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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 Teacher Monkey (TM). 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. The origination fee on a Parent Plus loan is 4% (in addition to 9% interest rate).

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

MM YEARS 1-5 ✔

[ ]$10,000 to savings
...(-$2,470** @ 8/31/26)
...$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
...($2,879 @ 8/31/26)
...$300/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$1,500 to mortgage
...($0 @ 8/31/26)
...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% @ 8/31/26)
...This is the minimum for the match; I'd otherwise rather fund IRAs.

[ ]$0 to IRAs 2026
**STRETCH GOAL $17,200 (MAX)**
...($0 @ 8/31/26)
...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.

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

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.

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

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."}

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

My Pages

Free Hair Cut

August 7th, 2026 at 03:57 am

I just started jotting down some things in another place, not expecting the blogs to be down for so long. Catching up...

August 1

Frugal Things

MM(23) cut his own hair today. He did a really good job. I guess my Dad lent him some fancy scissors.

MM(23) is definitely going for the whole Money Mustache thing. While I enjoyed some of Money Mustache (put things into words that were in line with our own philosophy and beliefs) I personally never cared much for ‘putting entire life on hold to enjoy later’ aspect of it. Most particularly when it came to having kids, which was extra important to MH to do at a young age. & hindsight 20/20 I appreciate taking advantage of my youth on that front. But we’ve spent MM(23)’s entire life encouraging him to dial it down. I can see as he becomes an adult, he will be making more of his own choices and maybe doesn’t respect our more balanced life philosophy. He told me the other day he will live on $20K per year. He tends to be a little obsessive, and extreme.

Where does TM(21) fall in all this? I think he’s embraced more of the ‘love your job’ aspect (is okay with working for a few decades) and is a little more on the balanced side. But he told me the other day ‘no offense’ but he would never buy a ‘big’ house like we have. His dream/forever home is a condo. I told him he was preaching to the choir. Condo living was perfect when it was just the two of us. I take no offense.

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

August 2

Frugal Things

MH & I went to the art museum. Free, with our membership. I don’t remember the last time we went, and I suppose I have no record re: no money trail to follow.

TM(21) and the GF went down to the community pool. It’s a couple of blocks from our house. Free, with our HOA dues. The kids had lost interest during teen years, but the GF very much enjoys the amenities by our home (the lake and the pool). & the nature walks, which we never tired of. There’s just land to the west of us.

Not-Frugal Things

TM(21) jumped into the pool with his phone in his pocket. Oops!

The phone is dead. He’s pondering a lower tech life. Both my kids had already taken most the apps off their phones. Will see where he ends up.

Posted in Just Thinking | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Free Hair Cut”

ceejay74 Says:
August 8th, 2026 at 04:22 am 1786162959
1786162959

That's pretty awesome that your kids have picked up on your frugal philosophy! It remains to be seen how my kids approach it once on their own, but I've always exposed them to my thinking and at least some sense of our financial picture, and they get finite amounts of money (via Apple Cash) to spend, so I'm hopeful they'll leave the nest with some financial self-preservation instilled...
Robert Katz Says:
August 8th, 2026 at 05:01 pm 1786208477
1786208477

Being money smart is great!
DK62565 Says:
August 8th, 2026 at 08:01 pm 1786219268
1786219268

That's great that your kids have adopted your frugal ways.

I wondered what happened with the blogs.
Tabs Says:
August 9th, 2026 at 06:10 am 1786255831
1786255831

Well, Mr. Money Mustache isn't the worst influence out there. I wish my kids would be more financially responsible as well. I'm working on it whenever I can, though with mixed results.

I hear plenty of Gen Z are considering lowering their tech exposure. I think many are painfully aware of how dangerous and addictive, and how foreign countries can weaponize social media platforms (like TikTok), such that some are wisely weening off of it.

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Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Free Hair Cut

4 Responses to “Free Hair Cut”

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