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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
...($115 @ 2/28/25)
...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
...($2,156 @ 2/28/25)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$5,000 to investments
**STRETCH GOAL $7,500**
...($700 @ 2/28/25)
...$300/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$1,700 to mortgage
...($0 @ 2/28/25)
...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% @ 2/28/25)
...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 @ 2/28/25)
...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.

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

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

Oct 13 - Chore Day

October 17th, 2024 at 03:50 pm

October 13

$131 Groceries

$105 Kohls

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's going to be a long week. I expect I will be in the office for 5 days. & the new employee likes to work a later schedule. I gave up working past 5:00 (now that she's getting more settled) but 5:00 still seems crazy late. I know I will be exhausted.

MH has a very busy week re: second job (unpaid). I presume I will be trying to make dinner some nights. I am not going to be particularly organized or prepared. I wouldn't be surprised if I ran to the store some mornings. I will have to at least plan ahead that much if I don't want to go to the grocery store at 6pm.

MH is going to the grocery store today. I put black beans on the grocery list and figured I'd re-try that (black bean wraps). It will give me food for the work week.

I was going to make spaghetti today for lunch, but that was before we ate out. I will eat my dinner leftovers (if DL doesn't beat me to it). The spaghetti will be a quick/easy weeknight dinner. None of this probably helps MH but I told him I'd make sure DL was fed. I could also just order a pizza (which is something else MH doesn't care for). That's a good option for later in the week when I expect to be more tired.

I will tend to some chores today. Mostly lots of laundry.

I ended up doing a Kohl's order because the pants I buy were only $15. I ordered a couple of pairs and was trying to add a couple of bath towels so that I could get free shipping. (The towels I keep in the guest bath are falling apart, I noticed today.) This doubled the amount of shipping, don't ask me how. MH just happened to walk in at that moment. I had forwarded him my Kohl's cash (some weeks ago) because he was going to buy some pants. So when he walked in I told him I was spending the Kohl's cash. We added some mens pants to the shopping cart. I told him I would return them if they didn't work for him. He'd rather buy in person. But he really needed pants. So it's possible this will make both our lives easier. But I do also expect to return some of this order. I buy the same pants over and over, but the sizing is usually a little bit off. I figured odds are I will return one of the pants I ordered for myself.

Posted in Just Thinking | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “Oct 13 - Chore Day”

Tabs Says:
October 19th, 2024 at 10:53 am 1729331611
1729331611

These days, I only ever go to Kohl's IF I ever shop for clothes at all to begin with. As a plain T-shirt and pants kind of guy, I am so easy, and frankly and I am not fashionable at all.

Kohl's has the added benefit of allowing me to make Amazon returns from time to time. So, basically, I like Kohl's, but I also only know Kohl's.
MonkeyMama Says:
October 19th, 2024 at 03:35 pm 1729348520
1729348520

My husband likes Target better for clothes. I used to buy more Target clothes but the quality went downhill a long time ago (for things I buy). I have Kohls/Mervyns clothes that are 30 years old, in contrast. But admittedly, Kohls quality has gone downhill recently. It's the only place I know of I can go try on jeans and I like those. But the shirts keep getting more and more see through thin. That is really annoying. I've been testing out Macy's, JcPenney's online but shirts are the one thing that are easy for me to buy (everything fits) and they are also easy to return.

All of that said, I think my husband is currently boycotting Target. He doesn't like how everything at our store is locked up. When I went in to grab hair conditioner some weeks ago, I saw they lock up all the shampoo too. They had those cabinets unlocked at 8am but I can see why my hubby was annoyed.
Tabs Says:
October 19th, 2024 at 07:58 pm 1729364304
1729364304

Oh yeah, Target has clothes too lol. I used to go to Target all the time, but now, I've gotten used to the convenience of ordering Amazon online... which is both a good and a bad thing.

But yeah, it's crazy that retail stores are having to lock up stuff like laundry detergents for example.

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Oct 13 - Chore Day

3 Responses to “Oct 13 - Chore Day”

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