<< 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
...($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.

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

**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

Tooth Fairy - ?

September 23rd, 2009 at 01:45 am

How much does the tooth fairy pay at your house?

$1 seems reasonable from what I have heard. Just curious.

Hallelujah! BM's tooth fell out. Well, dh had to "yank" it. There wasn't much to yank. It was bothering him today, and hanging by a thread.

As I mentioned, the other tooth had already grown in. It hadn't changed in about 6 weeks, so I just mentioned to dh that we should at least make a consult appointment with the dentist.

BUT, now there is no need! No sooner than I spoke the words, and it decided to come out on its own. Phew! $1 is no big deal - we saved a lot not going to the dentist!

Posted in Just Thinking | 11 Comments »

11 Responses to “Tooth Fairy - ?”

Lisa Says:
September 23rd, 2009 at 01:49 am 1253670575
1253670575

Yes, $1 here. But it's a GOLD dollar! (coin)
mrs. Says:
September 23rd, 2009 at 02:10 am 1253671811
1253671811

At the house of Mr. and Mrs. we have amassed quite a collection of gold dollars from the tooth fairy (we have three tooth-losing kids at present).

The funniest moment was when the second daughter's tooth broke into two pieces and the tooth fairy left her one dollar - but split right down the middle.
whitestripe Says:
September 23rd, 2009 at 02:13 am 1253672039
1253672039

hmm. if i had kids i'd probably make it 50c or $1. when i was little i used to get a little red envelope (the chinese kind) with peppermint carob buttons in it
Waterfall Says:
September 23rd, 2009 at 02:53 am 1253674414
1253674414

At our house, the tooth fairy leaves a candy cane under the pillow. It's been very successful
sweetmama Says:
September 23rd, 2009 at 03:08 am 1253675324
1253675324

At our house she leaves a $1 for a "regular" tooth, a $5 for a molar tooth. In our case several of our daughter's molars had steel caps so they were "special"!
boomeyers Says:
September 23rd, 2009 at 04:45 am 1253681104
1253681104

I must admit, my DH and I stunk at being toothfairies! We were always late or forgot! ugh! Glad that is over! Have fun!
Petunia Says:
September 23rd, 2009 at 05:09 am 1253682582
1253682582

$1 here too. . . although Daisy finished losing teeth for a while over a year ago. She figured out Santa and the Easter Bunny this year; she's probably also figured out the tooth fairy. We weren't great tooth fairies either - we never seemed to have the right cash and had to scramble. . .
FrugalFish Says:
September 23rd, 2009 at 01:59 pm 1253714356
1253714356

I think we will do dollar coins when DD starts losing teeth. I saw an article in a money magazine a few months back about this- they had done a survey and found that the tooth fairy now averages something like $2.60/tooth.
monkeymama Says:
September 23rd, 2009 at 02:19 pm 1253715561
1253715561

We were thinking 50 cents, and then $1 for molars. But decided we were too lazy to find change. LOL. (Not that we always have $1 bills handy either).

Boo - I am with you - hehe. It doesn't matter - BM found out about all those fictional characters already. Since it took forever to lose his first tooth, just takes all the fun out of it really. But LM lives in a fantasy world and so we will play along. I don't think BM could care less otherwise. Well, I think we'd still play along for the money - it's a rite of passage in a sense. But my kids couldn't be so opposite otherwise. BM is kind of like, yeah, yeah, whatever, the "Tooth Fairy."
I asked him what his friends got and he has no idea. I guess it hasn't been discussed much.

Oh - candy cane would be fine except my BM has so many cavity issues. The last thing he need is sticky candy. The first teeth to fall out are the only ones without cavities.
monkeymama Says:
September 23rd, 2009 at 02:19 pm 1253715576
1253715576

We were thinking 50 cents, and then $1 for molars. But decided we were too lazy to find change. LOL. (Not that we always have $1 bills handy either).

Boo - I am with you - hehe. It doesn't matter - BM found out about all those fictional characters already. Since it took forever to lose his first tooth, just takes all the fun out of it really. But LM lives in a fantasy world and so we will play along. I don't think BM could care less otherwise. Well, I think we'd still play along for the money - it's a rite of passage in a sense. But my kids couldn't be so opposite otherwise. BM is kind of like, yeah, yeah, whatever, the "Tooth Fairy." LM was all excited about it though. If not for "head in the clouds" LM, I'd probably just hand him a dollar.
I asked him what his friends got and he has no idea. I guess it hasn't been discussed much.

Oh - candy cane would be fine except my BM has so many cavity issues. The last thing he need is sticky candy. The first teeth to fall out are the only ones without cavities.

Gold dollars are an excellent idea!
creditcardfree Says:
September 23rd, 2009 at 02:40 pm 1253716824
1253716824

We used to pay based on age...$0.25 per year of age! Not at good idea. They still lose teeth at 8 and often still believe in the tooth fairy. My kids know now...so no money any more. I like the gold dollar idea!

(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

Tooth Fairy - ?

11 Responses to “Tooth Fairy - ?”

Leave a Reply