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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
...($6,653 @ 4/30/24)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$7,500 to investments
...($2,220 @ 5/31/24)
...$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% @ 4/30/24)
...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>
2023: +$ 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

Quick Check In

March 14th, 2020 at 08:42 pm

Meh. This past week or so just feels like an extension of the past 2 years or so. I might have mentioned that my life is just chaos any more. The curve might veer off into some extra insanity or apocalypse, but to this point it's just kind of life as I know it (lots of chaos). I'm just along for the ride.

Pretty much everything has been canceled or closed here, as of mid-week.

We did lock in a 2.5% mortgage (refi).

MH will most likely be laid off through summer or significantly reduced work hours, because his work is with the schools. This is a *shrugs* to us financially because we don't rely on his income at all. (Nothing has been said, but seems pretty obvious).

This reminds me, MM(16) had applied for a summer job at the water park. They are moving forward as planned, but I can see that could fall through for him.

For about a week there has been panic shopping in our region. Living my whole life in regions without "weather", I don't know that it's anything I've ever seen before. Maybe 9/11? But we didn't cook back then and weren't trying to keep teen boys fed. So I don't remember at all. I suppose that was also before social media. I've not been going into any stores, but everyone keeps sharing pictures.

{Edited to add: "Panic Shopping" is the term I used to describe hoarding. & empty shelves. Things have been calm and civilized. But we also wouldn't go into stores like Target or Costco, which are totally insane right now. We generally stay away from the herd and have been able to continue to do so.}

There's been many other things going on, but too exhausted and probably forgot most of it anyway. I still can't keep track still of who is sick or on the hospital. It continues to be a lot.

I told MH I was *not* watching any movies today, with all of our plans canceled. If we end up hunkering down at home more, will be plenty of time to get caught up on movies. Still working through the Top 100.

Posted in Just Thinking | 5 Comments »

5 Responses to “Quick Check In”

Lucky Robin Says:
March 15th, 2020 at 05:48 am 1584251309
1584251309

Great job on the refi. Hope life settles a bit with all the sick people. These blog colors are hard to read. The gray tends to make the words blur into the background without enough contrast. Maybe it is just my eyes being so crap, but the other colors didn't do this. Just for what it is worth. Feel free to ignore. I might be able to find a filter.
LivingAlmostLarge Says:
March 15th, 2020 at 05:59 am 1584251943
1584251943

Where did you get the refi from? How did you get it? Was it a 15 year for 2.5?
MonkeyMama Says:
March 15th, 2020 at 12:30 pm 1584275403
1584275403

15-year. Honestly, you have to know the super secret handshake, they are *so* slammed. It's unlike anything I have ever seen. I've refied several times at rock bottom, but this is different.

I am well aware there is serious talk of rates dropping further, but good luck. You probably need to know someone who works for a mortgage lender. The rest is just timing/luck. If you apply cold, they will get back to you eventually. I was only able to do the same day lock because of a friend of a friend.
MonkeyMama Says:
March 15th, 2020 at 12:34 pm 1584275669
1584275669

@LR - is it just the gray on the main page? I appreciate the feedback.
MonkeyMama Says:
March 15th, 2020 at 12:36 pm 1584275760
1584275760

To clarify, I mean the grey on the background of the blog post text?

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Quick Check In

5 Responses to “Quick Check In”

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