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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."}

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My Pages

Graduation Gift

June 28th, 2010 at 06:12 pm

Looked this up because remembered it had been discussed:

http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/general-discussion/46626-...

Not what I Wanted to see, particularly since giftee lives in insane high cost area. I used to live there - I know people are accustomed to bigger gifts.

So, though $50 or $100 would be more appropriate, she is going to have to live with $30. Dh wanted to give $20. I told him I felt we should give more. In fact, offered $25 as compromise. But he preferred a round number, even if it meant more.

The funny thing? She is an adult (later)adoptee who belongs to a cousin our age. If you gave me 5 more years, maybe I could swing a nicer gift. Just kind of hit me that "aunts" tend to be a little older when their nieces and nephews graduate high school. But, at age 33, all the other kids in the family are ages 0 - 7. As such, I don't think they expect much from us. Phew! I will have lots more time to prepare for the rest. This was kind of like, "What the heck? Graduated from high school? When did that happen???"

Posted in Just Thinking | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Graduation Gift”

creditcardfree Says:
June 28th, 2010 at 07:30 pm 1277753450
1277753450

I actually gave $50 to my neice that graduated from high school. It did feel like a little much, but we rarely give her any gifts. The amount was DH's idea and since I was the one writing the check I was tempted to make it less, but in the end decided to respect his wishes. The two older nephews never graduated and I only learned recently that they have their GED's.
frugaltexan75 Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 04:38 pm 1277829485
1277829485

When I graduated from highschool most of the cash gifts I received were between $10 and $50. One aunt though had started a savings bond type thing for both my brother and I when we were little and contributed some each year -- when I graduated, it was just over $1000. That, plus some other money I had already saved, went towards my first car the next summer. But this particular aunt was actually more of a great aunt, so much older/established.
MonkeyMama Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 07:15 pm 1277838919
1277838919

That's nice!

I don't remember getting any money for graduating - my family is cheap - LOL.
Frugaltexan75 Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 09:30 pm 1277847055
1277847055

Yes, it was very nice.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Graduation Gift

4 Responses to “Graduation Gift”

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