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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

Saving Saving Saving

April 3rd, 2014 at 01:39 pm

I guess this is the opposite of my last post. Big Grin

**I finally got my 2013 ROTH funded. Sent $4,950 off yesterday, after my paycheck hit the bank. I did not have to come up with the other $550 because my credit card rewards covered it (those get deposited automatically every month).

I updated sidebar.

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**Grandma always *insists* on paying me $300 for doing her taxes. I am going to try to be more vocal this year about her not paying me. She owed a lot of tax. So, I will try.

But... If she insists, we will just throw it at the mortgage. I would be pleased with that. IT would put our snowflakes to $1,000-ish for the year, which is about all we came up with in 2013. So I would be very pleased with that. We don't plan to throw any snowflakes at the mortgage for the rest of the year, so it will be a nice goal to meet in April. That said, I am not really concerned with it either way. If I can talk her into not paying me, we will let it go or I will just deposit $300 from my overtime check.

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**I guess it's feast or famine. I intend to hit most my "2014 savings" goal with my overtime check in 2 weeks. So, that might be $10,000 in financial goals officially hit this month (Overtime + 2013 ROTH). {I could have tallied ROTH savings month to month (have just been hoarding up cash since February 1), but I didn't really want to update my sidebar until I transferred money physically into my IRA}.

The goal for the rest of the year is to save $1300/month towards 2014 IRAs.

In addition, we will save $150/month + snowflakes and windfalls. I am going to open a "taxable" investment account for this money. I put "taxable" in quotes because our investment returns will mostly be tax-free due to our low tax bracket. We are starting small, but expecting to gain some significant momentum pretty quickly. Since our cash savings is pretty robust at this point, this should be where all our non-retirement savings goes.

Posted in Just Thinking, Budgeting & Goals | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “Saving Saving Saving”

creditcardfree Says:
April 3rd, 2014 at 01:59 pm 1396533554
1396533554

I've been pondering a 'taxable' fund too. When DH gets his raise I will figure the amount, but it seems we finally will have some more cash to invest...and I don't want it all to get squandered away on college!
Mooshocker Says:
April 3rd, 2014 at 02:41 pm 1396536099
1396536099

You are such an amazing "monkey"...truly an inspiration
snafu Says:
April 3rd, 2014 at 04:42 pm 1396543321
1396543321

With savings instruments so low paying, I'm surprised that SA participants avoid taxable investing. I'm flamed regularly but figure we all have different experiences. We top up our retirement accounts and TFSA . Those can be offset when I make a mistake or if we suffer a 2008-like meltdown.

The most difficult aspect is to decide what to buy at what price and then action the plan. Right now I'm waffling on a REIT for example. I suggest a gentle entrance via DCA for a no fee, low MER Index Fund. You can make changes as you wish based on your RISK comfort zone and allocation desire.
snafu Says:
April 3rd, 2014 at 05:23 pm 1396545832
1396545832

Sorry, keep losing sentences...Trying to say we've had a taxable invement account for surplus funds for a long time. Capital gains cause tax consequences.
MonkeyMama Says:
April 3rd, 2014 at 05:52 pm 1396547544
1396547544

Basically, all this means is I have more money to invest than I have useful tax-advantaged accounts (& more than short-term cash needs). It doesn't really mean anything more than that. I don't think taxable investing really means much in this day and age with 401ks, IRAs, 529 plans, HSAs, etc. You can tax shelter a crapload of money if you so desire. (I think blog commenters have a tendency to read way too much into things. As if having a taxable account is *any* indication to how much you have invested).

The purpose of this money is mostly to start a college fund for our kids. We find 529 plans pretty useless given our circumstances. But since this will be a taxable account, it's just kind of a "college/mortgage payoff/retirement" fund. (I don't expect to really need any of this money for college, which is why it has not been a big priority, but just buys us more options).
MonkeyMama Says:
April 4th, 2014 at 03:57 pm 1396627064
1396627064

Basically, all this means is I have more money to invest than I have useful tax-advantaged accounts (& more than short-term cash needs). It doesn't really mean anything more than that. I don't think taxable investing really means much in this day and age with 401ks, IRAs, 529 plans, HSAs, etc. You can tax shelter a crapload of money if you so desire. (I think blog commenters have a tendency to read way too much into things. As if having a taxable account is *any* indication to how much you have invested).

The purpose of this money is mostly to start a college fund for our kids. We find 529 plans pretty useless given our circumstances. But since this will be a taxable account, it's just kind of a "college/mortgage payoff/retirement" fund. (I don't expect to really need any of this money for college, which is why it has not been a big priority, but just buys us more options).

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Saving Saving Saving

6 Responses to “Saving Saving Saving”

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