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About Me:

Monkey Mama

Just a 48-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 2023-2025.

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
...($557 @ 11/30/25)
...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
DL Teaching Credential

[ ]$10,000 to savings
...($4,677 @ 11/30/25)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$5,000 to investments
**STRETCH GOAL $7,500**
...($3,623 @ 11/30/25)
...$300/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs

[X]$1,700 to mortgage
...($1,700 @ 11/30/25)
...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% @ 11/30/25)
...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 @ 11/30/25)
...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: $65,000 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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Home > 'Tis the Season

'Tis the Season

October 25th, 2025 at 11:13 pm

Oct 22

I had some Kohl's cash and so I picked up some clothing for DL(20). He definitely gets a 'free clothes' boost re: living at home.

I had gone to Kohl's to return some shoes the prior week. They already had Christmas stuff filling up the front of the store but I hadn't bothered to grab a picture at that time. I snuck a pictue this time, but it was only a small fraction of the display.

I guess we are skipping Halloween and going straight to Christmas.

Note: We spend $0 on Christmas materialism. So it always seems a little extra weird to me. More 'I grew up on a different planet' feelings.

Posted in Just Thinking, Picture Project | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “'Tis the Season”

patientsaver Says:
October 26th, 2025 at 11:26 pm 1761521174
1761521174

Yup, way too early.
LivingAlmostLarge Says:
October 27th, 2025 at 05:23 am 1761542590
1761542590

I don't decorate for any holiday because i'm lazy.
Tabs Says:
October 29th, 2025 at 03:25 pm 1761751532
1761751532

I too agree that it's way too early. That said, may I offer an explanation of sorts?

I know someone who works as a Target manager. Based on his experiences, retailers are basically trimming down seasonal merchandises to the most profitable ones, as well as minimizing the number of deployments of these merchandises, because such deployments costs extra in money and manpower. For some stores, we're talking all-hands on deck, and paying them overtime to come in super early (say 5am) just to unload the trucks and arrangement them out on shelves.

So yeah, we all know retailers are struggling against Amazon and possible economic slump, so they're doing these weird things to basically save money.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

'Tis the Season

3 Responses to “'Tis the Season”

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