$500 v $5000 a month budget - which is best?

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by onestepcsy37

sailorchic, you really need to move to florida. no personal property tax. no income tax or most other taxes.

AND, your boat (like my boat) can be registered every year for $8 if it's over 30 years old. called an 'antique' boat. otherwise would have cost me $150 a year.

Actually, my long term goal is to get back to the right coast for sure. Though my sense of direction leaves much to be desired.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

I think where and how you want to cruise is the underlying issue.

Some are happy to sit in an isolated anchorage for weeks on end. That makes for a pretty cheap lifestyle. Nothing wrong with it.

Exactly my point. If you really need to know how much "it" costs, then you need to specify HOW you're cruising. Your boat specs, your crew size, your cruising grounds, your schedule, your needs & wants ... all these things (and a bunch more) will factor into defining the monthly expenditure. Without specifying these factors, any number is meaningless.

Clearly it is possible to live very cheaply on a boat (the $500/month club), but only IF you make certain choices. So too with $1000, $3000, $5000 or more. This is why I get frustrated with those who insist that they have the only right answer, or perhaps more annoying, those who insist others don't know what they're talking about. If you really want a real answer, then we need to compare apples to apples.

Originally Posted by valhalla360

While we enjoy an occasional nature anchorage after a day or two, we want to see some civilization also. For us cruising is a means to see the world (including the civilized world). A boat is a great option for that but once you tie up in a developed area, it costs money.

A great example. I can think of nothing better than spending weeks, months and perhaps years living in wilderness anchorages. I find urban areas quite tedious and boring. Big buildings, lots of people, noise, distraction and expensive. I know I'm in the minority on this aspect, but the fact that I don't want to spend time in urban areas coincides well with my need to cruise inexpensively.

Budgets need to be matched with appropriate choices. Comparing one budget to another without understanding the set of choices is as meaningless as asking what blue smells like.

[zeehag]

cali does charge property tax, varying county to county on all boats..is not the boat but UNSECURED property tax, based on value of boat in selling market and paid on the tiny plot of dirt where in you stuff anchor or under your concrete mooring block.
btw...been to florida. been to mexico.
sailorchic "wants" to be in mexico over fla. better climate and cheaper repairs. prettier lightning. more frequent storms to autowash boats. ten peso tacos.
warmer nights. brighter stars.
yada yada.....ask beni where she wants to be....lol
as for what amount is best to live on and cruise...it depends on what you want and need.
not all are suited to the fix it yourself while underway survivsl lifestyle. others are not suited to the if it breaks we charge it wtf lifestyle either.
and WAY too many are half year bring home bs with you kindsa hobbyists who return from their vacation with their baggage to work then return next year with same baggage to play again.
thete are many types out here each with different goals and abilities.
we all enjoy it or we dont do it.
so it takes a coupla months to save for big repairs...so what. they get done. so we enjoy the region longer than some..so what...lol
we each do as we wish.

[a64pilot]

Hell, in Georgia, I pay property tax on my lawnmower. I can't think of anything that is not taxed on a yearly basis that I own.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Hell, in Georgia, I pay property tax on my lawnmower. I can't think of anything that is not taxed on a yearly basis that I own.

Thats HORRIBLE! Time to move.

[dennisail]

To be slightly serious, the reason these threads rarely result in answers to this ultimate question is b/c there is no general answer. It depends on each person's lifestyle, their boat, their choices, and what they consider needs vs wants.

I disagree. I would say for the vast majority of cases it comes down their WEALTH! You wont see a low income earner cruising on $5K per month, and you wont see most millionaires cruising on $500 a month either. Simple really. So all the rich folk telling the less wealthy how to cruise an vice versa should get real.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by dennisail

I disagree. I would say for the vast majority of cases it comes down their WEALTH! You wont see a low income earner cruising on $5K per month, and you wont see most millionaires cruising on $500 a month either. Simple really. So all the rich folk telling the less wealthy how to cruise an vice versa should get real.

I think we're saying the same thing. If you are a millionaire your lifestyle will be quite different than those of us who make a lot less. Both will drive your choices (your boat, your cruising locations, your cruising lifestyle, etc.). So it makes no sense to ask "how much does it cost to cruise?" without defining the parameters. A millionaire's cruising choices will be vastly different than mine. We can both cruise, but the choices we make will largely define the costs.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I think we're saying the same thing. If you are a millionaire your lifestyle will be quite different than those of us who make a lot less. Both will drive your choices (your boat, your cruising locations, your cruising lifestyle, etc.). So it makes no sense to ask "how much does it cost to cruise?" without defining the parameters. A millionaire's cruising choices will be vastly different than mine. We can both cruise, but the choices we make will largely define the costs.

Pretty much.

All I have to do is look out my hatch. The are a number of multi million dollar yachts, and on the mooring ball two over is something that looks like it won't float for more than two days.

One Leopard cat in front of me at the fuel dock had a $750 charge compared to my $48 charge. I'll probably run further with mine.

Choices. Yours are not mine, and mine aren't the next person's. No one is wrong, as long as they are safe choices

[Hillbillylad]

Living on a budget is easy. Getting the boat and equipping it is the hard bit. 5000 a month while you get the boat ready then 500 a month enjoying what you put together.
If it takes 5000 a month to make you comfortable then you're probably part of the modern problem rather than the solution.

[dennisail]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I think we're saying the same thing. If you are a millionaire your lifestyle will be quite different than those of us who make a lot less. Both will drive your choices (your boat, your cruising locations, your cruising lifestyle, etc.). So it makes no sense to ask "how much does it cost to cruise?" without defining the parameters. A millionaire's cruising choices will be vastly different than mine. We can both cruise, but the choices we make will largely define the costs.

One does not have a "choice" to cruise expensive boats and large monthly expenses if one does not have the money! The choice is, an older smaller boat and frugal expenditure or NO CRUISING...

There is nothing wrong with budget boats and budget cruising. Looking at some of the people I have met, I would feel far safer on some modest boats and crews than compared to others with big money! So I think the safety argument against budget cruising can be wrong. We can cruise safe and fun on little money.

Run what we can afford, don't pretend there is much of a choice. Have fun and make sure there is plenty of cash left for beer.

[Red Sky]

Originally Posted by Hillbillylad

Living on a budget is easy. Getting the boat and equipping it is the hard bit. 5000 a month while you get the boat ready then 500 a month enjoying what you put together.
If it takes 5000 a month to make you comfortable then you're probably part of the modern problem rather than the solution.

What is "The modern problem"? Seriously, I'm curious.

[dennisail]

Originally Posted by Red Sky

What is "The modern problem"? Seriously, I'm curious.

I'm guessing the drive for mindless debt driven consumerism? Spend spend spend! Throwaway and upgrade everything, just so its up to date. Even if the old stuff works well and is probably higher quality than the new stuff.

[JK n Smitty]

Originally Posted by Red Sky

What is "The modern problem"? Seriously, I'm curious.

My definition of it would be the consumerism driven culture of living beyond your means in an unsustainable way. Basically characterized by the McMansion filled with plastic Chinese made crap owned primarily by a bank with little actual equity for the "owner" who is too busy watching Honey Booboo and American Idol on their 100" LED TV to notice that he can't afford to properly maintain any of his 3 cars, boat or RV. Or said another way:

Tyler Durden: We're consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra.
Narrator: Martha Stewart.
Tyler Durden: F@$k Martha Stewart. Martha's polishing the brass on the Titanic. It's all going down, man. So f@$k off with your sofa units and Strinne green stripe patterns.

But that's just my opinion. I am sure the original poster on the subject will have something to add.

[Red Sky]

Originally Posted by dennisail

I'm guessing the drive for mindless debt driven consumerism? Spend spend spend! Throwaway and upgrade everything, just so its up to date. Even if the old stuff works well and is probably higher quality than the new stuff.

Dennisail, while I wait for Hillbillylad's response, I'll address yours. I'm one of those that won't be in the $500/month club, but I totally agree with you. When I was a child in the 60's everything we had was made domestically (USA), there were tv, radio, and appliance repair shops. Things got fixed, not replaced. Now, how are you going to get something fixed (if you could find a repair shop) when you can throw it out (another huge problem) and replace it cheaper than it could be fixed. That big county to the North of you is a pox on the world.

[dennisail]

Originally Posted by Red Sky

Dennisail, while I wait for Hillbillylad's response, I'll address yours. I'm one of those that won't be in the $500/month club, but I totally agree with you. When I was a child in the 60's everything we had was made domestically (USA), there were tv, radio, and appliance repair shops. Things got fixed, not replaced. Now, how are you going to get something fixed (if you could find a repair shop) when you can throw it out (another huge problem) and replace it cheaper than it could be fixed. That big county to the North of you is a pox on the world.

This situation is going to cause us some HUGE problems in the future. In fact it has already started IMO.