investments. Funding our IRAs is always our first priority, but just will not be funded from my salary.
NOTE: For 2019, ended up funding with second job.

[ ]$7,000 to savings
...($6,379 @ 4/30/19)
...$550/month, plus interest.
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$1,500 to investments
...($730 @ 4/30/19)
...Funded with snowflakes

[X]9% of my full-time income to work retirement plan
...This is the minimum for the match; I'd otherwise rather fund IRAs.
Note: Maxing out IRAs is additional 15% to retirement. This is very deja vu to lower income years. The last time we saved 20%+ to retirement was during our lowest income years. This is due to substantial tax savings and employer contributions (how I am funding the 9%). Plus, if we max out IRAs regardless, it's a bigger percentage of a smaller income.

Goal savings rate = 20% of gross salary, plus funding IRAs from other sources

STRETCH GOAL:

[ ]$6,000 to mortgage
...($0 @ 01/01/19)
...$3k per year to pay off in 20 years (from last refi); also ensures that we pay more principal than interest
...In years past I had funded with OT, but am no longer working at a job with OT. This is a placeholder because we skipped 2018. If we have a windfall of any sort, I'd like to pay down $3,000 for 2018 and $3,000 for 2019. For now, this is our lowest financial priority (expect to fund some home improvements instead during 2019, and tend to other expensive cash flow items first).

In addition, we save 100% of MH's (net) income ~ most goes to 401k/taxes.

--Note to self: Utilize library museum freebies

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**Long-Term Goals**

Current big picture goal:

$500,000 in retirement accounts by age 45.

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: $150,000 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
TOTAL: +$121,000

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

Insane Birthday Parties

March 16th, 2007 at 07:50 pm

[url]http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1581036,00...

Interesting read - anyone with kids, particularly in California I am sure, has seen this.

I was just pondering this because I guess a big giant bouncy house is the norm for the 1-4 year old set. I do not get it in the LEAST!!! Sure the boys love going to all these fancy parties with bouncy houses and food galore. But it is just insanity. & the gifts too.

I simply do not play along. In fact, most of the time I specifically ask for no gifts. It has just gotten so out of control. I remember one of my first posts here I Was asking for frugal birthday gift ideas and a few people said I should be more worried about saving up money for my kids' birthdays. Look, the are 1 & 3 - why should I Save up a lot of money to throw a party???? Some favors form ebay and some snacks and pizza just about cover it. Betty Crocker cake or cupcakes make them pleased as punch. & the kids have had some really nice parties. Simple, but nice. The worst is feeding the crowd, and often we just serve appetizers to avoid that.

It's sad that so many people feel so strapped and yet do play along. I guess personally I just don't get it. Was thinking about it because kids just went to yet another super fancy party, and was just invited to one with a bouncy house for a 1 year old. ????? OF course the 1-year-old parties are ALWAYS the fanciest. I am not even sure if we even had one for 1 - LOL.

Often the thought crosses my mind, if this is for 1, um, how do you top this when they are 4, 5, 6... I guess the article alludes to what happens...

Hey my niece got a pony for her birthday - pony rides. YEesh. Just remembered that one - she turned 2.

Posted in Just Thinking | 9 Comments »

9 Responses to “Insane Birthday Parties”

PRICEPLUS Says:
March 16th, 2007 at 07:58 pm

It almsot seems there is a competition sometimes to see who can throw the most lavish party! I don't get it but it seems to be becoming the norm these days!
Cat Says:
March 16th, 2007 at 09:19 pm

We like to do an old fashioned, low key birthday party and they are always a smash. Some parents seem to have an "ah ha!" moment, too, when they see how much fun the kids have with such simple arrangements. We usually have a scavenger hunt--and the birthday cake is the "prize" that's hidden somewhere at the end of the hunt. It's amazing how excited a bunch of six year olds can get over finding the birthday cake. We also play one or two games like freeze tag in the yard, or "fishing" out the window with a string tied to a pole (you or another adult attaches some little trinket or party favor). One of my thrifty friends gave crazy wheelbarrow rides at her daughter's birthday and the kids were begging for more, more, more. That costs zero.
monkeymama Says:
March 16th, 2007 at 09:23 pm

Agreed - I have never felt pressure to do the big party. People don't seem to mind our low-key approach. I guess when you realize that it is easy to step back and not play along... Crazy wheelbarrow ride sounds pretty fun! LOL.
KEALINA Says:
March 17th, 2007 at 12:48 am

i've seen that article... it's very crazy... first birthday are a big cultural event locally and lots of people have a big party which my DH and i have already decided we don't want to get sucked into...we're definately keeping it simple...i know a couple that actually spent about as much on their babies first birthday as we did on our wedding...
Ima saver Says:
March 17th, 2007 at 05:57 am

What is a bouncy house???
Carolina Bound Says:
March 17th, 2007 at 06:33 am

My kids never had one of those big parties. The most lavish it ever got was an overnight with friends, pizza and a video, and a nice breakfast in the morning. Of course, that was when they were somewhat older than the age group you're talking about. When they were toddlers, they didn't get parties, just a simple family gathering with cake and a camera. Pony rides for a two-year-old? That's nuts!

Julie, a bouncy house is one of those inflatable "houses" that kids can enter and bounce around on the "floor." You see them at amusement parks sometimes. They can be rented for parties.
Cat Says:
March 17th, 2007 at 07:23 am

I can't resist another comment. I've told my kids that we're not doing a birthday party every year. We're going to do it the way my mom did for us: On your birthday you get to choose what's for dinner, what kind of cake you want, and have a friend over for dinner. After dinner, there's the birthday cake and presents from the family. My mom always made a cake from a box, but still, I LOVED smelling it baking and liked knowing that the sweet smell in the house that day was for MY birthday. We do lose sight of the simple pleasures, don't we? We train our kids to want more.
livingalmostlarge Says:
March 18th, 2007 at 07:10 pm

Hmm..haven't seen one of those parties yet. But I'd like to. Not that I would throw one like that. But seriously some people do. My cousin had a huge baby luau "baby first birthday" party. With the works, clowns, 500+ people, face painter, chinese lion dance, bouncy thingy, etc. Crazy.

But everyone had a great time, and my cousin wanted to do it. Wish I had been there to eat the great food though! Arrgh.
LuckyRobin Says:
March 21st, 2007 at 10:37 pm

We had a pony party for my daughter's 4th birthday. We split the cost with her best friend's family, who's daughter was born the day before mine. We got 2 hours at a pony farm that also had a petting zoo and they provided the cakes and clean up. We were out $50 each, and my daughter still talks about it 6 years later. But we did it because she was horse crazy. I figure one big party every 8 years or so per kid, if they are into it. Most of the time we don't have parties, just cake and ice cream after dinner. We let them open presents in the morning, because that's all they really want the minute the get up and I would have loved it as a child.

Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Insane Birthday Parties

9 Responses to “Insane Birthday Parties”

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