$3,000 / Month Cruising Budget Planned

[sailorchic34]

One think to consider is the possibility of earning money and paying for the cruising, or part of it anyway as you go. I have been lucky enough to find some demand for my services (engineering) that I can do with just a laptop, Autocad, a calculator and a cell wifi device, from just about anywhere there is cell coverage.

It might be hard to make $3000 a month from a boat. But I'm finding that it is possible to fund the cruising/boating lifestyle as you go. No the pay will not be what it is on land. But I was surprised to find out that it is very possible to make a living from a boat.

Of course one must have a skill set that is portable, be it engineering, web design, programing, etc., etc. An evening class or two for a few months might make that possible for just about anyone.

Now a days it's called crowd sourcing. Much of it is not worth the effort, but if you have a skill set or two, its definitely an option. Websites like elance and odesk and others are a start to funding cruising as you go.

[AlwaysFORSAIL]

I retired at 50 in 1996 moved to Florida in 1998 bought a boat/condo. Worked a little teaching sailing, delivering boats, teaching capt's courses noe of which paid enough money to cause one to change his lifestyle just enough to stay out of my retirement kitty and to learn. In 2005 I sold the land based stuff and moved aboard and haven't looked back. If you want to go - go. I have cruised and stayed from Ft Myers to Galveston to Charleston to The Bahamas to The Virgins. Florida's West coast and Keys are the most expensive and easiest. Your budget will still leave a good sum for the kids whether you stay in marina's, hire all maintenance and send out for pizza every day and take a couple airplane rides a year.

[zeehag]

i am cruising full time, out of usa, on less than 1500 usd monthly .
if i can do it you can, and anyone can. yes that includes boat repairs.
i find folks can do anything they set their minds to doing.

[tdominic_97]

Sailorboy1, $442,000 would make 3000 a month earning 3% interest. So you could easily do this for 7 years and not touch the principle and then you could double your spending when your SS comes in and still have 442 thousand bones in the bank for emergency.

[Kenomac]

Sailorboy1,

For $3000 per month I can safely say that you'll be able to live like royalty in most cruising spots. It won't give you enough to eat out every day and stay inside a marina every night, but I don't think that's what you plan on doing. I'd consider adding a watermaker and some sort of small washing machine to your boat, which will make life go from awesome to..... totally awesome.

Please feel free to PM me is you'd like to discuss specific budget details and pitfalls. Nice to hear you're getting close to heading out.

Ken

[MarkJ]

$3,000 per month, indexed for the future is fine.

You won't live like a king but you will be able to live well, travel well and maintain the boat. And thats all we want.

The first year will be very tight for money, the second year easier, but thats the same as when you bought your first house - the first year was financial hell but the excitement made it worth it.

If you ar never using all your $3,000 per month something will pop up to take every cent from you: a flight back home unexpectedly (to Australia booked 3 months ahead is $2,000 but if I anted to fly tomorrow its $4,200!).

On a $3k budget if the poop hits the aircon you can hunker down somewhere and save like hell. But if yu ar on a $1k budget and suddently need $3k you are stuffed for a longer time.
So in the worst case senario, $3k gives you the latitude to get out of trouble.

Som things you may just need to "get over" like expensive American health insurance. Why pay that when a hospital visit here is a fraction of the price than i the USA? Because you wat an American sounding doctor - ain't that just a fraction xenophobic?
Anyway, there isnt a more healthy group of people than cruisers. You can give your doctor the flick when you give up your stressful life style and have time to cook yourself proper whole food.

So the day you have that $3,000 per month kiss the boss goodbye and fluck off!


Mark

[muttskie]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Running out of money isn't your problem...running out of Life IS!

Excellent!

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by tdominic_97

Sailorboy1, $442,000 would make 3000 a month earning 3% interest. So you could easily do this for 7 years and not touch the principle and then you could double your spending when your SS comes in and still have 442 thousand bones in the bank for emergency.

You better check your math. Besides not all is cash that can be taken without just giving money away as a penalty or taxes. If I stay on current savings plan I get down to about $36K cash on hand in my spreadsheet before I start drawing from investments etc. (I could share the spreadsheet but don't feel like defending it).

But actually I'm currently selling this leave next year thing to my wife as we will cruise a year or so then come back and work a year (at a MUCH lower position than we have).

[Group9]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Running out of money isn't your problem...running out of Life IS!

So true. Just check the daily obits for confirmation. Look at the people in it, and wonder what they thought they were going to be doing next year.

[Ndavies]

We just did a 7 month Bahamas cruise. Yes, I believe it can be done on your budget. Of course there is a bit of an "it depends" factor. From our experience the two biggest "it depends" would be
- how often you eat ( and drink) out
- how often you use marinas as opposed to mooring balls and the anchor

We found there were 2 practical reasons to use marinas - water top up, laundry, and provisions - ok. That's 3. And to be quite honest we like to eat out and explore the a Area. So there were months when we blew right threw your $3,000 number.

When doing some planning I found a great resource on this topic. I suggest listening to episode 31 of The Sailing Podcast - Come and join us on our journey The Sailing Podcast. If you go to the website and look for the podcast notes, there is a really good spreadsheet from Bill and Judy Rouse of S/V Bebe. The podcast is a great listen too.

Hope this helps. And I would be glad to share info on specific costs we experienced on our cruise. Just drop me an email

Neil
S/V Midnight Sun II
Home
S/V Midnight Sun II

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

But actually I'm currently selling this leave next year thing to my wife as we will cruise a year or so then come back and work a year (at a MUCH lower position than we have).

She and her fear of not having enough money is my problem as well.
If mine works another 10 yrs, her retirement will be $1,000 a month as a school teacher. I tell her that's just not worth it. Finally she has come around to not wanting to work another ten years, but once we quit, it's done and she does know that.
This month I should pay off the boat and own it out right, then begin the real re-fit, so I'll be asking best place to buy new head sails etc soon I hope.

My problem is if I stay in the house I'm in, even though it's paid for, the utility bills, taxes, insurance, upkeep etc mean I have to work. If we don't go in three years, she will need a new car etc.

Unless I'm not understanding something, there is a considerable cost associated with NOT going, am I alone in that, is that unusual?

[Greenhand]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

She and her fear of not having enough money is my problem as well.
If mine works another 10 yrs, her retirement will be $1,000 a month as a school teacher. I tell her that's just not worth it. Finally she has come around to not wanting to work another ten years, but once we quit, it's done and she does know that.
This month I should pay off the boat and own it out right, then begin the real re-fit, so I'll be asking best place to buy new head sails etc soon I hope.

My problem is if I stay in the house I'm in, even though it's paid for, the utility bills, taxes, insurance, upkeep etc mean I have to work. If we don't go in three years, she will need a new car etc.

Unless I'm not understanding something, there is a considerable cost associated with NOT going, am I alone in that, is that unusual?

We addressed much of that by moving aboard. Of course, that involved changing jobs to be closer to the coast before we bought a boat that was big enough to live aboard...

[Ndavies]

There is a huge cost of not going. And that is that things change and you may never go. I was fortunate and went at age 52/53. But I did a 7 month sabbatical. My biggest problem........and maybe biggest mistake, was going back to work! We met amazing people from all walks of life. I would say the common theme was that most had left it too late and regretted that. The Canadians have this figured out better than the Americans - they tend to start doing this in their early 50s. Of course I am generalizing - but you tend to be better equipped for the physical side of things in your 50s than 60s.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Unless I'm not understanding something, there is a considerable cost associated with NOT going, am I alone in that, is that unusual?

$28k/yr for me after taxes, but then I spend more money a year on my boat than my house

[GuidoY]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

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.

So how much of that is cash and how much 401k? In a regular ol' savings account drawing 0.05% interest $200K can get you $10K/yr in interest (or $833/month) giving you over 1/4 of your budget. If there's an emergency you can dip into the sum of it.

I'm not saying put it in the bank, but seems there may be an investment/account with a better return that could allow you to live on the interest. Since you'll be outfitting your boat to live on, perhaps you can start writing off the upgrades as improvements to a second home. Sounds like you've got a favorable financial situation and access to people who can help you build that plan.