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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.

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

**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

This & That

May 2nd, 2012 at 01:43 pm

Just been a wee bit crazy over here.

**I'll believe it when I see it, but supposedly we can get refunds from United, on our tickets.

Neither of us wants to go anywhere, at all, so will just take the refund. Makes it easy since we are both 100% on the same page. {We had decided even if $0 credit or refund, to just let it go. No point spending more money on something neither of us is remotely interested in}.

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

**Dh's phone bit the dust, so we upgraded our cell phones and switched carriers. {Have had Verizon forever, and absolutely no issues with them ever, BUT, their data plans are just absurdly priced}.

In a perfect world, I would have wanted to wait another 6-18 months. But oh well! The world is not perfect!

We basically traded cable for smart phones.

We had made a conscious decision a while ago to not renew our contract with Verizon - knew we weren't sticking with them in the long run. So with a dead phone, just seemed like the path of least resistance.

I will tell you that I told dh to "talk to the hand" because he just got so illogical with the whole thing. "We *all* need to upgrade our phones - or I will die!" That about sums it up. But, when his phone was really dead, he came down to the level of logical. All we really needed to do was discuss numbers. We both talk numbers, and the numbers weren't bad. & to my defense, we are saving $400/month today that we weren't last year. SO yeah, I thought this was a horrible/stupid/expensive/wasteful thing 6 months ago. But today is totally different. & like I Said, once we could have a logical/not-hyper-emotional discussion on the subject, I Was okay with that.

Plus, dh OWES ME! That is for sure. Big Grin

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

Anyway, we are on a family plan with our folks, so I had a $700 charge for new phones. Which means we are done with the Sapphire, rather early and unexpectedly. I need to apply for another reward card! Soon!

Dh bought a $200 phone - mine was free (after rebate). My parents owe me some money back for their phone purchases.

I am still not sure on the monthly costs - depends on the taxes. We are going from $55/month to $95 or so. I think paying $20/month more per phone, for all we are getting, is reasonable. But I will still choke at that "$95" bill for a while. I suppose I already felt we were paying too much for cell service. I wouldn't be surprised if I felt I was getting a much better value in the end - at $95. Our old phones were so basic - primarily used for emergency. I know we will be saving some money with the phones, too. {Access to more coupons, etc. May never need to buy a camera or a GPS again. & the list goes on...}

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**In other news, dh had his annual MRI yesterday.

Health insurer's usual MO is to charge about $50 up front, and then send a bill in a year or two. Rolleyes {Taking 1+ years to bill, I think is just ridiculous and annoying!}

SO, when he shows up they tell him the MRI is $1100 (expected). & how much can he pay? So he says, "How much do I have to pay?" They said nothing is required, but they prefer to receive money up front. Of course his reply is, "give me a discount, or tell me how much I *have to* pay - otherwise I will just wait for the bill."

But seriously, you want to be paid sooner? Send the bill sooner! Give an incentive to pay sooner! Give me a $5 discount, and I would have paid yesterday. Wink Doesn't have to be much.

I need to apply for a new credit card reward, anyway. This bill will go a long ways to a nice reward, if I ever receive the bill.

Posted in Just Thinking | 12 Comments »

12 Responses to “This & That”

Just Me Says:
May 2nd, 2012 at 02:47 pm 1335970075
1335970075

If I may inquire as to who you chose? We have US Cellular with 2 old fashioned phones and 1000 minutes for $95.00 (includes tax and 250 text messages but nothing else). I haven't been able to find a similar deal for a smart phone plan and would be interested in hearing what company you decided on.
MonkeyMama Says:
May 2nd, 2012 at 06:43 pm 1335984204
1335984204

Sprint.

They have unlimited everything, basically (no nickel and diming). It's the principal of paying like 5 cents a text, or whatever the heck it is, that my dh absolutely refuses. So Sprint is all he would look at. I also mentioned Ting in my blog earlier thig year. IT's just that it is a new company and didn't have the phones he wanted. BUT I like that there is another viable option out there for us down the road (if we don't like Sprint, or whatever).

But a large part of our savings is because we are on a family plan. In round figures, the first two phones are $50/month, but the second two phones are $25/month. So we pay $75-ish plus taxes/fees. IT would be a lot more without my folks on the same plan.
MonkeyMama Says:
May 2nd, 2012 at 06:47 pm 1335984467
1335984467

P.S. If you are paying $95 already, might be worth checking out Sprint.

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/deal-discussion/846333/

This is the deal we used - you have to order it online, is all.
Swimgirl Says:
May 2nd, 2012 at 06:59 pm 1335985198
1335985198

I keep hearing that Sprint has good deals, so I usually tell people to look there first. And I'm going to check that out, just to see if we could do better.

We have a RIDICULOUS corporate discount (The Husband's employer has all kinds of odd discounts unrelated to their industry) with AT&T. We've had the same discount for about 10 years. Somehow our deal is better than what the employees can get, so we are sticking with it. Without the discount, I wouldn't even consider AT&T.
FrugalTexan75 Says:
May 3rd, 2012 at 12:45 am 1336005927
1336005927

So ... what phones did you get?? Android or Apple?
Monkey Mama Says:
May 4th, 2012 at 12:46 am 1336092388
1336092388

@FT - Neither!!
Actually, dh got an Android (think Silicon Valley techie - it is *all* about the Android...)

I got Windows. I am being a bit of a guniea pig. Actually, GREAT reviews. The reason we went that direction is we incorrectly believed we would save $10/month with 3G. So dh thought that would be the best phone for me, though admittedly he is excited to try it out. I think this works out well because my phone has some capabilities that his doesn't, and vice versa. Between the two of us, we have it well covered. We may swap phones once in a while...

We get it switched to our old phone #s/drop Verizon Saturday - couldn't change over with my dad traveling for Grandma stuff. So, though I have been testing it out, I haven't done the 100% changeover yet.
FrugalTexan75 Says:
May 4th, 2012 at 02:01 am 1336096868
1336096868

Cool. I've seen adverts for the Windows phones - they do look interesting. I hope you like them. I don't know if they have Words With Friends for Windows, but if they do, I'd love to play you.
Monkey Mama Says:
May 4th, 2012 at 02:46 am 1336099592
1336099592

I'll look it up! {If not, I can always put it on hubby's phone. Give me a few days to figure it out}.
Swimgirl Says:
May 4th, 2012 at 03:39 pm 1336145940
1336145940

I want to play words with friends, too, Laura! I LOVE that game. I grew up playing Scrabble with my very smart and highly competitive grandmother.

Eager to hear about the phone. I have an iPhone, which I really do love. And it's nice because it syncs well with our laptop, desktop, iPods, etc. But I'm always curious about what the latest gadgets offer!
FrugalTexan75 Says:
May 4th, 2012 at 10:10 pm 1336169452
1336169452

My moniker is librarian2be I try to return plays within 30 hours, although it usually is less than 12 hours.
MonkeyMama Says:
May 4th, 2012 at 10:56 pm 1336172166
1336172166

@FT - no "words with friends" but there was a free "words by post" app. I understand it's basically the same thing; just us Windows phone people make life difficult.
FrugalTexan75 Says:
May 5th, 2012 at 01:43 am 1336182180
1336182180

Oh, that's too bad. Maybe Zynga (WF maker) will come out with a Windows version soon.

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This & That

12 Responses to “This & That”

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