Cruising on $5,000 / Month

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I think maybe they paint the bottom when it needs it, and they can afford to do so, whatever time of year it happens to be.

One thing I can't seem to make sense of is how is $500 a month sustainable? Surely things as common as a bottom job have to be tough, much less some of the other big ticket gotcha's.
Have to be a very disciplined individual to slowly stock up a big enough kitty to cover some of the big ticket items, when you only have $500 a month to fund everything. So you have to be living off of what, maybe $400 a month and saving $100?

As far as the rest of us picking up any additional expenses from them, I don't think truthfully that is a concern. If they were in public housing the tax payer would be picking up way more I assure you.

Well.. the $500 guy has a big advantage over you $5000 folk.. they are mobile.. your not.
For example.. I need a bottom paint.. and I'm in the UK existing on a £500/mth pension and living aboard.. my choices are.. stay in the UK and scrimp for 50 weeks to raise the £300 paint fund or... sail South to where friends can get me the same paint for 60euro.. and I can dry out and paint between tides..
You pay marina fee's.. the real $500's don't.. we know where to get water, we know where we can tie up alongside for free for 3 days at a time off season.. if you pick up the nerve to go 'Third Line'.. you'll see us with the locals munching the delicious free Tapa that comes with the beer (1euro) or wine (1.50) that we're drinking.. you know.. that stuff you pay for on top of your 3-5euro beer/wine in your posh frontline bar where everyone speaks English..
Its easy if you just open your life..

[sailpower]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I need a bottom paint.. and I'm in the UK existing on a £500/mth pension and living aboard..

Well, your £500/month is actually $841/month USD so you are living large indeed!

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by sailpower

Well, your £500/month is actually $841/month USD so you are living large indeed!

Try living over here mate... 1 litre of fuel is around 1.69euro.. another 0.31centimes I could buy near a gallon in the States..
and the cost of foods near double here.. or at least it seemed that way when I shopped in Publix this Feb...
23% value added tax.. coz I actually live in Portugal.. so a $600 laptop in the States is 1000euro over here..
And its actually 500euro/mth for me... just hit the £ sign as I was using the UK as an example..
It all kinda balances out really

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Well.. the $500 guy has a big advantage over you $5000 folk.. they are mobile.. your not.
For example.. I need a bottom paint.. and I'm in the UK existing on a £500/mth pension and living aboard.. my choices are.. stay in the UK and scrimp for 50 weeks to raise the £300 paint fund or... sail South to where friends can get me the same paint for 60euro.. and I can dry out and paint between tides..
You pay marina fee's.. the real $500's don't.. we know where to get water, we know where we can tie up alongside for free for 3 days at a time off season.. if you pick up the nerve to go 'Third Line'.. you'll see us with the locals munching the delicious free Tapa that comes with the beer (1euro) or wine (1.50) that we're drinking.. you know.. that stuff you pay for on top of your 3-5euro beer/wine in your posh frontline bar where everyone speaks English..
Its easy if you just open your life..

This is a little out of context and I'll elaborate.

1. first your retired, or how else do you get a pension? I think many are not yet retired and are waiting on that retirement to begin cruising.

2. Even though retired, you still work. I assume you don't do those deliveries for free do you?

3. I'd make a bet that the vast majority of the $500 a month group are in fact not really very mobile at all, they can't afford to be, give them another $500 a month and they would be more mobile I'd bet.

4. I bet on average you double the $500 a month at least.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

This is a little out of context and I'll elaborate.

1. first your retired, or how else do you get a pension? I think many are not yet retired and are waiting on that retirement to begin cruising.

2. Even though retired, you still work. I assume you don't do those deliveries for free do you?

3. I'd make a bet that the vast majority of the $500 a month group are in fact not really very mobile at all, they can't afford to be, give them another $500 a month and they would be more mobile I'd bet.

4. I bet on average you double the $500 a month at least.

At the moment yes.. I'm living on land.. lot harder and costlier than a boat..
As for the deliveries.. I'm not one of the $350+/day guys.. try dividing that by 3.. out of which I pay airfares/expenses for my crew so don't come out the other side with a lot of change..
But.. this is a new luxury.. a small pension.. about 50% of the full rate as I dropped out a few years back but it gives me the freedom to say no to certain jobs that a few months ago I would have taken through necessity..
PS; The $500/mth is coz its an American forum.. just adapt it to the country of the poster.. £500.. Euro500 etc.. it works

[boatman61]

Just done a costing.. including my luxuries its just a wee bit over 500euro a month.. thankfully my tobacco is 7.50euro/50gms and beer is 0.80cts/bottle.. unlike the UK where its £17.50/50gms and £2/bottle..

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by boatman61

SNIP

For example.. I need a bottom paint.. and I'm in the UK existing on a £500/mth pension and living aboard.. my choices are.. stay in the UK and scrimp for 50 weeks to raise the £300 paint fund or... sail South to where friends can get me the same paint for 60euro.. and I can dry out and paint between tides..


SNIP

Gotta agree with Boatman's point that you can really lower costs a lot if you try. Some folks have a frugal lifestyle, others don't.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by tomfl

Gotta agree with Boatman's point that you can really lower costs a lot if you try. Some folks have a frugal lifestyle, others don't.

I'd say the majority of cruisers are frugal but there comes a point of diminishing returns. It's simply less effort to just earn an extra dollar rather than fight the budget to cut out that extra dollar (euro/pound pick a currency).

It's the opposite (and equally troublesome) problem of people who try to climb the corporate ladder only to find they give up life in the pursuit of more money. You have people who try so hard not to spend money that they give up a lot of what life has to offer.

From what I've seen, most cruisers (who actually move the boat and by my definition cruise long term) are on the range of $1.5-3.5k/mo and I think this represents a balance for most between not spending too much of their life chasing dollars but also not spending too much of their life avoiding spending dollars.

[Pelagic]

Totally agree Valhalla 360
It is balance of what you have been able to set aside and actually enjoying your preferred cruising lifestyle..... Not the same solution for everyone.
Living in a 3rd world like the Philippines can be cheap or expensive depending on whether you live as an Expat or as a Local.....
Local can be more fun, but it is nice to have the resources to have a choice!
Simply Tailor your expenses to be sustainable while cruising

[w1651]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I had that slave that lives in my body do it! The next day he was a bit tired so it took extra whipping to make him wax the hull.

I know what you mean. When I sanded the petit blue off the hull of my boat last month I met the Smurf inside me...

[BandB]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Simply Tailor your expenses to be sustainable while cruising

Pretty good advice whether cruising or not.

[sailorboy1]

nothing simple about a budget other than spending it

[sailorchic34]

Myself I have $60 a month that goes into the big expense fund. That fund covers bottom jobs, batteries, etc. The last bottom job cost me right near $1000, including haul, a week of lay days, 2 gallons of great paint (still have most of one left), sandpaper, drop clothes, etc. That will be 5 years this October. So far, no hard growth yet. Though soft growth is a Bit** if I don't move enough. I've not had a diver scrub the boat as that cost is not in the $500 a month club budget. But I use a deck brush from the kayak once in a blue moon to clear the water line of the crud.

So really subtracting the bottom job, big item costs that go into my big item fund, and cat (the furry kind) costs, I live on $390 a month. Its a lovely life too.

This morning I woke up to a 70 foot long tree balanced on my anchor rode/snubber. Once I got that clear, raising anchor also pulled up 2 1" rusty steel cables. First time that both things happened to me too.

Even with all that its a better day then the best day I ever worked.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

Even with all that its a better day then the best day I ever worked.

Do you ever sail out to Canada or down the coast a little?

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by weavis

Do you ever sail out to Canada or down the coast a little?

Not yet on the west coast. Really Socal is a bit out of my price range, as there are few free anchorages outside some of the channel islands and maybe moro bay. I'm more a 20 mile a day gunkholer then ocean adventurer anyway. I get pooped out after three 4 to 6 hour days single handing and need a few lay days to get the energy levels up again. My boat lacks tankage for more then just me and Dekat also. Though there will come a time when the Rose will trek to the east coast.

I had been thinking of heading to gringo land / Baja last year. But glad now that I didn't. I could just see my 72 sailboat without hin number causing me to get caught in last years fiasco down there.