Cruising Budget, Part II

[Don1500]

We can all guess what we would like to spend per month, and many of us know what we have spent on average per month. What I would like to know is: What are your budgeted expenses? (Not how much)

1. Slip (Including utilities and "liveaboard" fees)
2. Insurance
3. Transportation (Land)
4. Food (including House keeping staples)
5. Laundry
6. Intertainment
7. maintenance fund
8. Fuel

These are not in any order and by no means a complete list.
What would you add? With this list a person can get a better handle on exactly how much they could expect to spend/month.

[Bash]

Budgets? Really? I don't see most cruisers using such a system. Instead, they use what might be called a kitty system. Earn as much as you can until the cruising kitty appears to be large enough for the adventure at hand. Then, take off and cruise as long as you can stretch the kitty out. Once it's nearly depleted, go back to work to build it up again.

I honestly can't imagine using a budget system such as what is proposed in the OP. That just doesn't reflect the uncertainties of a honest cruise, where you often don't know anything about the next port of call, even whether it will be upwind or downwind.

[Mimsy]

I think Don is thinking more of a liveaboard budget as opposed to cruising.

I would add 2 emergency funds- one for unexpected boat expenses and one for medical/personal emergencies.

[Don1500]

Yes, really. How do you know when you have enough? I have a large kitty, but it has to last a long time. If I don't know my guarenteed monthly expense item, how would I know what to call a large kitty? I know exactly what bills I'm going to see this month, maybe not the exact amount, but who I will owe money to. That's what I'm talking about. Oh, yes, I won't have a place to "Come Back" to, this is it my one and only domicile. And I won't have a job either so the money has to last. I will be able to SUPLEMENT my kitty, but never be able to actually BUILD it up again on the type of work I will be able to do.

[boatman61]

I'll agree with Bash on this... "Shock...... Horror......"
I know many who have tried to live within a fixed budget and this has led to 'meltdowns' for some couples... and solo sailors...
Budgets are depressing and can become obsessive... and boring for us who have to listen when we've been cornered...
There was a Dutch couple wintering next to me in Andratx, Mallorca.... every morning would find him sitting near our galley hatch sniffing at the smell of bacon n eggs n toast and coffee... ended up with a standing invite... we just had it less often...
they were on a strict budget...
Sorry... no can do... I spend when I got it... might be dead tomorrow..
Do as you would on land... its not that different... money for bills divided...
water/elec now covers rigging, House Ins is Boat ins etc.... food etc is as was...
No Job... keep it where it earns a good interest...

[Don1500]

Actually the budget I have in mind will give me more discressionary spending than I have now. That's with the job I have now and the expenses I carry. At the end of the day I will have approximatly $300 a month more to spend than if I kept working and living in the house I am paying a mortgage on. It won't be a "strict" budget, just an estimation of what my expenses will be month to month.

And I'll make my own bacon and eggs, thank you. (Got any eggs I can borrow? OH, that's some fine looking bacon.)

[boatman61]

LOL.... not complaining.. it was funny listening to him complain how the B/fast was always Muesli... boring lentil n veggie type food.... only two coffees a day etc...

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Don1500

Yes, really. How do you know when you have enough?

You never know when you have enough. That's half the adventure.

[Don1500]

One of the most important things I need to learn all over again (since losing my wife) is how to shop for one. I never have the right stuff and am always forgetting what I really need. (I'm down to my last bar of soap but I never remember to get any.) I buy food for tonight but not tomorrow morning. By putting a budget together It will start me towards getting a shopping list, too.

[Don1500]

The main differences will be:

1. Mortgage vrs Slip (this will relalise about $1000 a month in my favor)
2. Car Insurance vrs boat
3. House upkeep vrs boat upkeep (On a yearly basis this could be a wash or even in my favor)
4. Car upkeep vrs public transportation (Pay for what I need instead of having it available 24/7)
5. Car gas vrs boat gas (My favor I believe)
6. House utilities vrs boat utilities. (Right now I pay $80 for gas, $75 for electricity, and $150 for water/sewage/garbage, that goes to $50, total)
7. I expect with the daily work around the boat, walking instead of jumping in the car, I will not need (or want) a gym membership.
8. No more Cable TV, from now on DVDs, Hulu and Netflix will do. I will have a phone/digital hookup for the I-net, unless my slip come with free wi-fi.
9. One phone, not the three that I have now.

So if you figure it out, I come out ahead. But I don't know if the items I listed are right. That's the kind of "budgeting" I was talking about.

[John A]

Originally Posted by Don1500

We can all guess what we would like to spend per month, and many of us know what we have spent on average per month. What I would like to know is: What are your budgeted expenses? (Not how much)

1. Slip (Including utilities and "liveaboard" fees)
2. Insurance
3. Transportation (Land)
4. Food (including House keeping staples)
5. Laundry
6. Intertainment
7. maintenance fund
8. Fuel

These are not in any order and by no means a complete list.
What would you add? With this list a person can get a better handle on exactly how much they could expect to spend/month.

by the numbers:
!. I never do that
2. None
3. Walk or maxi-taxi (35 cents per trip)
4. $100 per week, average
5. $7-$10 every two weeks
6. $200 a month if I stay away from resorts and chartering locations
7. $200-$300 a month - depending
8. I sail,

As you can see, it depends on what your lifesytle is comfortable with.

[SaucySailoress]

I would go tomorrow - he wants more money. I have mine tucked away in a savings account, earning an astounding .5% interest. He has his squirelled in stocks and shares - apparently we've lost $9000 today with that nuclear thing.... (see - that's how the nuclear thing fits in with cruising!)

He encourages me to limit my shopping budget to $300 per month for the two of us. Which I almost manage. But then we'll spend $80 in one shot at the sushi bar...

Money is like duct tape - there will never be enough of it where you want it, when you want it, but you manage with what you've got....

[boatman61]

Another thing to remember is quite a few places have a system similar to Beaufort/Morehead City where you can book a car for a coupla hours if your a cruiser and use it for shopping trips to hard to reach places... just cover the gas...
Slips will depend on if your gonna be based or cruising.. much cheaper cruising.. anchorages etc...

[knottygurl]

Don1500
sounds like you need to get set with somewhat of a format as well,
1) food storage, provisions for short term storage and long ter storage
2) shopping for three days worth of weal or a week at a time.
This will depand on how far the store is and whether you have a car or cab.
your location can also help decide which food you will be buying.
Get a cook book and start setting up meal plans and buying around that.
your cooking abilitys will also comeinto play. Its all fine and dandy to love bacon n eggs but if you cant cook them, then you better find BoatMan quickly and show up with pack of bacon and carton of eggs. He'll know what to do with them

here are some links for your to follow

Pressure Cooker Recipes

here is one for bread in a pan
Windtraveler: cooking

there are lots and ask for ideas of what others are doing.
Cheers
Bill

[zeehag]

slip---lol
0
whatever i can get out of a 1988 plymouth horizon 2.2 L rustbucket i paid 750 for 3 1/2 yrs ago....
7 dollars every month
entertainment is free--i watch other boaters and laugh my tailbone off....
we will see soon enough... have sails...


saucy-- you guys show great self-restraint in sushi bar-- i cant walk into one here--is over 100 dollars to have real fun......for just me....yes i go dutch..LOL...



bring a bicycle and saddlebags for transportation ..in case no available folks to help....