Cruising on $5,000 / Month

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

You know the product the Smarter than you Government now mandates you buy or pay a fine. Next up...4 servings of veggies per day from www.ChooseMyPlate.Gov

Oddly enough that Government mandate does not apply to the $500 a month cruiser, or even the $900 a month cruiser. No fines at all if your living under the poverty limits.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Only a true $5k/mo cruiser could stay in the USA if they need medical insurance. I've always pretty much known that cruising involved getting out of the country.The medical insurance issue is a HUGE 9000# gorilla as medical costs are the leading cause of bankruptcy.

Yep. I love the cheap cruising threads but the gorilla is always in the room. Even Indy, self-styled inventor of $500 cruising, hadn't figured that one out. Plus he had a 40'+ yacht and a beautiful wife, that's $500 a month maintenance EACH.

Nah, mates, the ultra low budget guys are just scraping by. We all know it. They'll argue about it and call ya all the names in Mr. Chapman's book, but in the end they're not going to sail to Tahiti or even the Bahamas cuz they don't have the dough to post the entry bond/cruising permit. Should have paid more attention in high school.

I will reserve my remarks on Obamacare for the dedicated thread. I'm now dating Nancy Pelosi, and we're going to start reading it together and maybe even put it on Youtube or more likely Xtube.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

Yep. I love the cheap cruising threads but the gorilla is always in the room. Even Indy, self-styled inventor of $500 cruising, hadn't figured that one out. Plus he had a 40'+ yacht and a beautiful wife, that's $500 a month maintenance EACH.

Nah, mates, the ultra low budget guys are just scraping by. We all know it. They'll argue about it and call ya all the names in Mr. Chapman's book, but in the end they're not going to sail to Tahiti or even the Bahamas cuz they don't have the dough to post the entry bond/cruising permit. Should have paid more attention in high school.

I will reserve my remarks on Obamacare for the dedicated thread. I'm now dating Nancy Pelosi, and we're going to start reading it together and maybe even put it on Youtube or more likely Xtube.

As a self described and proud budget cruiser that even went so far as to publish our "el cheapo" budget online for others to see, I will have to agree with Blue Crab on this one.

All of the "True $500/mo" cruisers we met...were more just living (subsisting) aboard in the spots they were in rather than what I think we would define as "cruising".

Truth is...I think $399 of that $500/mo budget went to pot or booze...but hey...who am I to judge? I'm still trying to wrap my head around dating Queen Nancy...ahhhhhhhh

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Truth is...I think $399 of that $500/mo budget went to pot or booze...

Hum well agree some of the down and out do seem to walk about in a haze. Me, never even tried pot or coffee for that matter, and have not even had beer or a glass o wine in about 10 years. Gee I designed winery's there for a while too...

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

... I will have to agree with Blue Crab on this one...

I appreciate the fortitude it took to say that.

Truth: the only thing Ms Pelosi and I have in common is that neither of us have read the Affordable Health Care Act.

[sailorboy1]

I can drift along

Before I started sailing I used to say I was going to go out into open water, get naked, and smoke dope (because at the time I thought I would be safe from the law). But it hasn't happened as the dope part seems just too risky and the sailing naked in the cold without the dope doesn't seem right and risks sunburn where I don't want it. So in the end I just sail.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

Hum well agree some of the down and out do seem to walk about in a haze....

And they all smoke cigarettes! That's a coupla hundred a month right there.

[sailorchic34]

Most do. But not I. That's why I live well on $500 a month.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

SNIP

Truth is...I think $399 of that $500/mo budget went to pot or booze...but hey...who am I to judge?

SNIP

While wacky tabacky can get expensive and a six pack a day is not cheap I know some cruisers/live aboarders who spend more than my monthly food budget on cigarettes. Also seen guys go to the pot luck dinners with a couple of bags of chips and store bought dip, or similar snacks that can add up in cost at a hurry.

Maybe I have a different take on health insurance than others, but I really don't consider that a cruising expense. To me it is more like a fixed expense, or not, depending on the person be they on land or on a boat. There are plenty of folks on land who have no health insurance for what ever reason and if they get on a boat they will still have no health insurance. Same for those who do have health insurance, they will have it be they on a boat or not.

There are also some personal life style choices that I consider more fixed costs than cruising costs. Some folks think it is necessary to visit family members on a regular basis, not so much so for others. Same goes for what I will call vacations and tourism. These costs would be the same if one is on land or on a boat.

As for food I go the Walmart and spend a few of hundred dollars on canned goods, rice, beans, pasta, spices, and other staples. Just before leaving I stock up on single serving yogurt and cheese and fill the Frigaboat. Let's assume I eat a yogurt for breakfast along with instant coffee, have a couple of high fiber energy bars for lunch, and a can of veggies and pasta and tomato sauce for dinner. Drink a lot of stuff like generic Crystal Light tea or lemon aid. If you throw in some fresh caught fish, lobster, or crab a couple of times a week it is easy to live on a food budget of $US25 a week or $US100 a month.

As sailorchic34 noted it is quite possible to maintain your boat DIY much cheaper than paying high end marina labor rates. As zeehag noted checking out the dumpsters at marinas often turns up discarded items that also lower costs.

Perhaps the biggest variable in cruising is personal spending habits. If you spend lavishly on land you will do the same on a boat. If you are frugal on land you will be frugal on a boat.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by tomfl

While wacky tabacky can get expensive and a six pack a day is not cheap I know some cruisers/live aboarders who spend more than my monthly food budget on cigarettes. Also seen guys go to the pot luck dinners with a couple of bags of chips and store bought dip, or similar snacks that can add up in cost at a hurry.

Maybe I have a different take on health insurance than others, but I really don't consider that a cruising expense. To me it is more like a fixed expense, or not, depending on the person be they on land or on a boat. There are plenty of folks on land who have no health insurance for what ever reason and if they get on a boat they will still have no health insurance. Same for those who do have health insurance, they will have it be they on a boat or not.

There are also some personal life style choices that I consider more fixed costs than cruising costs. Some folks think it is necessary to visit family members on a regular basis, not so much so for others. Same goes for what I will call vacations and tourism. These costs would be the same if one is on land or on a boat.

As for food I go the Walmart and spend a few of hundred dollars on canned goods, rice, beans, pasta, spices, and other staples. Just before leaving I stock up on single serving yogurt and cheese and fill the Frigaboat. Let's assume I eat a yogurt for breakfast along with instant coffee, have a couple of high fiber energy bars for lunch, and a can of veggies and pasta and tomato sauce for dinner. Drink a lot of stuff like generic Crystal Light tea or lemon aid. If you throw in some fresh caught fish, lobster, or crab a couple of times a week it is easy to live on a food budget of $US25 a week or $US100 a month.

As sailorchic34 noted it is quite possible to maintain your boat DIY much cheaper than paying high end marina labor rates. As zeehag noted checking out the dumpsters at marinas often turns up discarded items that also lower costs.

Perhaps the biggest variable in cruising is personal spending habits. If you spend lavishly on land you will do the same on a boat. If you are frugal on land you will be frugal on a boat.

You're correct if you're just talking cruising costs but for those who live on their boats full time they were arriving at their total expenses so would need to include everything. We've sort of intermingled two different questions.

[sailorboy1]

Part of the intend of the question is know how much to budget. Everything needs to be included in that no matter what it is for. For there is no doubt that a lot of people don't include things in their budget and report a lower number because the "other" cost somehow are paid with magic.

Heck by some of the "rules" I've read in forums I could load my boat up with food for a couple of months eating and then say I never even paid for any food for 2 months.

[sailpower]

Originally Posted by tomfl

If you throw in some fresh caught fish, lobster, or crab a couple of times a week it is easy to live on a food budget of $US25 a week or $US100 a month.

FWIW, when converting weekly to monthly consider multiplying weekly x 4.33 to get a monthly average.

Calculating 4 weeks = 1 month results in a 48 week year which leaves out 4 weeks over the course of the year.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Part of the intend of the question is know how much to budget. Everything needs to be included in that no matter what it is for. For there is no doubt that a lot of people don't include things in their budget and report a lower number because the "other" cost somehow are paid with magic.

Heck by some of the "rules" I've read in forums I could load my boat up with food for a couple of months eating and then say I never even paid for any food for 2 months.

My point was that there are fixed costs associated with living, be it living on land or cruising on a boat. For some folks those fixed costs include health insurance and for others health insurance is not included.

My point about food was that on land many of us go to the store and are tempted to buy chocolate cheese cake with a cherry on top and prime ribs for dinner while if we are provisioning our boat a can of beef stew is more likely to not only be on the menu but also more likely to be a less expensive meal.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by tomfl

... My point about food was that on land many of us go to the store and are tempted to buy chocolate cheese cake with a cherry on top and prime ribs for dinner while if we are provisioning our boat a can of beef stew is more likely to not only be on the menu but also more likely to be a less expensive meal.

Other than inebriation, I had no compelling reason to have dinner out, spending $45 for an excellent steak dinner couple of nights ago. Can't do that every night though, and next morning doncha know I was hungry again.

Dang! Coulda had a big jug o' V8, and saved $42 bucks, and still have been hungry next morning. Maybe this is a zen koan kinda thing: even if you're deaf, can you hear the sound of your own stomach growling?

Budget analysis:

$45 a night = $1400 just for dinner, so $2k to eat for the month.
6 pack per day = about $5 x 30 = $150/mo min.
Cancerous smokes @ $6 per day = $180/mo min.
Healthy herbal smokes @ $120 per 1/4oz per week = $516/mo give or take

So just eating, drink, and smoking = almost $3k/mo and we haven't even mentioned boating. There it is Don, in black and white. I'd say ya do need a minimum of $5K/month to cruise comfortably.

Note to NSA and Bofort, NC police: this is just speculative observation as I don't smoke and I don't chew, and I don't go with gals that do.

TMSAISTI.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab;1480841
Budget analysis:

[B

$45 a night = $1400 just for dinner, so $2k to eat for the month.[/B]
6 pack per day = about $5 x 30 = $150/mo min.
Cancerous smokes @ $6 per day = $180/mo min.
Healthy herbal smokes @ $120 per 1/4oz per week = $516/mo give or take

So just eating, drink, and smoking = almost $3k/mo and we haven't even mentioned boating. There it is Don, in black and white. I'd say ya do need a minimum of $5K/month to cruise comfortably.

your costing is in error and low

I'm going to have to take your word on the health food item