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About Me:

Monkey Mama

Just a 47-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. We've always saved 100% of MH's income, but we are starting to dial that down a bit in 2023-2024.

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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2025 Goals

[ ]Small monthly Charitable Contribution
...($0 @ 1/31/25)
...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 ✔
MM YEAR 5

DL YEAR 1 ✔
DL YEAR 2 ✔
DL YEAR 3
DL YEAR 4

[ ]$10,000 to savings
...($1,098 @ 1/31/25)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$5,000 to investments
**STRETCH GOAL $7,500**
...($400 @ 1/31/25)
...$300/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$1,700 to mortgage
...($0 @ 1/31/25)
...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% @ 1/31/25)
...This is the minimum for the match; I'd otherwise rather fund IRAs.

Goal savings rate = 25% of gross salary, plus funding IRAs from other sources.

[ ]$6,000 to IRAs 2024
**STRETCH GOAL $14,000 (MAX)**
...($0 @ 1/31/25)
...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 2025 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: $75,000 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>
2023: +$ 90,000
2024: +$95,000
TOTAL: +$665,000

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

This & That

March 19th, 2017 at 07:08 pm

**Since MH has never been to Europe, and London probably topped our list of "future travels", we are shifting gears and planning a Europe vacation, quite suddenly. I'd say otherwise it was something we were thinking about in 5+ years. But the thing about travel not being a huge priority for us is we don't want to save for a long time and spend a lot of money on *one* trip. But if we can easily afford it, then it's not a big commitment and we will take advantage.

Hotel and airfare will most likely be covered by our meager vacation budget. (Hard to believe!)

I was already on track to match my highest OT payout this spring, so will have some extra monies to throw at this trip. (I don't expect this to change our sidebar goals at all). For the most part we would be fine with walking around and enjoying the museums, and using the public transport. But since I doubt we will ever go to Europe again, I also feel we should just do the big stuff too. We are thinking of an excursion to Paris, for example.

I seem to travel abroad once every 10 years. MH mentioned my passport. I thought I might squeak by, but apparently it expires 2 months before we are planning our trip. I will renew ASAP. (I don't know when I ever would have thought of that, but I am knee deep in work).

**MH was teased about a $500 focus group. !! But he didn't make the cut. Bummer!

**DL(11) is selecting his electives for next school year. How exciting! He just had to take "a little bit of everything" for this year (art school). He wants to focus on drama and music, next school year.

**MM(13) was accepted into the Honors program at the high school. We never had any doubt that he would be. But... It also looks like he may get back on track with his math. I am so happy that something seems to be going very right on the math front!

We need to find out more, but it looks promising that he will be able to get into Trig next year.

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Edit to add: I spotted London airfare for $504 per person (after taxes and fees) today, for our preferred August dates. Our flights are booked!

Second Edit: I also wanted to say, Europe is a HUGE trip from the west coast. I am *very* sensitive to jet lag and crossing time zones. Cut us west coasters some slack. Wink This is not on my fun list of things to do, in the grand scheme of things. As we were discussing flight logistics and so on, I was thinking the trip sounds much more bearable from the east coast.

Posted in Just Thinking | 11 Comments »

11 Responses to “This & That”

snafu Says:
March 19th, 2017 at 11:44 pm 1489967056
1489967056

Suggest you task DL or MM to track currency conversion looking for best possible exchange rates. Also review financial institutions to work out lowest fees and these add up. I thought the rates were best using ATMs but was knocked hard on fees from both my home bank and the banks used overseas. Some banks had ridiculously low withdrawl limits compared to our Canadian limits. I'm really angry about being clobbered on both Visa and ATM fees from the same bank. I'm visiting my home bank tomorrow, to ask if they'll rebate any fees as a gesture of 'goodwill'.
Butterscotch Says:
March 20th, 2017 at 12:20 am 1489969243
1489969243

Very exciting about the London trip. However, I can't help but notice that this is the second time you have said that this is probably the last time you and your husband will get to Europe. You're only 40! Are you along that line of thinking because you want to see other parts of the world as well? Asia, Or maybe Australia? I hope you're not feeling like you're getting too old to travel!
scfr Says:
March 20th, 2017 at 02:35 am 1489977325
1489977325

London! How wonderful!
VS_ozgirl Says:
March 20th, 2017 at 07:57 am 1489996673
1489996673

That's a great price for an airfare!
Dido Says:
March 20th, 2017 at 11:31 am 1490009506
1490009506

Exciting that this trip is falling into place for you. Enjoy the planning and anticipating!!
MonkeyMama Says:
March 20th, 2017 at 01:10 pm 1490015435
1490015435

Thanks for the tips Snafu!

Butterscoth - neither of us particularly likes to travel, so it's not anything we are planning for the future.
LivingAlmostLarge Says:
March 20th, 2017 at 03:25 pm 1490023517
1490023517

Fun! how much was hotel and airfare for 4?
MonkeyMama Says:
March 20th, 2017 at 04:01 pm 1490025716
1490025716

LAL - For two, we will pay around $2,000. (It's just us adults going).
Kiki Says:
March 20th, 2017 at 05:13 pm 1490030015
1490030015

WOW! What airline did you find that?

So exciting that you will be able to go this year. Get hopping on the passport!
MonkeyMama Says:
March 20th, 2017 at 05:33 pm 1490031206
1490031206

Kiki, Several airlines were offering this price. $500-ish Non-stop from San Jose (which is the most convenient airport for us). We chose British Airways.
FrugalTexan75 Says:
March 25th, 2017 at 02:44 am 1490409887
1490409887

What an awesome opportunity!

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Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

This & That

11 Responses to “This & That”

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