$3,000 / Month Cruising Budget Planned

[svfraidknot]

1700 was my cost living on my boat ,, regular maintenance until a motor swarmed ,, will be 5000 before it is finished .. then again i am probably looking at replacing batteries in another year 1200 more ,, was spending 200 on a mooring now have myu own

[Group9]

Originally Posted by skipmac

I think this puts it quite succinctly and accurately. I would consider moving point #3, location, to #1 since location will have a big impact on the costs for #1 and #2. However, limiting your costs for #2 and #3 will to a great extent mitigate the impact of location so maybe keeping the order as is would work as well?

Marinas were a huge budget item on our cruise. We stayed in them often, because we had the money, and we enjoyed it. But, it would have been just as nice a cruise (and would have come in under $1500 a month easily, without marinas (and airline trips home).

[model 10]

Some months you don't spend anything. There is nothing to buy and no place to buy it. You live off your stores and maybe a fish. If you cruise the more remote places, this can happen every few months or so. It has nothing to do with being underfunded.
In our case we usually celebrate on our return and blow all the dough we saved.

[Rohan]

Not sure if anyone linked to this, but this document is VERY helpful:

http://www.bethandevans.com/pdf/costofcruising.pdf

It carefully outlines the full costs of cruising and incidentals, and tries to factor in things like emergencies. It also breaks down between budget cruising, luxury cruising, and a middle ground in between.

[oldragbaggers]

Originally Posted by FollowingCs

I don't think you are wrong, it's good to get different opinions. But also, when somebody says that your idea isn't for them or won't work for them, that too should be taken with a grain of sand.

I applaud those that can go now and go cheap. I had a thread before called 'Dream boat or go ASAP'. I learned alot during that thread, and per suggestion made my top 5 boat requirements list, which makes my 'dream' boat much much cheaper. But I also said I can't go now, both financially and with a kid in high school. Yet I had posters suggesting if I didn't drop everything and leave in the next 10 minutes, I'd never do it. Not very helpful, but I do understand their attitude. They don't know me, and I'm sure that is the 'norm', people NOT going.
~ Following C's ~

We resemble this remark to the extreme and so, while I always encourage people gently to go if they can, I also respect the fact that some people really do need to have a longer range plan and that doesn't always or necessarily mean that they won't go.

When we first made our plan we had only been married 2 years and it was our retirement plan. If we had posted it here on this board back then probably 99% of people would say we would never go. Then when my husband retired from the Navy and we decided to put it off again for a number of reasons, probably even more people would have said we'd never go. At any point over the past 30 years that we've been planning this if we told people here on this board that we were going in 25-20-10-5 years.....most would chime in and say we'll never go.

Yet here we still are and now we're only 19 months out and the house goes up for sale in the spring. We're gonna go. Sometimes people have to plan long range....and sometimes they still go.

(Besides....there are a lot of people who never throw off the dock lines permanently or chuck their job or shoreside life for the great unknown but actually sail more than a lot of people out there "living on" boats and calling themselves cruisers. So while you're waiting, keep sailing.)

[Arthur Garfield]

Federal state city exempt NY State bonds pay around %5.5-6.Not bad return.
$500K would pay $27,500.00 annually
This'll get you close to your $3k month number and you can sleep well every night.
Oh yes,didn't you say you own your home?Even if not fully paid for you should be able to get really close to your $36k number by renting it out.Let alone ending alot of the house expenses.


All the Best

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by Arthur Garfield

Oh yes,didn't you say you own your home?Even if not fully paid for you should be able to get really close to your $36k number by renting it out.Let alone ending alot of the house expenses.

That's a very important point.
By having a paid off house, each month when the renters paid their rent...they were paying for our cruising. Even with a few renter changes, one of our best decisions on "how to fund the Cruise" was to let the renters do it.

(Of course we could have sold the house back in 2007 and put the $400K in the bank and then bought the same house back for $200K after the crash in 2012...ha ha ha...Hind Sight is not just 20/20...it's 200K!)

[a64pilot]

My house and land are paid for, I intend to sell them and buy a duplex or similar somewhere I think property rents well, plus it's the have a place to move to when we get too old to cruise strategy.
But the house I'm talking about was seriously trashed by a renter when I was in Germany doing the Army thing and I didn't have insurance that covered that, this time I will.

[a64pilot]

Can't see getting even close to 3K a month especially after expenses out of any rental house though, higher end houses are REAL hard to rent depending on location of course.
If I could clear 1K a month out of a duplex that cost 400K to 500K after all expenses, Id be very happy, I assume thats do-able? That's an average now, including any empty time, less all expenses, taxes, fees etc.

[a64pilot]

Rich,
Your businesses have to be doing better than you let on, or at least I would think so anyway

[hpeer]

24 years ago we bought a 4 unit brownstone in cc Philly.

We live in the 1 st floor 2 bedroom.
2 nd floor (2 br) is now getting $1,450, but that is going up soon. I've not raised rent in far too long.
Just got new tenants in 3f ($1,500) and 3r ($1,350). Each 1br.

I think we can get close to $3,000 for our 1st floor plus a parking space, then save 3r as our land base.

Mortgage will be done in three years.

We have a an additional 1/4 share owner so we only get 75% of income. But still we should have about $4k to 5k monthly from the house, clear, pre tax.

That's if I get my wife to retire with me and not keep the first floor for her own use and her office.

Zillow has this house now at about $1m. We paid $355 or so.

Just laying out my numbers for comparison to others experience.

We have had other rental, but none so good as this. It is the location, near the U of Penn, Drexel, etc and a great neighborhood that is working for us. Just dumb luck.

[Agape39]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Sailorboy...I know you don't want to hear this but after 8441 posts here on Cruising forum if you still need more info on what it will cost to go cruising then you are WAY over-thinking things and one more thread about the issue isn't going to help. It isn't that hard trust me. This cruising Bozo cruised with a family of 4 on roughly $1200-$1500/mo and lived like kings and did all the boat maintenance and had full hull coverage on the boat. We didn't play the "what will it cost per month game" we just did it and found out. Of course when people ask us what we spent they look at it (every dollar posted up on our website) and then tell me how I really couldn't have done that in comfort...ha ha ha...but what do they know...they haven't BEEN cruising yet but here they are offering advice left and right.

If the money would have ran out before our 4yr time line we had when we left, we just would have come back early...what's the big deal? For us we were able to cruise on 1/2 the budget we though we would need...why...because once you get out of this lifestyle and into the Cruising Lifestyle all the **** you think you know now you realize was bogus, so you readjust. What's the saying...the war plan is changed after the first shot is fired or something like that.

Get out there....stop the over analyzing and go before you get cancer and have to sell the boat for heavens sake. Running out of money isn't your problem...running out of Life IS! I honestly don't know how we could have spent an extra $1500/mo without just tossing if over the side of the boat to feed the fish. (Ok..actually I found out...come back to California and live aboard with two kids in High School...there goes the extra $1500/Mo PLUS)

best advise yet, well said Rich

[pyroray]

I plan to budget as much or less as well, which is what my retirement is. I've got to sell the ranch to make it happen; which will include the rebuy of a land home & acres to keep my wife and her horse(s) happy. Hopefully the market improves enough over the next year that someone buys the ranch. I'm hopeful the sale will add enough to maintain cruising and a land home. I'll be following your blog and hopefully won't be too far behind you.

[BeaMewesed]

There are some really goin observations. We are beginning our second season in the Sea of Cortez and Pacific coast of the Mainland of Mexico.

We are working on $1750 but we're still in the yard! $7000 to repaint the bottom, topside, deck and cabin, our boat is 41'.

$400 marinas ($800-$1000 per month, we only stay a week or less)
$300 fuel, propane, water jugs
$300 groceries
$400 eating out, cell etc
$350 for guide books, clothing, grooming, bus fare and the rest

I hope it works, it was good last season.

[Pelagic]

I find these threads both interesting and depressing at the same time.

Experienced posters offer lots of math and scenarios that do offer a viable picture, but a failure to realize that you cannot budget commitment.

The old saying, “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it” has more to do with commitment than money