$3,000 / Month Cruising Budget Planned

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by weavis

NO!
You fail without the aforementioned hats.

Damn ... where do I hand in my cruisers' license?

[Greene]

As a wannabe cruising couple we follow budget threads closely. We will be cruising on a tight pre-retirement (57 years old) budget as soon as our house sells. Our beautiful home has been up for sale for just over a year now. As the listing price on our house slides down we keep adjusting how much we think this cruise is going to cost us. Funny thing is we seem to be able to justify each cruising kitty reduction with our new"budget" numbers.

We figure the adventure is still available whether you have $5000 or $1000 a month. We'll spend what we have.

Mike and Brenda


Wrinklesinoursails.blogspot.com

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Greene

As a wannabe cruising couple we follow budget threads closely. We will be cruising on a tight pre-retirement (57 years old) budget as soon as our house sells. Our beautiful home has been up for sale for just over a year now. As the listing price on our house slides down we keep adjusting how much we think this cruise is going to cost us. Funny thing is we seem to be able to justify each cruising kitty reduction with our new"budget" numbers.

We figure the adventure is still available whether you have $5000 or $1000 a month. We'll spend what we have.

Mike and Brenda


Wrinklesinoursails.blogspot.com

You SURE you've never been cruising before.....???

[MarkJ]

The discussion gets pretty bloody pathetic when people are demonized for having their boat name on the TShirts.

What next? Pretentious to have a boat card?

Illegal to wear anything but rags?



The reality is often you roll up to some cruisers bar for sundowners, or aPot Luck or party where you dont know one person and you feel like some goose on a rock trying to break the ice. Your boat name on a T-shirt often lets people start a chat with you, or they've heard of you, etc, or people who you have met have an aide memoir of who you are.

And then after a nice night its good to swap boat cards so you can remember who the hell you met when you were drunk. I write on them where I met them, the date etc. that box of boat cards is not some pretentious wank, its a civilised thing to do. Its way more pretentious to meet people not caring who they are. If thats your shallowness then lead on, you will have agreat cruising life


Mark

[Group9]

We didn't have boat cards on our last cruise, but we will this time. Often, when you meet other cruisers, no one has a pen or pencil on them. It's an easy to way to exchange information with people that you are starting to get to know, just like in the business world.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

The discussion gets pretty bloody pathetic when people are demonized for having their boat name on the TShirts.

What next? Pretentious to have a boat card?

Illegal to wear anything but rags?

Geeze Mark, you either need to drink more coffee or have less rum in the morning. The comments that have got your fair all up in your dinkum were meant as light hearted jests. Chill out man. You wear those branded polo shirts with pride buddy .

P.S. I have boat cards and like them very much.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Geeze Mark, you either need to drink more coffee or have less rum in the morning. The comments that have got your fair all up in your dinkum were meant as light hearted jests. Chill out man. You wear those branded polo shirts with pride buddy .
.

Insults are not taken as light hearted jests by everyone (and i realise the original comments were meant to be funny, a bit like a racist joke). And mixed the condescending tone shown in this thread really does a disservice to new cruisers.

There are 2 threads running, the $500 thread and the $3,000 thread. Why dont people stay out of the threads that don't concern them unless they have some relevant experience to give?

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

When we bought our current boat she had towels in the head with our boat's name beautifully embroidered in them. Luckily the previous owners wanted to keep them ... whew .

But come to think of it, my partner and I do have matching sou'westers. Does that make me a cruiser .?

I never thought of having items embroidered with the boat name Not much call for it on a 26 footer, Just enough room for me in the heads never mind a range of flannels and towels. I believe its quite expensive to do so and would eat into my cruising budget.

Naah. Will give it a miss. Put the money towards something else.

[a64pilot]

Embroidery depends, all it is is a CNC sewing machine now, that is pretty common. If the Admiral wanted embroidered towels and if having them made her happier about the boat, I'd have em.
When I was in Korea, embroidery added $1 to the price of anything and was often used as a bargaining chit to sell you something. 14 yrs ago.

The "crew" shirts are big in the sportfishing crowd, always told my kids I would get them some, name Otto #1 and Otto #2

[weavis]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Embroidery depends, all it is is a CNC sewing machine now, that is pretty common. If the Admiral wanted embroidered towels and if having them made her happier about the boat, I'd have em.
When I was in Korea, embroidery added $1 to the price of anything and was often used as a bargaining chit to sell you something. 14 yrs ago.

The "crew" shirts are big in the sportfishing crowd, always told my kids I would get them some, name Otto #1 and Otto #2

Well thats settled then. Crew shirts are in!!

[a64pilot]

No, you see them a lot at fishing tournaments etc. for the sportfishing crowd.
Never did get the kids theirs either, but you know if someone enjoys wearing docksiders etc., then fine, whats it hurt?
Ought to be do-abe in the 3K a month budget?

[weavis]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

No, you see them a lot at fishing tournaments etc. for the sportfishing crowd.
Never did get the kids theirs either, but you know if someone enjoys wearing docksiders etc., then fine, whats it hurt?
Ought to be do-abe in the 3K a month budget?

Yup. The thread took an amusing deviation as to what makes a cruiser... removing cardboard, lugging fuel in carts to save money, wearing matching sou'westers, crew shirts and monogrammed towels. ....... all the things we do/have done. Kinda like the Jeff Foxworthy line " You know your a redneck when....... "

I have no issue with any of it...... but its good to laugh at oneself and enjoy life.

[Pelagic]

Maybe I am being a bit paranoid..... but I wont wear crew shirts when going ashore as I want to minimize anyone associating me with the boat.

Living in Asia you learn to dress down and act low key

[Andy73]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

... have got your fair all up in your dinkum ...

... just spit coffee on my keyboard... thanks

[Discoveryboat]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Since the last thread got locked and I'm looking at this again because I need to start making some decisions:

Determining a cruising budget and trying to find out if it will work seems like one of the most important parts of cruising, yet is one of the hardest to find any answers on. Before I got into sailing I spent 2 years researching the cost issues and in the end kind of just gave up and placed myself on a cruising path anyway.

The question frequently becomes all jammed up with "it depends" and "it costs whatever you can afford to spend" answers. Which are true, but of little value for planning. Planning becomes even more important for those not so young as the decision to stop working and go cruising equals an end to a career and little chance of returning to work at anywhere near the level they were when they sailed off. The goal becomes balancing leaving while young enough to get the most of of cruising, while working long enough to not run out of money.

But I'm becoming more and more job burnt out and more and more caught in the dream, so find myself looking for an answer based on some type of reality. To do it I spend lots of time reading through blogs looking for what people are spending and comparing it to what they are doing. I read things like the "Interview with a Cruiser Project", waste my time on the various forums, and just plain taking a guess based on what it costs me to live on land and maintain my boat now and have a budget in mind.

The budget I'm currently planning for is $3000/mo, which has to cover basically everything (turns out this is what I spend on land life once I adjust for house and boat related changes). Now this isn't a down and dirty budget, and it isn't a live high budget. But it is expected to be a comfortable budget that allows sightseeing and not eating out of a can budget. And as an average amount is one that I could cruise on till I no longer an able (that $3000/mo, $36,000/yr budget becomes $52,500 when I'm 75 at 2% inflation).

I'm currently looking at cutting land ties Sept 2015 and it is looking that on Sept 2015 we will have $442k in cash and 401ks. In 2022 & 2023 we each could start collecting about $1300/mo in social security. Had the financial advisor run the projections and he said it all works (was surprised a financial advisor would even say that).

To go or not to go; comments, stories, real examples (not from 30 yo backpacker type cruisers)

We lived on our 2002 passage 456 starting in 2007, we sailed it to Tampa late 2011 and I quit work feb 2012, our income comes from 1800 in ss and about 40k in investment income. We spend 3 mths traveling to our kids, parents, sisters and brothers, 1st yr feb of 2012 we started down fl west coast to key west by April 1, then up the east coast to Deltaville by July 1, left the boat there in the water while. We flew back to see family til mid sept, we returned to the boat and traveled to Annapolis for the boat show. Mid cot we left for fl , traveled ICW til Beaufort nc, then off shore to charleston, then off shore to st Augustine.
Then ICW til Velcro beach, then offshore lake worth, OS til ft Lauderdale, then off shore till dinner key.
Our intention was to anchor when we could, spend a few nights in marinas.

Because of storms Sandy, Burel, and just weather, we got stuck in patriot point for 10 days due to sandy, 7 days at town docks due to Burel, 7 days again in charleston due to weather. That alone cost us 2400 bucks. 100 a day adds up.

I had budgeted 700 a mth for marina mostly due to the 4 or 5 months were hod up for hurricane season and family visits.

For the past 2 years we have spent 3 months in the exumas ave just 1 day a mth in marinas! But we have had our boat at a marina in Tampa starting in July when we return and font leave til January after Xmas with the family. So that's 900 a mth for marina.


Rest of the budget

1,300 mth Health insurance 2 people one 56 one 64 thru us sailing group
300 mth boat insurance seaworthy 225 value
50 mth car insurance, we sold our car then realized we needed one for the 5 mths were off the boat or stuck at the marina(also storage for stuff we don't take. Also learned no car no car ins when renting, then it's 40-60 a day!
30 a mth sirrus weather
60 a mth sat phone
15 a mth sirrus sat radio
145 mth two I phones AT&T
500 mth food two people
400 mth entertainment
200 mth out of pocket health costs
100 mth bottom paint
50 mth mail forwarding box and cost to ship us mail every two or 3 mths
300 mth fuel diesel and gas for dink
750 mth marina
100 mth direct tv ( we have kvh sat tv)
300 mthTravel to family during the summer and Xmas
300 mth misc west marine cost, wax, boat wash, brushes etc
300 mth misc misc
51,000 approx

This year we had extra expenses
$2000 replace 6 man zodiac life raft 10 yrs old ( these gave a shelf life)
$10,000 in out of pocket dental and surgical exp
200 VHF repair
257 remote auto pilot repair

This year we spent about 65.000 and we don't live that high on the hog

With the boat ins,health ins , car ins, sat phone, weather , food, boat maintaince we have over 2500 in fixed unavoidable costs, factor in some place to keep your boat durning hurricane season ( most people use this time to see family) you have well over 3 grand,

If you have a 40 ft boat and don't plan on going without good health ins(assuming 55 plus age) good boat insurance I think 50 grand is closer to real life. I did spread sheet after spread sheet and could not come up with anything higher than 3500 a mth, but the reality is we have averaged 60 grand plus every year,