Cruising on $5,000 / Month

[Certeza]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

I used to use El Chapo Guzman for my "alternative" investments. It's difficult to get a meeting with him lately, tho.

Haha... yeah I get reactions like that frequently when I say "alternative investments". Something about the sound of it I guess. Makes people automatically picture some exotic or illicit enterprise.

In reality, just gets tiring to explain to everyone that there are legitimate investment managers outside of the stock picker arena. Heck, even most of my friends tell people that I trade stocks for a living. That's very far from the truth, but the average person just isn't familiar with the concept that the best investments are outside of stocks and mutual funds and thus termed "alternatives".

[w1651]

All I know when I start in about 2 or 3 years I'll do 500 to 1000 a month but if I hit the lottery in the meantime all bets are off...:-)

[msponer]

Originally Posted by Certeza

... the best investments are outside of stocks and mutual funds and thus termed "alternatives".

I'm curious, what is an example of an alternative investment?

[Teknav]

Alternative investment = moolah stashed inside your mattress...that's one way to look at it.

Mauritz

[David_Old_Jersey]

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-121428-2.html

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by Red Sky

Can't we all just get along?

No worries, I'll still respect you in the morning....

Peace...

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Bingo....most ultra budget cruisers don't have/want a laptop, the power to run it, or spend $5 on a coffee to get "free Wifi".

Actually most of the low rent cruisers I know, do have a laptop. Me I use a low power netbook that sips power and is not a drain on my solar. Gee I even splurge on a wifi hot spot thingy for $30 a month for 2.5 gig and unlimited at slower speed. Pretty sweet. Just so I can surf the web in the boonies. I do have the long range wifi thingy too. That works well. I can afford the wifi hot spot as I don't drink coffee, which saves a chunk o change. Starbucks, whats that....

[Certeza]

Originally Posted by msponer

I'm curious, what is an example of an alternative investment?

Could be anything from private equity groups to hedge funds.

In my case, I run a firm that offers separately managed futures accounts. Designed to offer individuals access to an investment that will be able to profit regardless of what the rest of the market is doing.

What makes it different than hedge funds is that I never take possession of clients' money. Unlike hedge funds where clients' money is locked in and they only receive quarterly updates. My clients keep their own individual accounts that they have online access to at any time, 24/7. Fully transparent and they can deposit or withdraw whenever they want.

[CGP]

With 5K a month the way I spend money it wouldn't take very long before I would need 10K a month.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by marina.alex

SNIP

In the end the price of living on the boat is not materially different than living in our house....
SNIP

This has not been my experience. I have an Engel and a bigger Frigaboat with a freezer. I have played around with both ice cream and popsicles in the freezers and never been able to get that to work. On the other hand I always have some type of ice cream when I am in my condo. I also tend to eat high quality cuts of meat when on land along with fresh veggies and fruits. A lot of the time when I am cruising there is not a store I can visit twice a week, or more, and stock up on those types of foods.

When on the boat as most folks do I stock up on rice, beans, canned foods, and pasta. I do fill the Frigaboat with yogurt and have many of those cardboard cartons of milk you do not need to keep refrigerated, but those are not expensive if you get them at the dollar store. I also depend on catching lobster or fish.

It is common to not see the inside of a store for a month or more when cruising. On the other hand I am a sucker for new toys and stuff like chips and dip when I am ashore. There is also the physical size of my kitchen and frig/freezer when ashore that allows me to keep lots of stuff inside.

Maybe if I went for a bigger boat with a bigger galley and bigger battery bank to power my stuff like a microwave, AC, hot water heater, and more the cost of cruising would go up. Maybe if I cruised more expensive areas instead of places like the back country of the Florida Keys, Berry Islands, West Coast of Andros the cost of cruising would go up. Maybe if I paid boat boys to catch lobster and fish instead of doing it myself the cost of cruising would go up.

YMMV

[Certeza]

Tough life being forced to live off lobster and fresh fish instead of beef.

[Teknav]

Hiya Tom! You need to get a travel guide for the area you'll be visiting. For example, most of Caribbean travel guides will list all kind of stores with their phone numbers in each island. A quick call to a local grocery store will let you know what's available in stock; fresh produce, cheeses, liquors, meats and such. Some of these stores will even deliver to a nearby dinghy wharf, for an additional fee.

In the Grenadines, you can barter your beer and portable batteries for lobster, fresh produce and trinkets. Small skiffs will even come by you to sell you their fresh catch. While at it, ask if they can bring you fresh produce from their garden. More often they'll come back with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and tropical fruits.

Yes, it will cost more than your local supermarket! But, you'll be paying for convenience and for a great cruising vacation. Enjoy!

Mauritz
More than one way to skin a grouper!

[northoceanbeach]

Originally Posted by Sabbatical II

Congratulations Don, Great Thread

I am certainly not an extravagant person, but how can be $500 per month be living the dream? Sounds like a nightmare to me. The great thing about living in the free world is you are allowed to earn as much money as you like. Think like a $500 per month person and that's all you'll have to play with. If you think like a $5000 per month person, you'll find the way to do it. Hmmm, now which one will I choose?

Greg

But maybe the people cruising on $500 a month are out cruising month to month year to year, where the people earning as much money as they like are stuck earning money.

I'll take the nightmare over those two options.

[northoceanbeach]

Originally Posted by Certeza

Guess I just don't see why it has to be a big deal either way.

If someone wants to live on $500/month and is happy to do that, good for them. As long as they aren't on here complaining about how hard their life is, I don't see any reason to hate on them. They are choosing that life. Literally anyone from a first world country can easily get into a situation where they have income higher than that. So to be forced to live on an income that low is completely by choice:

How can just anyone in a first world country do that? It's way harder than you think.

Ok say I'm a single mom in Florida that works full time and has to buy kids clothes and daycare. I have to pay my apartment, maybe a car, insurance.

How the f am I supposed to save up enough money to buy a good cruising sailboat, much less save enough so that I can have $500 a month saved up to cruise on, once I quit my job and leave my apartment to go cruising.

She's in a first world country but I'll bet for her it's virtually impossible. There are people all over America barely able to live month to month, much less save up to buy a boat and put more than $500 aside to cruise.

I would change your comment to:

Any single person or couple without kids in a first world country, if willing to put off cruising for long enough, should be able to eventually save up enough to have a boat, a backup savings for emergencies and an unlimited monthly cruising budget.

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by northoceanbeach

But maybe the people cruising on $500 a month are out cruising month to month year to year, where the people earning as much money as they like are stuck earning money.

I'll take the nightmare over those two options.

+1 exactly why I do it. A bad day on a boat beats a good day in an office...