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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
...($1,750 @ 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% @ 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 @ 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.

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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."}

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

My Pages

Eggs

December 30th, 2008 at 09:31 pm

Dh was going to get a dozen eggs for $3+, but spotted 18 eggs on sale for $1.99. Buying in bulk tends to pay off. (Milk is always 2-for-1).

Anyway, I told dh to just pick those up next time and remind me when he does. I'd eat more boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, etc. That's 11 cents and egg!

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

I e-mailed the fam about Family Camp. We should think about reservations. The Sacramento one looks largely the same, though a tad more expensive. (We went to San Jose Family Camp last summer). BUT the drive is only a little over an hour from here. IT's near Tahoe. & it isn't quite as treacherous as the 3-hour drive to Yosemite. So, we will try it out. For the long run, if we like it, we may just alternate every year. Yosemite is GORGEOUS, but not sure I want to do that cliff side drive every year. !!

No free kids this year, but looks like the cost is around $500 for 4 days, so not bad. Not bad at all.

We also want to get season passes to Great America (amusement park and water park). Still leaves a chunk to spare in our $1500 vacation budget.

We are staying 2 nights in San Francisco for free in January (if dh ever gets around to getting it booked) so I am not sure if we will go over $1k on our budget this year. Will see. Could do a few more weekends away, BUT MIL will just offer the timeshare anyway.

We may be wise to buy up some camping gear with the rest - that is one thing we want to do more of. But the whole Family Camp makes it really easy and kind of spoiled us.

We also need to take more advantage of the family cabin in the Sierras. Mostly free; we could rent boats and stuff like that. Things to think about.

I see a very cheap and fulfilling year of vacation, for 2009.

There is talk of MIL taking us to Disney World in 2010. Actually, she wanted to do it this year, but the rest of the fam wanted a breather. For BM, would have been 4 years of Disney in a row. A bit much, if you ask me. But we're thinking about it for 2010. It would be largely paid for; no way I Could justify otherwise. Disneyland is closer, but dh's Grandfather lives in Orlando - which is the draw. Though I fail to see the point to visit if we are going to spend all the time at Disney. It's a catch 22. We still have two one-day tickets for Disney though. We bought 4-day park hoppers in 2000 (when we had much more money to spare) and used them over the years. That was a good investment! I failed to see the point at the time, but now on much less income, it's nice. & it's nice if we actually use them too. Otherwise, not such a great investment. Wink

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I signed the kids up for their January Karate class. Since LM has no preschool, we were going to let him give it a try.

Fee went up. $35 up from $30. Ugh! Which means, $70 for the two. I hope they enjoy! Will see how LM like it, and go from there. It is through the city and infinitely cheaper than any other Karate class I have come across. Then again, it's hardly a class worth $8.75/class if you ask me. I wonder if it is because enrollment is down. IT's more of a "fun" class than anything - not terrible technical.

I double checked and my aerobics class is still a mere $2.50/class for 2009. Phew. It's give and take I guess.

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

I thought of an interesting analogy I hadn't thought of earlier. I know the frugie crowd, and a lot of the non-frugie crowd, think we are CRAZY to spend so much on our kids preschool.

It just occurred to me the other day that the payments were like a car payment. I think the thought just flitted through my mind that we could bank the payments for our next car, when LM finishes up there.

& it got me thinking.

I am crazy to spend $300/month for 3 years. (Granted times 2, since we have 2 kids). But people telling me this think nothing of a $600/month perpetual car payment.

Huh?

It was just this interesting train of thought I had. YEah, next time one of those people bug me. I guess I could get real loud and annoying about how much they spend on their cars. Maybe that would get the point across. $300/month for 3 years is worth it for a car, but not for our well-being and the greater good of your family? YEah, whatever.

I guess I largely realized why we could afford it too. BEcause we don't have car payments. The reason being because we don't spend much on cars.

Yeah, I'll have to remember that. PReschool is such a short-lived expense, it just annoys me to no end when I get a lot of unwarranted input on the subject. & I do. A LOT.

Posted in Just Thinking | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “Eggs”

Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
December 30th, 2008 at 09:49 pm 1230673742
1230673742

I love that idea of family camp. Hey, if you are going to buy camping tents, I suggest going for bigger than you think you will need because as the kids get older, they really do take up more space in a tent. Buy from a store that can give you advice about how weather proof your tent is. Then, unless you will be camping where it does not rain, spring for the most watertight one you can afford. My advice comes from 30 years of buying ever bigger tents at ever higher quality. Would've saved a lot of money and a lot of soggy, miserable nights if I'd bought the best we could in the first place. My fault for not understanding what I was buying and not paying a premium for the advice at a specialty store.
swimgirl Says:
December 30th, 2008 at 11:29 pm 1230679798
1230679798

Ah, preschool... it just depends on what you want! I think it is money VERY WELL spent for the right kid and the right situation. You're doing great! Don't listen! (Or just make a snide comment about their car payments!)

Preschool was long ago for us. I think I sent my kids a year each, but maybe the oldest got two years. Except for child #4 ... she spend HOURS in the car with me, dropping kids off at school, and never asked when she would go until about two months before kindergarten was going to start. She got lots more time at home with me, which was the right thing for her. She was really, really afraid of new situations at that point, and I opted not to push her. It was fine for her. She did great in kindergarten. Heck, as the fourth kid, she was practically living in a school since birth!

We have so many books and activities at our house, and I was the "queen of the preschool playdates," so my kids didn't "need" it as much as some. I could have used a few kid-free hours, but now I'm glad I spent the time with them. They grow up so fast!

And family camp sounds like a blast. We are taking a trip to the east coast this spring for a vacation, and also some college-hunting trips, so it might not be the year for us, but I want to keep it in mind.
Amber Says:
December 31st, 2008 at 12:48 am 1230684500
1230684500

A dozen for $3? Wow...and I think it's great that you invest in your childrens education. People spend money on so many other things but complain when it comes to educatuon for kids. If I had kids and could send my kids to a good pre-school that cost a little more then I would
scfr Says:
December 31st, 2008 at 03:09 am 1230692999
1230692999

Agree 100% about the preschool vs. car business.
I think Suze Orman nailed the frugal philosophy on the head when she came up with her mantra of "people first, then money, then things." Preschool is about the most important people in your life.
monkeymama Says:
December 31st, 2008 at 03:28 am 1230694125
1230694125

Good point scfr. IT's more than that too. The people who run the preschool have become very important people in our life. Which probably makes it a double whammy for us. I can't help but notice the people who are holier-than-thou or preschool have a lot of family support. The preschool/daycare is our family support. I can't say we'd need to shell out the dough if we had tons of family willing to watch the kids any time. & lots of kids to socialize with, etc. For us it is pretty much a social thing. But I never imagined we would fall in love with them and make lifelong friends as well. & that they would beg to watch the kids for free on occasion.
zetta Says:
December 31st, 2008 at 04:04 am 1230696261
1230696261

$8.75/class is a deal! Most things here in southern CA run about $12/class, even through the city or the YMCA. The cheapest I've seen is $10/class. (Although DS's church-run preschool is a real steal at about $6.91/hr!) The premium places like Gymboree run $17/class, which I refuse to pay!
monkeymama Says:
December 31st, 2008 at 04:59 am 1230699593
1230699593

The funny thing is outside the city, Gymboree is the cheapest thing around here. Everything else is just insane. I've been looking into some more extra-cirriculars for LM. It's like, nevermind. I would have signed him up for Gymboree (I think it is cheaper here) but they discontinued most of their night/weekend classes, so bah!

BTW, our preschool (daycare) is less than $4/hour and includes food. Teehee. (Just another perspective). You bring up a good point there!

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Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Eggs

7 Responses to “Eggs”

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