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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

More Car Stuff & LOTS of Driving

July 2nd, 2015 at 01:03 pm

Whatever the opposite of "buyer's remorse" is, that is what I have!

So you go buy a car on a HOT day, and no one tells you the car comes with solar glass? What the wha?? I have died and gone to heaven. I see mixed reviews online, but when you upgrade a 14-year-old car you notice differences like this. IT was 108F degrees the other day and the black steering wheel was not even hot to the touch. I don't even believe it was really that hot... It just doesn't compute.

Financials:

**Insurance on new vehicle will cost us an extra $400 per year. Mostly for adding comprehensive and collision. But we will drop the full coverage on our 10-year-old van. (I'd historically drop it sooner, but it seemed easier to at least have full coverage on one car. I've been ruminating on it for a while but I guess I don't have to any more).

The net increase in cost will be about $240 per year.

**I checked with the DMV today and expect our annual fees to go up by $100 per year. It's worse early on and will drop over time.

Of course, we won't have to get smog checks for a long time ($$$) and I expect to have reduced repairs expenses in the short run. In the grand scheme of things, probably pretty breakeven. Not much change to our annual expenses.

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

Since we primarily drive the gas sipper, we just determine who drives it by who has the longest to drive any given day. I don't expect much to change. I got a couple of days in this month. (It will take me a long time to get used to it). But, that was it for me. Dh gets it hands down the rest of the month.

First and foremost, our medical people are working all this week on calibrating stuff for his radiation. They needed 5 full business days to get everything ready. I wouldn't be surprised if radiation is more expensive than surgery. Since his brain surgery was $500k-ish, I am expecting some interesting insurance statements. But yeah, the technology of it all is kind of blowing my mind.

So this week is calibrating. Then dh goes in for a procedure every day for 10 days. It's a lot. We are blessed that we can do this locally. Is still a 50 mile roundtrip commute. So he will have a bit of a medical commute for a while. The other plus is he can probably just take himself. (If he has any issues, my employer is extremely supportive).

So there is that, and I will share more on all that later. (Well, maybe, if I have any time).

The kids are also both signed up for summer classes. Which maybe we would have rethought if we knew all this was coming. LOTS of driving. They are both taking classes consecutively in entirely different places.

I usually pride myself on simplicity and a leisurely lifestyle most of the year. But work is totally crazy right now and I am not quite sure how I will survive July. Dh is mostly expected to be fine, but tiredness is a common side effect. So I am mentally preparing to take over the domestic duties (most of which he does) and maybe I will have to get the kids out of his hair as much as possible. Whatever it takes to get him in a positive restful mind space so he can kick this thing to the curb once and for all.

I just don't know why when it rains it pours!

Posted in Just Thinking | 5 Comments »

5 Responses to “More Car Stuff & LOTS of Driving”

starfishy Says:
July 2nd, 2015 at 02:01 pm 1435845680
1435845680

wow - i am way behind on the blogs and didn't realize that your DH is ill. i'm so sorry to hear this!! glad to hear that he is expected to be fine, but sounds like a long process. good luck to him and your family. and very cool about the solar windows - i've never heard of them and now i want them!! do they protect skin from UV rays, too? that would be my dream come true.
MonkeyMama Says:
July 2nd, 2015 at 02:35 pm 1435847738
1435847738

@starfishy - I have no idea on the solar glass. I will have to google it more.

To clarify, my dh is going in for radiation, which we have always expected to do but was putting off as long as possible. The next step with his brain tumor, if you recall that at all. It's cyber knife, where they pinpoint radiation just to the tumor and so the side effects are really minimal. It's generally very effective at killing these tumors, BUT, you just don't know what the long-term trade-offs are.
Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
July 2nd, 2015 at 03:14 pm 1435850068
1435850068

As unpleasant as the radiation may be, I sure hope it brings you all confidence in your husband's restored health.

Solar glass, what, really? I've never heard of it. We park on the street and my warm months routine is to open all four doors to let some heat out before we get in the car.
FrugalTexan75 Says:
July 2nd, 2015 at 11:31 pm 1435879869
1435879869

I hope that all goes well and that you find a way to relieve some of your stress during July. {{hugs}}
MonkeyMama Says:
July 3rd, 2015 at 02:31 pm 1435933880
1435933880

@starfishy - I tried to look up the solar glass more but can't find much on it. I see most windshields are already solar glass so I Don't know if that means this car has solar glass on all the windows? Or more of the windows? Info is vague. I also worry if it's a special premium glass if it would cost more to replace. Always getting chips on our windshield... So I'd like to be prepared for next time we have to replace our windshield (I am sure we will soon enough). I'd like to find more info on this solar glass.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

More Car Stuff & LOTS of Driving

5 Responses to “More Car Stuff & LOTS of Driving”

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