Budget Be Damned

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

key phase in the post I feel

It's "funny" how bent out of shape forum people get to find out someone is doing any boat thing different than they are

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by daletournier

No, BUT most cruisers need to operate to a budget and worry often is part of that, few cruise on no money.

I'm 50 and haven't worked for ten years, part of the reason I've been able to do this is due to the thought I've put into money over the years. This thinking about money I hope will enable me to stay retired.

There's never a day I don't reflect on my financial situation, it's part of my cruising life.

I think we all do that but if you are lucky enough to have come this far unscathed by large financial burdens (like huge medical bills/insurance for you or your family members, helping pay off college loans, job loss especially during 2008 or 2009 where you had to use your 401K to survive) and have had decent employment, I wouldn't think there would be much need to do a monthly spreadsheet

Lets face it, most that can even consider cruising are the lucky ones. It doesn't take that much planning unless you go and buy a very expensive boat that you will be making payments on for years, but....then again, if you can afford it no problem

I still think there are two types of cruisers though and their budgets will differ greatly.

There's the cruiser that's on sort of an extended vacation, and there's the cruiser that wants to sail to various locations ....... not staying in one spot longer than the time it takes to rest, resupply, or make needed repairs

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I’m guessing when you wrote that.... you forgot about me. I get by just peachy on about €15 euros per day.

Ken, when you take the money you spend averaged but including such things as insurance, part replacements, sail replacements, marina expences while home in winter, flights back and forth,transportation while traveling, boat projects, medical, food, clothes, land travel, restaurants,internet,propane, diesel,haul outs and bottom paint etc etc. Your operating a mid 50’s Oyster and you can’t keep a boat like that going on 500 bucks a month, on average. Some months maybe but on average it’s impossible for me to believe. I’ve been on your boat and I know the work you’ve done on it and the improvements you’ve made. Here in Honduras a poor family gets by on $500 bucks a month so operating a mid 50’s Oyster with all the associated expences, meh, me don’t think so. By the way hi to you and your bride. R

[a64pilot]

You can ascribe it to luck, but there are decisions that you make in life that will determine your wealth later on in life.
I lived in a Mobile Home when my peers said I was crazy, I should “buy” a house, but I paid to send both myself and my Wife through College, without a loan.
In truth I never thought about a loan to go to school, always thought that was something that you got a second job to do, drive an old car, wore old clothes etc to do, or had Parents that sent you, but a loan? That’s nuts.

Live beneath your means, if that means driving a VW that is 14 yrs old, and living in a Mobile Home, do so, meanwhile saving the money you don’t spend.
When your old, you’ll be glad you did.

I’m way better shape financially than most of our “wealthy” friends and family. Yes they have the Big house, he drives a new F-150, she a New SUV, and go to the Country Club every weekend etc.
But they are my age and where I have 10 years of income in the bank, they have ten years of income in debt.

My Wife’s Father has been Retired for awhile due to health, his Wife is still working, says she will Retire next year, she has Credit card debt, a house payment and just bought a new SUV, and thinks she is going to Retire on SS?
She is the average person, I have to wonder, how do they think they are going to service all that debt and eat off of SS?

Cruising finances are really simple as life’s finances are.
If you have X income, your monthly expenses have to be less than X, bank the rest to deal with Emergencies, Credit cards and loans are not a way to get through tough times, you’ll never get ahead if you ascribe to that philosophy, your doomed.
It doesn’t matter is X is $500 or $5,000, you have to live on less, or a disaster will happen that you can’t recover from.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I’m guessing when you wrote that.... you forgot about me. I get by just peachy on about €15 euros per day.

How can this be possible? Don't you have two Oyster yachts? I don't even have one!


Do you really never eat at restaurants?

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

When you have big budgets you spend big no matter where you are. When you have small budgets you spend small no matter where you are at. People that are used to spending big simply don’t relate to spending small, just the way it works. They have larger, newer, more complex boats to begin with. They do little of their own maintenance and eat out at fine restaurants and think nothing of spending long periods in expensive marinas. Never take advice from these folks on saving money while cruising because they really don’t have a clue. Often they will have their boat “transported” rather than actually cross an ocean by them selves, they live in different worlds however they also usually really enjoy the cruising lifestyle. A big spender on the land doesn’t turn into a penny pincher when they decide to go cruising and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. We made friends with a young Brazilian couple years ago in the Marshall Islands who had built their own steel 24 ft sailboat and were cruising on $500 bucks a month and always had money left over at the end of each month. We could not do that the way we were set up but it was nothing for them. Two different budgets, two different mindsets, simple as that.

A dock mate and I got a good lesson in this last weekend. He ask me if I'd seen the boat that just pulled in next to him at the end of the dock

I hadn't so we went and checked it out.

It was a 2 year old Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 46.9 with dual steering wheels and a "dive platform/dinghy dock?" that unfolded under power off the stern to make things more convenient.

The guy said he'd picked up the boat 6 months ago since the owner was tired of it and wanted something different. He (his wife and dog) had just returned from the Bahamas where they had sailed straight to Marsh Harbor on the outside and back. (and had hung out at Man O War Cay for a while)

They was staying at our dock for a few weeks .........

The guy with me had a 70's era Formosa 46 he had gotten for $40,000 and my boat I have all of $12,500 in. This guy was sailing in another tax bracket

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by thomm225

I think we all do that but if you are lucky enough to have come this far unscathed by large financial burdens ( like huge medical bills/insurance for you or your family members, job loss especially during 2008 or 2009 where you had to use your 401K to survive) and have had decent employment, I wouldn't think there would be much need to do a monthly spreadsheet

Lets face it, many that can even consider cruising are the lucky ones. It doesn't take that much planning unless you go an buy a very expensive boat

When I was in business I used to run numbers daily "you can't manage what you haven't measured" was something I believed in. I believe this applies to retired life, being aware of the numbers matters. Also things change that requires you to change direction.

My dad use to say to me "look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves", this mentality as WELL as budgeting has been forgotten by many IMHO.

[sailorboy1]

everyone uses a spreadsheet of some form

some use things like excel and quicken

some use "checkbook balance"

some use their yearly accountant statements

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

You can ascribe it to luck, but there are decisions that you make in life that will determine your wealth later on in life.

When I mentioned luck, I talking about things that you really don't have control over such as medical problems with children, grown children, or other family members where you have to support which can mean support for housing and medical bills along with flights, motels, etc for emotional support over months or years

Then there are the "lucky" choices you make as a teenager. My choice was to stay at my minimum wage job after High School, join the military, or get another farming job.

I joined the military which added more choices. Infantry or Tech. I barely qualified for the tech job and bonus and took that. These were lucky choices

Others are lucky to be born in better circumstances and may go to college right off the bat rather than after being in the military or never at all, etc.

It's quite the crap shoot

The health thing is key though for all of us near and over 60........so don't forget to exercise and stay on a decent diet if possible

[thomm225]

At work I use excel (for reports and budget), for my personnel expenses, it's in my head or I scribble it out on paper

That for the house, apartment, boat, vehicles, and all the rest...

[robert sailor]

Another thought, there are many different forms of “cruising” from living aboard and occasionally going sailing to coastal cruising or offshore passage making and everywhere in between. The less you travel the lower your potential boat expences. When crossing oceans our entertainment, dining out costs are zero however when we arrive at our destination the boat/maintainence costs are usually rather expensive plus your wearing out things at a more rapid pace and you will be replacing items much sooner. Your sails are only good for so many crossings, your rig will need replacing much sooner etc etc so these choices can really drive up costs. When your sitting on the hook for months at a time and avoiding restaurants then it starts to get much cheaper.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

Another thought, there are many different forms of “cruising” from living aboard and occasionally going sailing to coastal cruising or offshore passage making and everywhere in between. The less you travel the lower your potential boat expences. When crossing oceans our entertainment, dining out costs are zero however when we arrive at our destination the boat/maintainence costs are usually rather expensive plus your wearing out things at a more rapid pace and you will be replacing items much sooner. Your sails are only good for so many crossings, your rig will need replacing much sooner etc etc so these choices can really drive up costs. When your sitting on the hook for months at a time and avoiding restaurants then it starts to get much cheaper.

Last mth was a great mth, 800aud total expenses!!! That's what happens when you spend 22 days at sea.. Lol.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by daletournier

When I was in business I used to run numbers daily "you can't manage what you haven't measured" was something I believed in. I believe this applies to retired life, being aware of the numbers matters. Also things change that requires you to change direction.

My dad use to say to me "look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves", this mentality as WELL as budgeting has been forgotten by many IMHO.

I guess my point was most of us "run the numbers' in our heads on a day to day basis be it in retirement or otherwise. It's a given

We just don't make a formal deal of it on paper that often

This crowd though (many CF Members) is made up of lots of tech and engineering types so you can expect anything involving numbers to be taken out to the nth degree

For proof check out one of the solar threads......

[Dennis.G]

Wondering if any depreciation of value of your boat was included in your "difference of our current assets" amount? We have been cruising for 5 years, and have owned boat 9 years and can only estimate value of boat but likely will in the end (when selling) see depreciation as a significant cost item of our time cruising.

[a64pilot]

My take is the boats value is zero.
I think the type that buys newer boats, often financing them have more of a tendency to rely or count on the residual value of the boat.
One reason I say it’s zero is it’s another cushion, and allows me to keep the boat, one day when w fully retire, I’d like to keep the boat in a slip and maybe go on whatever cruise our age and physical condition will allow.
I still have an old airplane, for the same reason, once I retire to a dirt house, maybe I’ll start playing with airplanes again.

My take is whatever the boat costs to buy and outfit, is gone.