<< Back to all Blogs

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.

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

2025 Goals

[ ]Small monthly Charitable Contribution
...($0 @ 1/1/25)
...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

[ ]$10,000 to savings
...($0 @ 1/1/25)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$5,000 to investments
**STRETCH GOAL $7,500**
...($0 @ 1/1/25)
...$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 @ 1/1/25)
...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.

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

**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: $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."}

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

My Pages

January 1

January 2nd, 2018 at 01:07 pm

I am personally not into the "no spend" month thing. I think balance is delicate and I don't see messing with the delicate balance we have achieved with our finances. Just to say why I usually sit these things out. (I could just see having a no spend month and then going hog wild the next month, and generally feeling out of whack).

That's copy and pasted from the last no spend challenge. Not sure what it is, but I way prefer the uber frugal challenge. I really like Frugalwoods, and her challenge make more sense to me. I was never a fan of the no spend challenges, in contrast. Whereas I enjoyed the blog entries during the last UFM.

That said, I still personally feel the same way about my own participation. It's been a while since I have done any spending tracking in my blog, and I will participate in that way. But I don't have any motivation to cut back our spending at all. I will just be listing daily spending.

I feel that we are infinitely more lax in our finances these days (our household W2 income was up 6% last year, or about 6% higher than it's ever been!), but we are also still very frugal and mindful of our spending. Considering the mountain of gift cards we have and MH's free movie schemes, I don't see why we would spend much this month.

January 1:
-0- Spending
Dinner: Chicken Satay, brussel sprouts
+ fresh baked chocolate chip cookies

I did book a hotel stay today. MH wanted to get away for his birthday. He didn't say this specifically, but was longing for some time away, though we had probably otherwise discussed that we had put his parents out enough with our Europe trip last summer. Anyway, it was too last minute to get a free timeshare stay anywhere we'd want to go. I found a hotel near Napa $100/night with a kitchen/suite. It's so reasonable because it's outside of Napa. It's possible that we will be able to cancel this reservation; MIL is trying to get the place we usually stay in Napa. That place was $700 for the weekend if we booked on our own. HA! The place we ended up with is a Hilton property with similar accommodations. It won't be so picturesque or "new and shiny", but that's okay. We just wanted something with a kitchen where we can mostly hole up inside and relax. Is only 10 miles from where we usually stay in Napa. Anyway, it was $0 to reserve, and I will cross my fingers that I can exchange this reservation for a free room.

Now that MH is off work, we are going to plan a Friday lunch at Ruth Christ Steakhouse. I have a gift card, but they are only open for lunch on Fridays. That will be our other planned big "splurge" for the month.

Posted in Just Thinking, Daily Expense Challenge | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “January 1”

creditcardfree Says:
January 2nd, 2018 at 02:26 pm 1514903213
1514903213

The truth is a no spend is NEVER no spend. There are still bills to be paid, food to buy, and needs to purchase. Many of us here are likely already frugal, so I see your point that it wouldn't change much. I do think for those desiring to save more or pay down debt, or even change to more frugal spending habits these types of challenges can be helpful. Some may go back to their old hog wild spending days, thus it meant nothing, but those that use the challenge to spend less for a month to put that money towards debt or more to savings are the real winners of these types of challenges.
MonkeyMama Says:
January 2nd, 2018 at 03:06 pm 1514905612
1514905612

@ccfree - I was just speaking for myself. My finances would get out of whack if I went to any extreme. I feel balance is very delicate, and I wouldn't do anything that would intentionally knock it off kilter. Just to be clear I am only referring to myself. If I cut back any further I know I would feel deprived, which would just probably mean I'd spend more in the long run. Which is not helpful to me at all.
creditcardfree Says:
January 2nd, 2018 at 07:35 pm 1514921739
1514921739

I do understand you are saying it isn't for you.
MonkeyMama Says:
January 2nd, 2018 at 08:07 pm 1514923673
1514923673

I just wanted to be really clear that when I said "hog wild" I Was talking about myself.
snafu Says:
January 3rd, 2018 at 04:37 pm 1514997457
1514997457

When I 1st tried the 'no spend thing' a few years ago, I genuinely believed I wasn't an 'impulse' shopper. Oops, the discipline of 'no spend' days was an eye opener. The unanticipated benefit for me was better allocation of time. I'm doing better with self discipline. It's fallen into a routine, certain days are 'shop/expense' due dates controlled by vendors like utilities. I can manipulate my time to run errands, shop off my list, monthly/bi monthly to discount/liquidator for equipment, detergent, items where brand doesn't matter and Dollar Store in the same strip mall. If I forget an item on my list, it just waits or requires me to think out a temporary substitute.
FrugalTexan75 Says:
January 4th, 2018 at 03:48 am 1515037730
1515037730

Napa sounds like a fun birthday get away!
creditcardfree Says:
January 4th, 2018 at 12:13 pm 1515068022
1515068022

snafu, that is what I find too. I'm not as quite to run to the store for an extra item (which can involve more than the item sometimes) and try to make due. It's really just more of an awareness exercise!

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)

Name:	*
Email:	Will not be published.
	Subscribe: Notify me of additional comments to this entry.
URL:
Verification:	* Please spell out the number 4. [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]

Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

January 1

7 Responses to “January 1”

Leave a Reply