$3,000 / Month Cruising Budget Planned

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

of course the $3k budget was greatly influenced by reading many many many blogs with years of expense data

as opposed to reading here over and over from 1 person who cruised 1 general location in one country

'Just curious.... where are you planning to cruise, where you expect the necessity to spend $3000 per month in order to support a 40ft boat and lifestyle?

We've budgeted $18,000 for a 5 month cruising season in the Med, including Southern France with a stop over in Monaco, Italy, Sardegna, Corsica and D'Elba. Of course we're starting out with a full fuel tank, but the budget includes storage in a top shipyard with security for the remaining months on the hard. There might be some surprises, but I do have weeks where I don't even spend 100 euros because the fridge and supply cabinets are filled.

If you expect to spend most of your time in marinas, then I can understand the necessity to spend over $3000. In that case, $3000 might not be enough.


Of Course, what do I know,... I'm just another Bozo.

[valhalla360]

It's all about what lifestyle you expect and how much effort you want to put into keeping cost down.

If you buy a 40yr old 25' solid fiberglass sailboat with no plumbing, motor or electrical system for $2k and live at anchor eating mostly fish that you catch, only move when the wind is in the right direction and otherwise focus as much as possible at spending nothing, $3000/month is way to much.

If you have a new 60'er that stays in marinas only, you don't hesitate to motor and eat out at the finest waterfront establishements most meals, $3000 is way short.

Assuming you can afford them, both option are perfectly acceptable ways to cruise.

$3000/month is a nice middle ground. You don't have to anchor out all the time, you can take some trips inland, you can go out to restuarants occasionally, if the wind is wrong, you can crank up the engine. You can keep the boat in good repair including occasional cosmetic updates.

The ultimate question is at what point is saving a buck a worse option than making another buck.

[svfraidknot]

3 years ago when i had plans to go to ecuador and live the " new " marina there charged 200 a month for mooring ,, i read yesterday that he now gets 400 and you pretty much have to be on a mooring in the bay there ,, my budget o 1600 a moth just got shot all to hell ,, instead of .125% of my budget used for mooring now 25 % .. but i read the owner of the marina did the same thing in colombia ..i am on a mooring here in panama for 200 but get no privileges , no dock , no securty ,, so all relevent i guess

[sailorboy1]

The way I understand your post is that you are living in Panama and have a $1600/mo budget, and it is barely enough.

[svfraidknot]

no i could live on 1600 a month but for some major expense on board my boat .. i supplemented my income with day cruises to toboga islands where they paid me 10 to 250 a day to take groups out for the day .. during that time i lived well as they left beer , wine , food ice .. when the day was over ,, good times ,, wish i did not have to sell her but do not have the money for major repairs ,, yes one could live a life well here on 1600 ,, slip the mooring and stay on the hook as most do but 200 a month mooring not bad if you come and go 2 or 3 times a week as the bottom is nasty here and takes over an hour to just clean your chain ,

[Andy73]

Originally Posted by svfraidknot

(SNIP)
i supplemented my income with day cruises to toboga islands where they paid me 10 to 250 a day to take groups out for the day ..
(SNIP) ,

Did you have a panama business license of some sort or was it all under the table?

[svfraidknot]

there are a number of boats doing day charters that charge more per person than i was getting for a boat load of friends ,, all was repeat business or referrals from friends id not charge enough or do it often enough to need a license or permits ,, i never competed with those that did have all the necessary permits licenses etc. never too a group that would have gone on an organized pay 150 buck per person trip ,, there was always someone putting it together that was a friend or friend of a friend kinda like get together and pay my expenses ,, was somebody's birthday or going away party ,,

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

of course the $3k budget was greatly influenced by reading many many many blogs with years of expense data

as opposed to reading here over and over from 1 person who cruised 1 general location in one country

Interesting. I've also been reading many many blogs with years of expense data and $1500/mo for carribean/mexico/south pacific/indian ocean seems to be the consensus I see.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by cwyckham

Interesting. I've also been reading many many blogs with years of expense data and $1500/mo for carribean/mexico/south pacific/indian ocean seems to be the consensus I see.

Yes that also seemed common to me for boats that had cruises of a few years that didn't have to account for larger refit items over time. But I also took the info on blogs as to what people did and their lifestyle into account for how it lined up with the type of cruising my wife expects to do (and I want to do what my wife wants to do). When both refit and lifestyle got considered the budget became $3k/mo.

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Yes that also seemed common to me for boats that had cruises of a few years that didn't have to account for larger refit items over time. But I also took the info on blogs as to what people did and their lifestyle into account for how it lined up with the type of cruising my wife expects to do (and I want to do what my wife wants to do). When both refit and lifestyle got considered the budget became $3k/mo.

OK, that makes a lot more sense to me then. I think the most important post in this whole thread was the person who said that asking what it costs to cruise is like asking what it costs to live on land. It depends on the person.

You've factored in your own very wise requirement to do what your wife wants to do and $3k is your number. That's great. I hope you report back in a couple years and give us another data point!

[hpeer]

One thing that seems missing to me in many conversations here is the cost of health insurance. I retire in Dec at 65, my Wife will be self employed and 63. So I need to go on Medicare and she O care.

Just now looking those numbers up comes to something like $333 per month for me and $658 for her. That's $1,000/ month just for that.

So I take it that most of you are considering NOT having health insurance?

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by hpeer

So I take it that most of you are considering NOT having health insurance?

No...... Why would think that? Health insurance is in our budget.

Cruising is all about being self sufficient. If you can't afford the premium, maybe you should wait two years if money is that tight.

[Saleen411]

What if one doesn't like working on the boat? Sounds like if one doesn't do most if not all their own work, no way will $3k a month be adequate to cruise. Is that a fair opinion?

I LMAO off at the poster that wrote about the folks on their $500 a month thread, and how this is a $3000 a month thread! Makes me wonder what dollar amount thread has to be started for those of us that would rather have fun while we pay others to fix the boat.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

No...... Why would think that? Health insurance is in our budget.

Cruising is all about being self sufficient. If you can't afford the premium, maybe you should wait two years if money is that tight.

I didn't say Health Insurance wasn't in MY budget, I said I see a lot of budgets here that don't have it mentioned.

I see a lot of folks talking about $3,000 budgets, but that's really more like $1,800 if you consider $1,000/ month plus taxes on the income to support that.

OR is $3,000/month really more like $5,500 in gross income?

Or are folks going without?

That's a difficulty with threads like this, far too many assumptions.

[Mike OReilly]

I'm not really allowed to play here (according to some anyway), but to answer hpeer's great question, I'll be going without once we leave Canada. We may try the catastrophic, and will have something when/if passing through the USA, but as far as I can tell it's far easier and cheaper to pay for acute care as you go in most of the rest of the cruising world. A chronic issue will likely send us home.

(PLEASE ... I'm not trying to be political, or to start a fight over healthcare): For Americans, your costs are astounding to me, which is what I assume you're talking about hpeer. And as I understand it, you are now legally obligated to buy insurance. Going without is not even an option anymore. I certainly could not afford a $1k/month. That would kill our cruising plans.