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About Me:

Monkey Mama

Just a 49-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
...($32 @ 2/28/26)
...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.
...#3 I don't understand why I would find student loan interest rates to be useful, as a middle class person with a high credit score. Would do better to borrow money from anywhere else. I think point #2 is more my 'hells no' reason, but this is my 'I don't get it' reason.

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

MM YEARS 1-5 ✔

[ ]$10,000 to savings
...(-$3,880** @ 5/31/26)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs
**Yes, that's a negative! 2026 started out rough, with some large emergency expenses.

[ ]$7,500 to investments
...($1,740 @ 5/31/26)
...$300/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$1,500 to mortgage
...($0 @ 5/31/26)
...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% @ 5/31/26)
...This is the minimum for the match; I'd otherwise rather fund IRAs.

[ ]$0 to IRAs 2026
**STRETCH GOAL $17,200 (MAX)**
...($0 @ 5/31/26)
...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%.

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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**

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.

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Debt: $60,000 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.

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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: +$120,000
TOTAL: +$785,000

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

Sharing More Minutiae

July 6th, 2026 at 12:56 am

It's probably ambitious during a busy month, but I figured I'd dive into 'spending tracking'. Just as a way to jump back into blogging.

Unlike in the past, will be focusing on my own spending (versus other household spending). & maybe weekly, or 'every few day' updates. & I mean, I can share grocery (household spending) but that is depressing right now. 😁 With a 5-person household. MM(22) devoured all of our food for a couple of weeks, and then he left town for a couple of weeks (wrapping up stuff in college town; cleaning out rental). We will definitely have to take some breaths and re-evaluate meal planning.

July will include 3 birthday celebrations, and a few days out of town caring for my mom.

MH & I did our big dinner out, to celebrate MM(22)'s graduation. MH's head was mostly where I expected it to be. The one thing that was confusing to me was he seemed eager to push MM(22) out of the nest but I recalled MH had lived at home (free room/board) for 18 months? It was just 6 months, I was confusing years. So it does make more sense now.

After that conversation, I ran into DL(20) and was asking him some questions about the GF's plans. It turns out her rental situation fell through and so she plans to start paying us rent in a couple of months. More things to figure out and talk about. We might have a a couple of tenants paying rent in 2027.

The bigger news is that DL(20) is talking about moving out, to help the GF with rent. (Not necessarily right away, but maybe when he finishes his degree next spring.) I didn't *see* it because DL has been so insistent on living at home and saving money, and is so much like MH in that regard. But MH called it. We talked about it the other day and MH told me, "I just thought I would have done the same thing if you needed help with your rent." Which honestly, I did need help with my rent at the same age, but I was more self sufficient and more quiet about it, I suppose.

I wouldn't be surprised if all 3 of them move out at the same time, sharing an apartment to save money.

That reminds me, please send some good vibes. The GF had a job interview this weekend for a job that she will enjoy (very much like the job she left on the east coast; it's a sister company). The job market here is abysmal, like it always has been. Both her and DL have been overly confident about this job, while I wouldn't personally hold my breath.

Posted in Just Thinking | 1 Comments »

1 Responses to “Sharing More Minutiae”

Tabs Says:
July 6th, 2026 at 08:22 am 1783326167
1783326167

Haha teenagers and young adults eating their parents out of house and home… sounds familiar there. However, they are almost done growing I believe, so hopefully, they will be tapering off soon.

Best of luck and good vibes to the GF in hoping she gets the job!

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Sharing More Minutiae

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