How Do You Afford the Cruising Lifestyle? What's Your Story?

[LLCoolDave]

Now you have shown your true stripes.

"I am a good saver and am quite frugal as well. I only spend on the things I need. However, saving to me is not a reward, but a means to an end. I can forgo all the fancy meals, eating out, movie nights, concerts, etc for something that brings meaningful happiness - good company, cooking with friends, etc. With that being said, saving is too slow. How many years would it take to save for a $mil catamaran?"

Wow, we went from $100k NW to a $1mil cat. With being a saver and frugal you would never consider a $1mil cat. There are many sailors that sail for $10k per year. This feels like MMM doing some research on sailing.

[Miniyot]

Originally Posted by Shrew

Burnt out at 22. You have a long hard road ahead of you. A working student at 22 who has saved 100K. This whole post sounds a little phishy.

Well, I don't think he said 100,000.00 I think he said six digits. That would be more like 1,000.00......

[Sea Dreaming]

I don't know if it has been mentioned but, what you need is "income". Not to be confused with a pay check.

You have a good start with your savings. Now you need to invest strategically so you can live off the dividends. If you are frugal and practical you don't need to have great wads of money. But you have to decide what it is you really want and what your life philosophy really is.

A million dollar cat is just a consumerist item. Is that what you really want? Then you do have much more work to do!

LiVing, be on land or a boat, is not a reward. Cruising can be your life of choice and does not have to wait until you feel you are worn out and have earned your reward. But you have to get your head around life does not equal dollars or materialism. Think about living instead of spending and it will make more sense.

[Enrique100]

To be fair, there certainly are a couple ways to make money rather than work for it, mainly in the form of having other people work and make it for you. If you own a business, it's certainly possible to do some degree of sitting back while collecting profits. Of course there is always that balancing act of managing the business and forging a plan for the future against taking large chunks of time off, but it can be done. Then when it's time to move on completely, sell and cash out and now you have a really nice nest egg.

Other ways to make money without working for it include creating something no one else has created yet (look at all these millionaires making money off of apps), but you might have almost as much luck playing the lottery.

Or find a line of work that truly is like recreation and take the paychecks as they come for doing something you love.

In any case, good luck. But set a plan and stick to it. And there is a point at which you save enough money that the money starts working for itself if invested wisely (Not necessarily aggressively).


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[FamilyVan]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Eloquently stated. If at 22 you feel the need to escape from work, you need different work (or a different attitude), not a boat.

Work is a key thing in life. It should be a source of fulfillment. If a genie appeared tomorrow and offered to send me back to my 23rd year with enough money to spend the rest of my life playing around on a boat, on the condition that that's the only thing I could do with it, and I would have to give up my career - I would refuse. However nice it would be to be 22 again!


To answer the direct question - like Hudson, I work and cruise. Living on a boat is not significantly different from living on land, cost wise. There are budgets for every pocket, from hundreds a month to infinity. Just like on land.

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Working cruiser, good terminology, I hadn't heard it described that way, but that's what it is.

There are some career choices that work very well for this. School teacher, university professor, I'm a Federal Employee and I can take "income averaging", which increases my annual vacation from about 7 or 8 weeks to a maximum of about 16 weeks.

Even when I took my year and a bit off work, I was on long term leave, not unemployed. Some firefighters I know get really good leave programs. Sailors too, but you get sick of being on the water working as a professional mariner.

Even some seasonal jobs could work. For example in Canada you could be a lofty (ski lift operator) and spend your lay off period (maybe 6 months or so) floating around.

There is of course a down side to this approach, you might be limited to a range (I'm talking distance) of about 2 months. Of course, its unlikely any of these careers will result in a Gunboat, not without outside help, especially if you take 16 weeks vacation every year, but I assume you have known all along, that's not really a boat a regular working guy buys.

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[tinkrman69]

I want the money and don't want to work for it? I want to play and don't want to work for it? Those scenarios don't exist. every thing cost. even a thief has to work at it. mom and dad may go to work to earn money but the kids still have to do their chores...ie...work. Everything costs and the costs are not always money. Hell you can't even die without working for it.

I tried to "make" money once. it took a lot of work and when they found it wan't real...well?

I used to have a lot of money and was stressed and miserable - didn't know it at the time though- but now that I don't have any money I have freedom. I live on my boat and sail were ever I want...weather provided ;-) Every thing I need is always available. the hard part was discerning the "wants" from the "needs". Happiness was the only one that was Both want and need and that only took a decision. Which still took a lot of work.

open your eyes and mind and go back and look at your life. If you are honest with yourself about yourself. you'll re-write that post and your life goals.

[RNW]

Owning a boat does not equal a simple worry free lifestyle.

[sloopguy]

learn how to trade derivatives. I trade maybe an hour a day, mostly options, some commodities, right on the boat. 3-4K a week is more than enough on top of my retirement accounts. Life if good!!!!!

[LLCoolDave]

Originally Posted by sloopguy

learn how to trade derivatives. I trade maybe an hour a day, mostly options, some commodities, right on the boat. 3-4K a week is more than enough on top of my retirement accounts. Life if good!!!!!

Yikes, don't do this. There lots of threads on early-retirement.org of people who had it made then the husband took up day trading as a hobby. 99% went back to work. Even Warren Buffet has lost a lot of money on derivatives and he is the worlds greatest investor. Don't do it.

[farm sail]

This should help you out, if you do it 3 * a day And if you do that a few more times in the day with the time you save then you will really be on the move.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/030746...2EFN5J7WP8F6AB

[unlimited]

Hi everyone,

I really appreciate all of your comments. I think this post is going a bit in the wrong direction - it's not about "I want X but I don't want to work for it", nor about "I want to escape now", nor "How do I make $" etc. But rather, it's simply about hearing your stories and learning about what you've done to get to where you are.

I know there are many different paths to get to a single destination, so I'm interested in hearing about the path you've taken and the challenges you've overcome

[Sea Dreaming]

You are a good sport to stick this topic out. Clearly from what I've read here the answer is most folk worked a conventional job, saved, invested and sweated. Normal stuff.

As you say, there are varied paths and not all of them financial in origin. What is it you really want to know? Frankly, for entertainment , your best source are some of the great books by cruisers on Amazon. Try "Tightwads on the lose" or "salt of a sailor" (very funny).

[Bobbyewe]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Actually, that saying originated a very, very long time ago with Zen Buddhism.

Honestly, I think it was George Carlin!

[oldragbaggers]

Originally Posted by unlimited

Hi everyone,

I really appreciate all of your comments. I think this post is going a bit in the wrong direction - it's not about "I want X but I don't want to work for it", nor about "I want to escape now", nor "How do I make $" etc. But rather, it's simply about hearing your stories and learning about what you've done to get to where you are.

I know there are many different paths to get to a single destination, so I'm interested in hearing about the path you've taken and the challenges you've overcome

If what you are really after is the short, boring version of the long, long process that it took us to get to the point that we are finally (in 18 months) going to retire and take up the cruising lifestyle that we have been planning for almost 35 years.....

My husband joined the Air Force at 18 years, during the Viet Nam war. He served four years, got out and became a police officer. While a police officer (for 7 years) he used his G.I. Bill to get a college degree. He went back into the service (Navy) as an officer. In 1993 he took an early out which will pay him a yearly stipend until age 73. After leaving the Navy he went back to college and got a masters in special education and started his last career, earning another pension from the school system. I also work and will have a pension from the same school system. So....1 military stipend, 2 pensions, 2 social security checks. That is how we will finance our cruising, and hopefully other side adventures as we figure that we should be able to cruise comfortably on half of our total retirement income.

In the meantime, while we were (seemingly) toiling away we were also sailing boats, fixing up boats, living on boats, traveling, bicycle touring, camping, hiking, and just generally enjoying the heck out of life, while raising an amazing family, and building a secure retirement. Work, fun, and adventure do not have to mutually exclusive. It is possible to do meaningful and enjoyable work while also living a life that is rich in experience and adventure, all the while working toward something that you hope will be the crowning achievement of it all.

Life is good, all of it, all the various stages and staircases. Don't try too hard to skip any of the important steps. I'm not saying that cruising, or anything else, is best delayed for everyone. Some people have figured out how to go young, most by working a job that is mobile, or working intermittently when needed. I applaud them as well. For those of us who take the longer, slower road, some things are made all the sweeter by the work it takes to accomplish them and the anticipation.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Shrew

Burnt out at 22. You have a long hard road ahead of you. A working student at 22 who has saved 100K. This whole post sounds a little phishy.

Exactly!

Many people are looking for an escape. That's fine.

Sailing / cruising full time would be a big adjustment for most especially those without boating experience.

I saw lots of it when in Florida from folks that were totally clueless after they had their boat exactly the way they wanted it after years preparing BUT not sailing and others that just motored the Intracoastal.

I've seen sailors prepare for years for "The Cruising Life" sailing all the time but they sometimes last only 6 months.

Many come and anchor near populated beach areas only to hear at 11pm Jones party of 6 your table is ready!