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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.

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

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

Zero Credit Score

September 24th, 2022 at 03:36 pm

My boss is applying for a new business credit card and is having issues.

Is through our bank, that we have a long relationship with. They finally told him, "Yeah, we noticed a while ago you had a zero credit score but clearly you had good credit and it didn't affect things on our end." Re: bank line of credit and personal guaranty (he also has a bajillion dollars). "But it's going to be a little more work to get around the 'credit approval' robot."

I was fascinated by this. He told me they don't use credit cards (he's in his early 30s) and they paid off their house in 2019. (I knew this because I sent the payoff wire). I thought good credit stayed on your report for 10 years (it does) *and* that it would take a lot longer for a paid off loan to impact your credit score.

Most especially because this is probably the #1 comment I get re: credit card rewards. I don't keep old cards open. Everyone freaks out about that but it's never been an issue. I had a 780+ credit score at some point when we had only 1 year of open credit (around the time we did our last refi). I just happened to jump to a new primary credit card around the time we refinanced. & we never keep old cards open. The results = *shrugs*

So... I was fascinated when my boss told me it was about 18 months? from a 800+ credit score to *zero*

I guess that's how it works when you have absolutely no open credit.

I don't know if this means anything to me personally. In a perfect world I would love to stop using credit cards (on principle). But they are just so convenient... I don't know that we will ever drop credit cards. So will probably always have some form of credit.

Posted in Just Thinking | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “Zero Credit Score”

Lots of ideas Says:
September 24th, 2022 at 07:50 pm 1664049022
1664049022

That is wild.

Interesting that you, who understands and practices great credit card skills, would like to stop using cards.

I know that vendors pay a fee for transactions on cards which probably is reflected in prices, but I use no fee cards with cash back and I like both the money I ‘earn’ and the ease of seeing what I spend money on.
terri77 Says:
September 25th, 2022 at 08:33 pm 1664137994
1664137994

If you follow the Dave Ramsey plan you’ll never use credit & this never have a credit score. I don’t plan on never using credit so I won’t have that issue. I don’t trust paying for everything in cash.
rob62521 Says:
September 25th, 2022 at 11:46 pm 1664149604
1664149604

That is just crazy, isn't it?

I use a credit card to buy things like groceries and stuff, then pay it off and so far that has worked. But it is like one is punished for not incurring debt.
LuckyRobin Says:
September 26th, 2022 at 01:58 am 1664157534
1664157534

One of my credit cards offers this advice on how to improve my credit score: Take out a car loan or a mortgage. Um...no, thanks. Not when I have a car under 60,000 miles I've had for 11 years and a truck that will go at least another 50,000 at least and is 17 years old and in great shape. They'll probably force us off the road with gas vehicles before these cars go belly up.
GoodLiving Says:
September 26th, 2022 at 07:56 pm 1664222216
1664222216

Yikes, money makes the world go around, I guess. I use a costco credit card and pay it off every month...mostly for the rewards. It's good information because how I do money might change in retirement.
LivingAlmostLarge Says:
September 27th, 2022 at 05:03 am 1664254989
1664254989

That sounds amazing and good for them! I started CC arbitage in the last 2 years for some reason. Mostly because I was like oh i sort of want to try X, Y, and Z. I'm settling in though and i guess i'll replace our scores soon.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Zero Credit Score

6 Responses to “Zero Credit Score”

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