<< Back to all Blogs

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.

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

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.

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

**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."}

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

My Pages

I forgot this article...

March 3rd, 2008 at 03:52 am

I forgot this one this morning when linking articles:

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2008/03/02/3302498.htm

Behind the Meltdown: Equity plunge saps will to spend: Economy suffers as homeowners in area lose $2 billion in wealth in '07.

It's just craziness for one, to see how much home values are affecting spending.

& to see another article about a bunch of people who borrowed $100k - $200k against their homes for STUFF.

I have also noticed a lot of furniture stores going out of business, which I guess is a sign of the local economy.

Posted in Just Thinking | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “I forgot this article...”

merch Says:
March 3rd, 2008 at 01:35 pm 1204551328
1204551328

When I first moved in my neighborhood, the neighbor knew I worked at an investment house. He was asking me about some financial things. We started talking about HELOCs adn I was saying how people use this like checking accounts and soon they're out 100k. Well, he looked at me and said "Yep, I bought a pool and 2 cars with mine." I said "Open mouth, insert foot."

But what I also want to say, that the real issue is the wealth effect. If I bought a house for 450k and it zoomed up to 650k, most people feel 200k richer. So what's a normal consumer going to do with 200k more wealth? Maybe spend 1/2 of it? After all, house prices can't go down, right?
scfr Says:
March 3rd, 2008 at 01:41 pm 1204551711
1204551711

Thanks for keeping us updated on how things look at the "epicenter."
monkeymama Says:
March 3rd, 2008 at 02:25 pm 1204554300
1204554300

I was appalled to learn that just about everyone I knew paid for their cars against their houses. I mean these are the "new every 3-5 years" car buyers. Since I learned that tidbit, I can't help but wondering how many cars were financed by their houses? If they have been doing this for a good 7 years? $20k x 4 cars (2 per spouse every 5 years).

Yikes!!!!
merch Says:
March 3rd, 2008 at 02:47 pm 1204555638
1204555638

By the way, I am one of the 2 crazy families in the developement. I put down 45% on my house. Everyone said I was crazy. I kept the mortgage below Jumbo (save 0.25% on interest).

The other crazy family put down about 70% and plans to pay off the house in 3 years.

Interesting we both work for investment houses.

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)

Name:	*
Email:	Will not be published.
	Subscribe: Notify me of additional comments to this entry.
URL:
Verification:	* Please spell out the number 4. [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]

Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

I forgot this article...

4 Responses to “I forgot this article...”

Leave a Reply