Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Lucas
My problem with this thread is that to me it drifted from the first post.
I thought it was about how to cruise on $500/mo. But it seems everyone wants to agrue about how to buy a boat, outfit it, and cruise on a total of $500/mo.
As far as oufitting and buying a boat on the cheap is there really that much discussion needed that one can not have all new equipment.
Guess I would suggest that if someone is not doing the last sentence that that would be a good start.
PS - guess I still don't know how not aving refrigation would save me money each month cruising.
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Don, this is the also the problem I have with this thread
The reason I keep trying to argue against not including the
boat price is that I just can't wrap my
head around anyone
Choosing to live on $500 a month. Nobody
wants to live/cruise on such a small
budget. The people doing it are either A: fixed
income folks who spent their life savings on a boat and no longer have the ability to save money (or atleast not easily), or B: people who already live on a small
income and cannot afford to invest $25k in a boat to begin with.
Not many people are willing to live a minimalistic lifestyle if they aren't being forced to. So all these people that can afford to
purchase nice boats and outfit them with nice gear do not belong in the $500 a month club IMO
The first group is the exception... They might have a pretty nice boat, but IMO, they made a big mistake
they could have gone much, much, cheaper on the boat, and put some extra money away to prevent them from being Forced to live on $500 a month.
The second group, simply cannot afford to go the normal
route of making a large initial investment, be it on the boat, or gear, or whatever. These are the people who require a smaller, cheaper, boat, with minimal gear and minimal expenses.
So, when it comes to something like
refrigeration. You're absolutely right, it would save money and make
food last longer, etc... But it's a fairly significant initial cost. Since these are the people with 'project' boats, they are more likely to have better things to spend that money on.
Personally, I put
refrigeration pretty far down on the list of priorities. Thats partially because I simply can't afford one anytime in the near future, and also because I've been doing just fine without it for 6 months now
The 'minimalist' thinks a bit differently than the average cruiser. We try to avoid acquiring new things (as a principal) and spending money that's not absolutely necessary. getting the boat
seaworthy is top priority, comfort comes later... but unfortunately, keeping the boat
seaworthy is often too expensive to ever really get it 'finished'. So cruising comforts fall to the wayside, meanwhile the person gets acclimated to the minimal lifestyle and the cruising comforts fall even further down the priority list.
So to answer you're question... going without refrigeration doesn't save money on a monthly basis. It prevents a person from spending money on something they don't really need, and gives them the ability to use that money on something more important.
As far as this thread goes, it was offtopic from the getgo, and it will continue to be as long as people insist that the boat itself and the preparation costs "don't count"