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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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2026 Goals

[ ]Small monthly Charitable Contribution
...($0 @ 1/1/26)
...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.

DL YEAR 1 ✔
DL YEAR 2 ✔
DL YEAR 3 ✔
DL YEAR 4
DL Teaching Credential

[ ]$10,000 to savings
...($0 @ 1/1/26)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$7,500 to investments
...($0 @ 1/1/26)
...$300/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$1,500 to mortgage
...($0 @ 1/1/26)
...Topping off with snowballs and/or excess cash
...Keeps us on track with $10K principal paydown per year

Taxable Investing/Saving rate is 14%.

[/]9% of household income to work retirement plans
...(9% @ 1/31/26)
...This is the minimum for the match; I'd otherwise rather fund IRAs.

[ ]$0 to IRAs 2026
**STRETCH GOAL $17,200 (MAX)**
...($0 @ 1/1/26)
...This seems pointless, other than the 'unexpected money' factor.
...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.

Total investing/savings rate is 23%. Making progress on dialing this down from 30%.

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

**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**

As of 2026, our primary goal is just to contribute enough to retirement to receive employer match (9%).

~~Have decided to pretty much stay the course. Keep saving 20%+ to retirement. This means taking 401K match & maxing out IRAs.~~

Pre Financial Independence:

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.

Post Financial Independence:

I wish I could contribute 0% to retirement (age 50+). But that free company match... Just to be clear why we are dipping below that magic 10% number at this point in our lives. We are done saving for retirement and are letting the investments (and employer contributions) do the hard work.

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

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
2025: +$115,000
TOTAL: +$780,000

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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Date Started: Sep 14, 2006
Entries: 2,997
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Home > Weekend Photos Part II

Weekend Photos Part II

November 4th, 2025 at 03:34 pm

This one was technically MH's photo. He has more zoom on his camera. & he might have just been focused on the bird, but I like the way the photo came out.

Oh yeah, and we saw a Great Blue Heron. A little too far away to get a useful photo or a really good look at it. It was an unexpected surprise at the end of our walk.

Posted in Just Thinking, Picture Project | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Weekend Photos Part II”

Tabs Says:
November 5th, 2025 at 02:42 am 1762310565
1762310565

Yay, the photo fun continues. Thank you for sharing.

Just curious, when you say "more zoom", exactly what is he using and how much zoom? Is he still using a phone, or a dedicated camera?
MonkeyMama Says:
November 5th, 2025 at 05:17 pm 1762363027
1762363027

He has a cell phone camera with 10x zoom? If I recall correctly.
rob62521 Says:
November 6th, 2025 at 08:14 pm 1762460040
1762460040

These are cool! Thanks for sharing!
Tabs Says:
November 8th, 2025 at 05:14 am 1762578870
1762578870

Oh thank you. 10x (optical) zoom is still kind of rare for some reason. Samdsung has had it in the S23 Ultra, but for some reason didn't in the S24 Ultra, and then brought it back again for the S25 Ultra. I believe Google and Sony also have it as well.

The optical physics involved in anything beyond 10x is, for some reason, really tricky. I am not sure why that is, just that it is, and a lot of tech is involved in trying to stabilize your image past that point.

Uh, I'm rambling, but the fact that anybody can even approach 10x on a cellphone is nothing short of a miracle in my eyes.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

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Weekend Photos Part II

4 Responses to “Weekend Photos Part II”

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