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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
...($1,250 @ 3/31/24)
...$350/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$2,025 to mortgage
...($0 @ 3/31/24)
...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% @ 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 @ 3/31/24)
...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.

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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.

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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

Hot Dates

April 14th, 2011 at 08:43 pm

Had a really nice lunch date with dh today.

That's it for a while because kids are off school for 2 weeks!

That said, sounds like we might get some time to ourselves since kids are staying with the Grandmas a few days after Easter.

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

I have another skype date with my friend tonight.

I've tried to connect with her on skype a couple of times but she hasn't responded (said she didn't get the e-mails).

She lives in San Francisco. Last we met up we marveled how she hadn't seen my youngest son since he was an infant!

So, thought crosses my mind yesterday. Gosh, I need to skype her. I know she is really busy so ask if we can do a short skype session some time.

She e-mails me back and says yes, tonight, but why not a long skpye session. Big Grin

I feel like a dork. For one, I should have taken the initiative and demanded we skype sometime soon. Yeesh! It's been over a year since I saw she was on skype?

Secondly, I easily solved the problem of her not meeting my son. If we skype early enough she can see and talk to him. If not, maybe another time.

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

I mention because skype can be such a frugal tool.

My dh has been skyping with his friend who lives about an hour away. They are working together on some projects, and started regular skyping to collaborate, last time gas prices spiked. The habit has just stuck.

I think that's why I Was thinking about it in terms of my friend. Distance doesn't seem to matter so much any more, does it?

Now that my sister is settled in her new house, we need to get a regular skype schedule set up, too. Since she was in limbo her webcam was packed away in boxes or something - for a LONG time. Time to bug her to get out the webcam.

Posted in Just Thinking | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Hot Dates”

ceejay74 Says:
April 14th, 2011 at 09:07 pm 1302815260
1302815260

I love Skype. NT uses it to phone UK family and friends; he calls everyone about once a week, and he buys $10 worth of Skype voice minutes about every 6 months. AS and I used to call him on our regular cellphone plans, and our monthly bill was exorbitant, so I know the savings are huge!

Now that his parents have webcams and broadband, speaking with them is free for us (costs the parents because they didn't have broadband or a webcam before, but we'd have that anyway). To see their first grandkid grow up thousands of miles away, they probably feel it's a bargain.
MonkeyMama Says:
April 14th, 2011 at 09:55 pm 1302818145
1302818145

True - it's very handy for people 40 miles away and for people 8000 miles away. We have family all over the world that we skype. But funny enough the motivating factor was having kids. I think our parents really encouraged us to get skype at that point. Our webcam was probably a gift. & the kids can skype their great-grandparents too, which is very cool.
FrugalTexan75 Says:
April 15th, 2011 at 03:46 am 1302839210
1302839210

My dad bought me a web cam for Christmas which works with my netbook. My brother and I have Skyped on that a number of times now - once I took him on a "tour" of the house.
FrugalTexan75 Says:
April 15th, 2011 at 03:47 am 1302839266
1302839266

Oh, and he got to "meet" Buddy thanks to Skype. It will be interesting to see if Buddy recognizes him when he comes in a few weeks.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Hot Dates

4 Responses to “Hot Dates”

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