Check my Math? Family Cruising Finances

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by Andy73

Some of the sites I've used (sorry they aren't all links) include:

LifeAfloat - $2400/yr

Sailbillabong - $3000/yr

PacificSailors - $1500/yr

svHelloworld - ?

Viking Star - mv.VikingStar: Costs

The problem tends to be the wide variance in people's attitude and experiences which drives a bigger variance in budget.

The Bumfuzzles earlier sailing experience is probably not the best to go on if you are sailing with your family, but their newer ship (which he just sold) has more pertinent information, although it is mexico not the med so take it with a grain of salt.

hope that helps your search some
Andy

Wow!

Those numbers are astounding! I'll have to check out their blogs to see how they did it.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by socaldmax

Wow!

Those numbers are astounding! I'll have to check out their blogs to see how they did it.

They would be if they are really per year - but I think you will find they are per month.

[Interzone]

Thank you, everyone. To sum up, it seems that budgeting $4 - $5K/month (and shooting to spend $2 - $3K or less whenever possible) is a reasonable game plan for extended cruising in the Caribbean and Med with a family of four. Thanks to everyone's feedback, I'm seriously re-thinking the Caribbean ->Med route and looking at starting in the Med as I really do want to expose my kids to the rich history and culture there. Now I need to start researching/developing a plan for avoiding crowds and expensive marinas!

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by StuM

They would be if they are really per year - but I think you will find they are per month.

That makes a lot more sense!

[accomplice]

Originally Posted by Interzone

2) Boat Insurance: We're from the US, but we'd be in the Bahamas/Caribbean ... is $1000/year approximately what we should expect to budget for insurance? For major crossings (to Med or South Pacific) I'd likely pull in a crew and would purchase supplemental insurance.

There are other threads covering insurance, but expect to pay about 1% of the value of boat for hull insurance, perhaps double that if you're not out of the prime hurricane waters during peak season.

Originally Posted by Interzone

3) Health Insurance: I'm a little baffled here, but we want to make sure we are appropriately covered. We've dealt with medical emergencies in the middle of nowhere in the past, and with kids we'd want to make sure we are
well covered, including some level of emergency evac insurance: $3000/year

Our health insurance covers us worldwide, but costs us about $28k/family/yr.

4) Life Insurance: $2000/year

It depends on how much insurance and what kind. You can get life insurance for $500 or $5000

5) Maintenance: Depending on the age of the boat, I guess this can fluctuate, but let's say $30K/year. If we spend more to buy a newer boat, I would assume that the maintenance number could go down, while if we go older/cheaper on the initial purchase, that number will go higher. So -- for a $250K boat, $30K is more than 10%, but on a $400K boat it's less ... but if that's a 1 year old Lagoon 39, maybe it's still the right number?

The general rule is 7-10% of the value of the boat in annual maintenance. If you do all the work yourself, you might bring that in half.

7) Fuel: $1200/year -- is this enough? I would want to use Solar and wind to reduce generator use as much as possible.

It depends on how much you motor and how much you use your generator. I generally motor fo 30-50% of the time underway.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by Interzone

Thank you, everyone. To sum up, it seems that budgeting $4 - $5K/month (and shooting to spend $2 - $3K or less whenever possible) is a reasonable game plan for extended cruising in the Caribbean and Med with a family of four. Thanks to everyone's feedback, I'm seriously re-thinking the Caribbean ->Med route and looking at starting in the Med as I really do want to expose my kids to the rich history and culture there. Now I need to start researching/developing a plan for avoiding crowds and expensive marinas!

You're absolutely right!

As a young teen (13-15) we were stationed in Sigonella, Sicily. I truly think it shaped my life more than any other time period. By the time I went to high school, we had toured all of Sicily, Malta, and spent an entire summer camping in a Westfalia van throughout Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, and Switzerland.

It was amazing to see all of the different countries and their cultures and experience it all a lot better than a week long vacation. It was an education that one can never get out of a book!

As an added bonus, I've seen what appear to be some very good deals on catamarans in France and Greece, for some reason.

[Interzone]

$28K/year to insure your family worldwide? Wow ... that's a brutal number.

[Interzone]

Socaldmax -- I'm so glad to hear that! The time I spent backpacking around Europe right after college had a huge impact on my life, too. My whole goal is to share a family adventure that exposes my children to the world outside of US culture while they're young. As two working parents with kids bouncing from school to activities I can already see how quickly life is going and how soon it'll be too late. Taking the time to be together and experience a broader perspective on life seems -- I hope -- like the most important gift and education I could possibly give them.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by Interzone

Socaldmax -- I'm so glad to hear that! The time I spent backpacking around Europe right after college had a huge impact on my life, too. My whole goal is to share a family adventure that exposes my children to the world outside of US culture while they're young. As two working parents with kids bouncing from school to activities I can already see how quickly life is going and how soon it'll be too late. Taking the time to be together and experience a broader perspective on life seems -- I hope -- like the most important gift and education I could possibly give them.

I think you're absolutely right!

Not to generalize too much, but in many instances, I was treated better as a foreigner in their country than I am as a citizen of this country. Many people in Europe, especially Italians, think nothing of inviting you home for a feast! Italians LOVE cute kids, and they love pinching their cheeks while telling them how "Bella" they are! LOL

Everywhere I go, I eat local food. Singapore, HK, Philippines, Italy, Japan, Dubai, you name it.

As a sailor, I bought a gas RC offroad car in HK and put it together underway. We pulled into Dubai a while later, and I decided to run it in the sand right next to the pier. Next thing you know, there is a very quiet, polite group of kids lined up, watching the car run. I refilled the tank, and handed the xmitter to the closest kid. He got a huge grin as he drove it for about 5 min. I refilled it, and the next kid drove it, until they all got to drive it. They were amazingly polite and stood in a single line waiting their turn, but they all loved it! Then I saw a street vendor selling shawarmas, so I bought enough for all of us. I couldn't speak their language and they didn't speak mine, but watching those kids display pure joy while playing and eating and being kids without a care is one of many great memories that I still cherish, even 20 yrs later.

Please keep a blog, so we may vicariously enjoy your adventures with you!!
<jealous smiley>

[tesfalcon]

I have to seriously wonder what you are feeding your family of 2 adults & 2 small children if u can't eat for only $1,000/month.

I have 10 children ranging from 18 years - 8 mo for a total of 12 at the table. We eat all of our meals at home on <$400/week or $1,600/mo. Most of our meals work out to $1-5/ realistic serving. @ $5/day for breakfast & $25/day for dinner that still is only $930/month for 4. Back when I lost my job (& only had 6 kids), we survived on only $120/week ($480/mo) for 8 people for 3 months!

If u need basic menu & meal planning advice, I'd be happy to help. Good, tasty nutrition isn't as hard as most people make it out to be. Eat better, & you'll spend less on health care also.


Enjoy!

[Interzone]

Tesfalcon -- I agree with your philosophy re: eating better and spending less on health care. My intent was to ensure we have a buffer and to find ways to cut down. Unfortunately, I currently live in an area that has among the highest food prices in the US, so that may be coloring my perception of what it costs to eat a good meal. On the other hand, if we're sailing in the med and get carried away with restaurant dining, we could burn through that budget in a big hurry. Our focus would be on "eating where the locals eat" anyway.

[Cheechako]

the other issue with the So Pac is getting back. You will spend your second year getting to Oz... but getting back is a real issue!

[tesfalcon]

There again, I've seen people turn an overblown budget into healthy economy by changing the way they shop in the same store mostly by buying commodities vs brand names.

I've never been to NYC or LA, but there are HUGE disparities between those eating at the top restaurants (the real Jerry Seinfeld) vs the majority of people who live there (Jerry on his sitcom).

"Eating local" means different things to different people. When my buddy was stationed in Korea, he lived on the economy & ate like a local within the bounds of his daily budget for his family (including dog & cat). His buds on base ate cheap on base then 'splurged' at local restaurants like tourists.


Enjoy!

[Andy73]

Originally Posted by StuM

They would be if they are really per year - but I think you will find they are per month.

oops... that would be my mistake

Yes that is a monthly cost

[SV Liberty]

To the OP, we are a family of four who just wrapped up 6 years of cruising. Our oldest started university a month ago, and I'm sitting at my desk as I type this, earning tuition. We cruised out of Texas, between the East Coast and the Bahamas, for 3.5 years, then into the E. Caribbean. I continued working part time, so we were frugal but not supertight. We spent, on average, probably around $50k per year. We were on an older paid for uninsured monohull. As for the med, we talked about it a lot, and in the end (wife and I lived there for 5 years pre-kid) we decided on a three month tent-camping trip a couple of summers ago. Much, if not most, of what you really want to see in Europe is inland. I'd still love to cruise the med, but I think its really, really expensive (generally), and as I said, you'll be off the boat a lot to tour inland. At the ages your kids are, you could have a great few years bouncing between the Bahamas and the East Coast, with US history in the summers and really, really relaxing, super-enjoyable cruising in the Bahamas. Pop down to the Caribbean on year, ending up in Grenada for hurricane season, turn around and sail back downwind to where you started. I'm not knocking circumnavigation, we have friends out there still (families), but at the end of cruising the entire Caribbean except the ABCs, Colombia and Panama, plus the Bahama, hands down my favorite cruising is the Bahamas. We spent about twice as much per month in the US and the Caribbean as we did in the Bahamas - often we'd go weeks without spending a dime.

Dang, all this thinking about it and I want to be back anchored out. Enjoy your cruising. It was a hugely enjoyable part of our lives to this point.

Liberty