Total Cruising Kitty

[SailingFan]

Originally Posted by Crazcarl

Alexandra,

I am hoping we can find those types of places to keep our costs down for food. I am sure we will eat out at some nicer places once in a while, but we want to immerse ourselves with the locals as well. If it was just me, I would probably live a much more simpler life closer to what it seems you are, but not sure I could go that far. With a wife and kid, I wouldn't want to even try for now. Good luck on that project! I would be nervous about sinking a boat and coming back later to retrieve only to find that someone else found it.

OMG...

PLEASE tell me you know this was a fallacious post.... Right?? S/he is pulling your leg out of the socket....

You are not ready yet, but if you sort the wheat...

[SV THIRD DAY]

Our family of 4 cruised Mexico for 4 yrs on an average of $1400/mo...so it's doable on $2k/mo...easy.

[chuckr]

What you spend is a lot up to you. Asking the question is also like asking how many stars are in the sky - lots of answers depending on who is counting.

We can only and will only tell you what it costs us. We have been out going on 10 years now and kept track of every penny spent.

Here is our last output and we are currently putting in the last data for adding one more year - and it will be a very expensive year I might add.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ta-164643.html

[daletournier]

There are other options. Ken has suggested this before, work 6mths cruise 6 months. This way you don't have to live as tightly, can have a better boat and enjoy both worlds. Also the change is good , it adds to life. I cruise fulltime but would consider the work 4-6 mth lifestyle if I was employable...lol.

Regarding investments, its tricky,me personally I recieve my income from property, I like it going up ,but really that's just my ego, its the cashflow it generates that's important, whether it goes up or down is irrelevant. Im not a stock type of guy, yes they do always recover but sometimes it can take along time (depression 25years to recover?) and if its your only income them you maybe eating into the principle while waiting for it to return. Personally I'm into more tangible things that don't go away. Set it up so your covered in most scenerios which could mean lower returns.

Regarding how much? It all comes down to comfort, how much you want or don't want? You can definitely be happy with less, no problem, but I can also be happy with more comfort , I would choose more and that's when things get more expensive. What I live on today would have seemed huge to me 15 years ago now dosent seem that much! I've become abit of a pleasure baby.

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Crazcarl]

I am still here and amazed that this thread came back to life. After a lot of responses from you guys and reading some good resources (such as Mr Money Mustache - recommended by you guys) we have revised our kitty goal. I have been maxing out retirement accounts and paying down what debt I have left which is little. We changed our goal to closer to 700k which will include the cost of the boat.

I am proud to say that we are over half way there!!

We set a budget a little over a year ago and stuck with it all last year. We also had a daughter in November! Expenses are still low and we enjoy more time together as a family. When you are trying to save money you tend to spend more time outdoors and less in malls. This is how we want to live on the boat.

We also set a date. August 20, 2020 is our dead end must leave town date. We will start to sell everything before that. I have even put in my 5 year notice at work, hahaha.

I have a pretty solid financial plan on how to set everything up and may post more on that later, but wanted to give everyone a heads up on where we are at and say thank you to everyone. We will see you out there soon enough.

PS: I am flying down to Turks and Caicos to sail for a week and take a Tayana 37 to San Juan! Really stoked about that.

[Crazcarl]

It has been a little over a year since my last post. My family and I have started to slowly declutter and sell things. After the past couple years with the market and our budgeting, it looks like summer of 2019 may be our new take off date. At the end of 2018, if we hit our number, we will start to put the house up for sale and start looking for a boat.

When you and your partner are on the same page, it can be very easy to hit your goals! Hope everyone else out there is doing great!

[kijhuh]

What’s the latest? Just found this thread today and laughed at the timing, what with your final out date of Aug 20, 2020 being just a few days away.

How was the expedition from T&C?

Kijhuh

[DeValency]

Good other comments here. I may add few points;
- suggest you charter in the Caribbean both mono and cat before making any decision. Cruising and live aboard is a totally different experience than club day and weekend sailing.
- Budget; purchase at no more than half of your full budget and save enough for repairs and improvements as well for any unpredictable costs that will surely arrive.... $150-200K should get you a good, well equipped boat in a very good well proven shape.
- Boat purchase; that’s after the above Try to find a former full time cruising boat that has been perfectly maintained - better in the cruising area you have in mind - you may start from Fort Lauderdale area but could also find good opportunities in Grenada.

Best of luck!

Originally Posted by Crazcarl

Hi All,

This is my first post so be kind....

My wife and I have started to save for our cruising kitty. We are in the process of ridding our selves of things we do not feel we need anymore (gym membership, cable tv, etc..) to come close to as we would like life to be on the boat.

We (engineer and teacher) are in our early 30s and our son just turned 1! We are hoping to save and invest until we reach our savings goal of around 300K. Buy a 40ish mono or cat the year before we are ready to leave and spend that year outfitting her and selling the house, cars, etc, to put back into the kitty. Hoping the land stuff will pay for most of the boat and outfitting.

We would cruise the Bahamas/Caribbean area for 1-2 years to make sure that is what we want. If its not, then my wife will still have a place in teaching (but they will only save her a spot for 2 years), while I find a job.

We have joined a local sailing club and have unlimited access to some smaller boats in the 25-27 range and have been trying to get on them as much as possible. I will soon be looking for more opportunities to get on larger boats and help out locals if and when possible.

Everything I have been reading seems to make me believe that my family can get around with about 1500-2k / month. That is doing as much myself as possible and anchoring most of the time but still enjoying dinners and excursions. If we decide we really enjoy the 2 years, we may venture to the west coast and head over the the south pacific.

Was thinking with the interest in investing the 300k we can almost survive forever out there and still have enough if we ever had to come back in case of an emergency. If it was just myself and wife, we would probably be gone much sooner with much less.

I was more curious on what people have planned to take in their kitty and if they see it lasting. Does this seem like too much and we should be able to leave sooner, or not enough? Is owning a cat 2x as much as a mono or less to maintain?

Thanks everyone

[IslandInfedel]

Originally Posted by Crazcarl

Hi All,

This is my first post so be kind....

My wife and I have started to save for our cruising kitty. We are in the process of ridding our selves of things we do not feel we need anymore (gym membership, cable tv, etc..) to come close to as we would like life to be on the boat.

We (engineer and teacher) are in our early 30s and our son just turned 1! We are hoping to save and invest until we reach our savings goal of around 300K. Buy a 40ish mono or cat the year before we are ready to leave and spend that year outfitting her and selling the house, cars, etc, to put back into the kitty. Hoping the land stuff will pay for most of the boat and outfitting.

We would cruise the Bahamas/Caribbean area for 1-2 years to make sure that is what we want. If its not, then my wife will still have a place in teaching (but they will only save her a spot for 2 years), while I find a job.

We have joined a local sailing club and have unlimited access to some smaller boats in the 25-27 range and have been trying to get on them as much as possible. I will soon be looking for more opportunities to get on larger boats and help out locals if and when possible.

Everything I have been reading seems to make me believe that my family can get around with about 1500-2k / month. That is doing as much myself as possible and anchoring most of the time but still enjoying dinners and excursions. If we decide we really enjoy the 2 years, we may venture to the west coast and head over the the south pacific.

Was thinking with the interest in investing the 300k we can almost survive forever out there and still have enough if we ever had to come back in case of an emergency. If it was just myself and wife, we would probably be gone much sooner with much less.

I was more curious on what people have planned to take in their kitty and if they see it lasting. Does this seem like too much and we should be able to leave sooner, or not enough? Is owning a cat 2x as much as a mono or less to maintain?

Thanks everyone

How much do you think you are going to get per month off the 300k?

[Crazcarl]

Originally Posted by IslandInfedel

How much do you think you are going to get per month off the 300k?

Well we actually raised our goal to 500k. Planning on getting 4% return, gives us about $20k a year. So, originally the $300k would have given us $12k a year, but then I was thinking of keeping a rental while sailing, which I do not anymore.

What’s nice, is that we were able to save a little bit more than that, and I also learned a few other skills along the way. I have been successfully daytrading, averaging $100-$200 per day for the past year. I do not do this everyday, but feel I could continue this if needed.

[Time2Go]

Originally Posted by zboss

Also, those high dividend plays are going to bite you. They are that high because the banks and the big paper holders are trying to attract "investors" so they can dump it. I find that intermediate term bond funds with very low costs, like Vanguard funds do much better over the long run. However, everyone has to choose their own strategy.

Nonsense, It all depends on timing
I sold my entire portfolio when the Dow was 29,000
and change. Bought back in when market hit 18
. All High cap Dividend Aristocrats
Locked in dividend income just shy of 8%
and as of today sitting on a gain in stock price of 25%
Wish I put more than half my stash in
But cash is King and I’m waiting for another opportunity.
Inflation adjusted govt bonds are in Negative interest
territory.

In regards to cruising health insurance
a recent 6 hour hospital visit in Bermuda
cost 4,900US.

Cheers
Neil

[Crazcarl]

Originally Posted by kijhuh

What’s the latest? Just found this thread today and laughed at the timing, what with your final out date of Aug 20, 2020 being just a few days away.

How was the expedition from T&C?

Kijhuh

We finally did find a boat. We sailed it from Florida up to the Chesapeake where we are currently. It was a lot of work downsizing and going through all of our stuff.

It feels great to have a goal, and meet it, with some room to spare (hopefully).

The virus made us a bit nervous, but overall, we faired better than most. I timed the market a bit and got lucky figuring everyone would be watching Netflix and ordering stuff on Amazon while stuck at home.

Thanks for checking back in. Hope everyone is staying safe.

[IslandInfedel]

Originally Posted by Crazcarl

Well we actually raised our goal to 500k. Planning on getting 4% return, gives us about $20k a year. So, originally the $300k would have given us $12k a year, but then I was thinking of keeping a rental while sailing, which I do not anymore.

What’s nice, is that we were able to save a little bit more than that, and I also learned a few other skills along the way. I have been successfully daytrading, averaging $100-$200 per day for the past year. I do not do this everyday, but feel I could continue this if needed.

It’s always interesting to hear the ways people fund their cruising.

[CarlF]

A few comments

Be sure you are using after tax returns for your investments.

Go when your child is young. As they get older they become much less happy cruisers as they want a social life, school sports, and plan for college. I’ve had several friends move ashore when their oldest hit 12.

Many cruisers your age do it for five-seven years and then sell the boat and do something else. Since you will still be in your peak earnings years then, you can replenish savings then. So I’d consider spending down some of that $300,000 while cruising to make the numbers work for a quicker departure - maybe $1000 a month. Sure, you’ll have to work more when you return but that doesn’t seem a bad trade. When you hit age 50 and the kids are on their own, you can quit the jobs and do it again!

With little income you will qualify for one of the almost free Obamacare plans (pick a state as your residence that is generous). Then get Dan Boater evacuation insurance for $100/family. They will fly you to the US hospital of your choice if you require long term hospitalization.

Some would disagree, but I would keep a US residence. Could be a parent’s house or a cabin in the woods somewhere or a AirBNB that you own and rent out the other months, or even a timeshare. Then fly “home” for a month once or twice a year. This makes it easier to maintain routine doctors and dentists appointments. More schooling options for the children. Keep drivers licenses and insurance current. And give everyone a break from the boat. Doesn’t cost that much.

Unless you buy a new boat, realize that the purchase price will be only a fraction of your first 12 months total costs. Besides equipment that is on its last legs you’ll also have “nice to have” stuff like new mattress foam. New electronics. New sails. $50,000 is a reasonable guess.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by Time2Go

Nonsense, It all depends on timing
I sold my entire portfolio when the Dow was 29,000
and change. Bought back in when market hit 18
. All High cap Dividend Aristocrats
Locked in dividend income just shy of 8%
and as of today sitting on a gain in stock price of 25%
Wish I put more than half my stash in
But cash is King and I’m waiting for another opportunity.
Inflation adjusted govt bonds are in Negative interest
territory.

In regards to cruising health insurance
a recent 6 hour hospital visit in Bermuda
cost 4,900US.

Cheers
Neil

This is not in reference to 8% dividend returns. I'm talking about the ones that pay 15% an in many cases up to 25% or more.

The average 10 year return on funds commonly invested in at Vanguard is around 10%. Thats just been the market the last 15 years.