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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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Date Started: Sep 14, 2006
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Home > A Photo For Tabs

A Photo For Tabs

November 5th, 2025 at 04:21 pm

Seen at an EVGo charger near my parents' house: A self driving Chevy Bolt.

I just noticed it looked like a Waymo, and so I took a picture of it.

It was my second day off work, trying to make progress with helping my parents with legal things. We didn't get anywhere, but it was actually a very pleasant visit. With my mom's very slow mental decline and recent health problems, it's usually not pleasant. So I considered it a successful trip.

Posted in Just Thinking | 1 Comments »

1 Responses to “A Photo For Tabs”

Tabs Says:
November 8th, 2025 at 05:09 am 1762578598
1762578598

Hahaha wow, a photo just for me?

You know I am conflicted about autonomous driving tech. On the one hand, anything that helps you stay safe on the road is great, but on the other hand, I just don't trust it enough yet.

One day, I hope the tech will be mature enough to be a part of all vehicle safety, but not to completely take over human driving though. Limited implementations of such technology exist, and it works well enough as early warning.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

A Photo For Tabs

1 Responses to “A Photo For Tabs”

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