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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.

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

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.

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

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

Today's Progress

July 9th, 2008 at 04:41 am

Cleaned the freezer.

It wasn't very planned or anything, but struck me afterwards as a simple 10-minute exercise we should try every day (clean something/anything).

Found: chocolate chips

Tossed: Lots of french fries?

Anyway, I was looking for hot dogs, since dh ran to the post office and I was stuck with dinner duty. I was actually shocked we didn't have any. But I was thinking to the kids' party this weekend and how we needed freezer space (as I rooted through all the freezer goods thinking, "there must be SOME hot dogs in here." There weren't.

The freezer wasn't very crowded but I had cookie dough in there I bought in like 2004.

So I spotted that and thought, "That has to go. Now! BEfore the trash pickup."

So yeah, there was some frozen tater tots and fries, and some frozen peaches that were ancient.

Not too bad.

I couldn't find a date on the chocolate chips and not sure how old, but we need them for the weekend. I think they are okay. I guess I will try some first before I plan the party around them. That may be good. Wink

Most of the veggies had a 2009 date. So that is something. But for the peaches, we just tossed "junk."

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I am $50 richer today thanks to Ebay. Big Grin

Dh is $320 richer thanks to the sale of his other Wii. (This week is night and day from last week - was so SLOW on the Wii front last week).

My wallet $20 is replenished and dh has about $600 cash for further buying and selling.

I think my checking account is okay and I can earmark my MLM final sale profits to charity. Is my goal as of today. I need to check my checking account balance before I get too excited about this plan though.

I have a couple of other small ebay things closing this week, but I don't expect much.

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

Today is my last day of being a mom to a "baby."

*sigh*

We spent a chunk of the evening looking at LM baby photos.

It still throws me off how strong that "baby instinct" is sometimes. I am very happy to never have another child again. VERY happy. It's all too fresh and I am still exhausted from the last few years. Put looking at those pictures was like holding a newborn in my arms. It gets me every time.

Luckily dh and I can usually talk some sense into each other when we get in those moments. Wink

Someone was just telling me the other day that goes away when you get *old.* Phew.

But for today I am a little melancholy that my 2-year-old will be 3 tomorrow. It's like it just hit me I no longer have a baby or a toddler in the house.

& those pictures were really the double whammy. They just grow up so fast!

Posted in Just Thinking | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Today's Progress”

gamecock43 Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 04:45 am 1215575124
1215575124

I heard that if you devote 15 min every day to house cleaning, an average house will be near spotless. Thats all it takes. I followed that then fell off the wagon. The house benefited from that 15 min though. I gotta get back into that routine.
helpmefriend Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 02:54 pm 1215611657
1215611657

When my DH says that he wants to try for a little girl, I say go ahead. You can have as many as you want as long as you carry them and give birth to them.
scfr Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 03:34 pm 1215614060
1215614060

My mother's cousin once told me that she wished she could "bonsai" her little boys. Even tho I don't have children of my own, I can still understand the sentiment. Those "little boys" are now post-graduates ... One in medical school and one studying environmental law. I'm glad they didn't stay small forever ... Our world needs great men like that.
monkeymama Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 04:28 pm 1215617302
1215617302

Helpme - Hehe! I am glad dh and I have always been on the SAME baby page. Makes life much easier.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Today's Progress

4 Responses to “Today's Progress”

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