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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. 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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2024 Goals

[ ]Small monthly Charitable Contribution
...($230 @ 8/31/24)
...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
MM YEAR 5

DL YEAR 1 ✔
DL YEAR 2 ✔
DL YEAR 3

[ ]$10,000 to savings
...($7,749 @ 10/31/24)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$7,500 to investments
...($4,786 @ 10/31/24)
...~~$350~~ $400/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs
...Note: Bumped up to $400 9/1, re: reduced food expenses

[ ]$2,025 to mortgage
...($0 @ 10/31/24)
...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% @ 10/31/24)
...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 @ 10/31/24)
...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>
2023: +$ 90,000
TOTAL: +$570,000

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

July was Good; August BAD

August 2nd, 2009 at 03:42 am

I was paying all the bills (for August) and all that jazz. Read some posts/blogs, and thought maybe I should update my net worth.

The good news? Net worth is about $220k. I think this is most definitely, officially, the highest it has ever been. (Referring to backwards slide of 2008!)

This also puts is up about $24k for the year, and pretty much at our annual goal. Still at the whim of the market, and murphy, and everything else. Will see if we can hold on until year-end.

Oh yes, MURPHY!

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

August has not started out well. I am too depressed to post about my stupid, avoidable, big expense, at right this moment. But I will soon enough - like this weekend.

Of course, I remembered we had the same kind of setback last year in July - with all of BM's presumably avoidable cavities. Yeah!

To top it off, I was updating our excel savings sheets and everything and was feeling a little better (looking at our mid-term savings - cash to be used for stupid expense - balance was higher than I remembered). But was reminded looking at all that, that August was our Murphy month last year too. July was cavities to the tune of $2k-$3k, but August was quite a few major expenses as well.

So what is it with summer? Ugh!

I know a lot of my real life friends think we are a little crazy, kind of no-fun saving fuddy duddies who just want to be rich or something. Honestly, my goal has never been to be rich; just to be comfortable. For that we seem to succeed. If not for the ambitious saving goals we could easily drown in all the "unexpected" in life. But instead, we shrug it off and move on. THAT is financial freedom.

We will shrug off our August setback and move on. But I will gripe a bit along the way. Wink

So I am allowing myself one last happy, "Yay for 2009" post, and then I will whine about upcoming expenses on a later post... *sigh*

Posted in Just Thinking, Living on One-Income, Budgeting & Goals | 5 Comments »

5 Responses to “July was Good; August BAD”

Lisa Says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 05:21 am 1249186872
1249186872

Speeding ticket? Don't leave us hanging!
sweetmama Says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 07:09 am 1249193354
1249193354

Could it be a $1000 ticket for illegal fireworks like my dh got? Does that make you feel any better?
baselle Says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 08:05 am 1249196708
1249196708

Setbacks really bite! I hate blogging about them too.
fern Says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 01:08 pm 1249214893
1249214893

We all make mistakes.

Like when i was paying my $600 car repair bill i totally forgot to give them my AAA card, which entitles me to 5% off, or $30, in this case.

Luckily, I remembered later and called them and they will credit my credit card.

Just a few big car repairs like this (another one coming soon) will pretty much pay the $90 annual fee for AAA.
monkeymama Says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 03:49 pm 1249224574
1249224574

Fern - no kidding (that we all make mistakes).

This is why most people NEED to save more. !! Because we are human.
Speeding ticket? I wish. Those don't cost thousands, do they? (Maybe in insurance?)

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

July was Good; August BAD

5 Responses to “July was Good; August BAD”

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