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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.

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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

More Credit Cards!

July 26th, 2011 at 05:41 pm

These rewards are completely out of control!

I just applied for Southwest Rapid Rewards card. A $99 annual fee + ONE purchase = $500 Amazon gift cards.

I usually write off any card with annual fee (when it's not waived first year), off the bat. BUT, I have made so much cash this year off credit cards, it was a very small gamble.

Rewards round up:

$600-ish deposits to ROTH IRA (Fidelity AmEx)
$1000 (maybe?) cash - not sure if Chase will honor second $500
$300 Cash - Citi
$200 Cash - Chase
$500 Amazon gift cards - Southwest Chase
-$99 fee

=$2500

If Chase flakes out on full $1000 cash, I am still up $2000 for VERY little effort.

I am not sure if I will be approved for this Southwest card - since it is another Chase card. I decided to apply, and ask them to close my Chase Freedom - *if* they deny me for that (too many Chase cards). Was going to close it anyway, but figured it was easiest to do it this way.

I will probably redeem these rewards and close all of these credit cards (4 cards - 2 for the each of us) before I consider any more reward cards this year. I think 4 *extra* cards is about my limit. Should be able to close them all by end of September, and to start anew.

{CAVEATS - we tend to charge most our bills anyway (so we don't have to do anything extraordinary to meet purchase minimums), we ALWAYS pay the balance off monthly, and our 800-ish FICOs seem unaffected by semi-frequent card opening and closings for cash rewards. Once one-time rewards are earned - we immediately close those credit cards. I was blessed to be taught how to handle credit cards versus just fearing them. That said, I don't recommend utilizing these deals if you can't treat your credit card like a debit card, or if you have to rack up expenses that you wouldn't otherwise. Then, it's no deal...}.

Posted in Just Thinking, Credit Card & Bank Rewards | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “More Credit Cards!”

ceejay74 Says:
July 26th, 2011 at 06:44 pm 1311705898
1311705898

Unbelievable! I only recently got on the bandwagon, but it looks like I'm going to end up with:
$500 or $1000 on AS's Chase Sapphire
$500 on my Chase Sapphire
$150 from Citi Mastercard
$25 (after $75 annual fee) on Amex (but with 6% rewards on groceries, will get more than the usual for regular spending!)
= either $1175 or $1675!
Ima saver Says:
July 26th, 2011 at 07:13 pm 1311707589
1311707589

You have gotten some great deals. I have signed up for the Chase Sapphire and a Citi card for cash back. I already get $50-100 back from my Chase business card every month.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

More Credit Cards!

2 Responses to “More Credit Cards!”

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