Month 11 Expenses of Cruising and Living on the Boat

[zboss]

Our drop-dead lowest we want to live on is 1700 a month, which does not include marina. So if you are doing it for less than 2K without the marina, in my book that is pretty darn good.

If we dropped our food cost by $50 a month, did all the laundry on the boat, did away with insurance, got rid of our dinghy motor, only ate out twice a month, we would still only get away with $1200 a month... IMO $500 savings doesn't balance out against how easy it is to make $500 a month on average.

[RTB]

QUOTE=sailorboy1;2458879]


The total was $ 3,034.53, which was close to the $3,000 budget and breaks down as follows:

Food, soda, alcohol, clothing, sundries - $ 835.90
Boat upgrades, repairs, maintenance - $ 662.28
Fuel (diesel, gas, propane) - $ 15
Dining out - $ 331.16
Entertainment - $ 97.81
Communication, storage, shipping - $ 198.05
Bank Fees – ($ 72.68) using my cash back card saves money
Marina - $ 851.05
Medical - $ 22.27
Transportation - $ 93.39[/QUOTE]

To me, these categories should cover just about anything topic related. Just one question if I may....should we figure in boat insurance costs along with health insurance? Maybe you mention that some months? Do you count bottom cleaning and zinc replacement? Assuming that is included in boat maintenance?

Just curious if you had ever taken a look at Pat's post on this very topic? It seemed pretty thorough and honest to me -

https://www.bumfuzzle.com/what-does-it-cost-to-cruise/

Do you think you'll continue to share on this topic after 2 or 3 years? The first year is a huge concern, and the most exciting, probably. This is when you hope all of that planning works out the way you had hoped. If you come close to what you planned for, then you were good with thinking everything through before you left. The boat was well prepared, and proved more or less trouble free. I think also, that during the first year, it takes time to get used to living on the boat and not working at much of anything, other than getting to point B. Another words....bored at times. After awhile, at least for me, I started to really relax and forget about my working days. I actually had dreams for a year about my last job. Not really good dreams either, not that I hadn't enjoyed that job.

The longer you do this cruising thing (at least for me), the less stimuli you will need. After almost 5 years, I think my wife and I have most things figured out. It does take some determination to make it that long, especially if you get some things wrong! In the end, the boat is my oasis, and love living on water. My life aboard may seem boring to others, but we'll see, if I start that thread.

Back to your regularly scheduled program...

Ralph

[sailorboy1]

To me, these categories should cover just about anything topic related. Just one question if I may....should we figure in boat insurance costs along with health insurance? Maybe you mention that some months? Do you count bottom cleaning and zinc replacement? Assuming that is included in boat maintenance?


Do you think you'll continue to share on this topic after 2 or 3 years? The first year is a huge concern, and the most exciting, probably. [/QUOTE]

I count everything I spent during the month, everything. If an expensive doesn't fit into a category I made one for it. Boat insurance was included back in Jan when it occurred. Yes zincs would be in boat maintenance.

I don't know how long I will continue these threads. Probably till I feel there isn't much interest.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

I just remembered I sold my Bahamas charts last month to another cruiser at the marina. This goes into the boat costs category.

So we stayed under our budget for the month. We are budget planning masters!

Wifey B: Too late now. 24 hour rule makes irreversible results.
And this is why hubby said not to bet you on results.

What would you budget if you won the $700 million lottery thing?

[jseas]

I don't believe I saw any insurance costs figured in. Boat and health insurance will be almost 20% of our monthly budget.

Edit: I just saw your post from this morning about insurance. I will be dividing my annual payment up on a per month basis to give a better representation of expenses.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by jseas

I don't believe I saw any insurance costs figured in. Boat and health insurance will be almost 20% of our monthly budget.

Edit: I just saw your post from this morning about insurance. I will be dividing my annual payment up on a per month basis to give a better representation of expenses.

my insurance for the year was about $1200

Health insurance is worth looking at hard as the cost of it can well offset something else. In our case the penalty and taxes of taking early 401K withdrawn reduced the insurance by over $500/mo . It became spending $1200 to save $6000. You have to get out of the box which means stop listening to the group talk.

[TJGetaway]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

my insurance for the year was about $1200

Health insurance is worth looking at hard as the cost of it can well offset something else. In our case the penalty and taxes of taking early 401K withdrawn reduced the insurance by over $500/mo . It became spending $1200 to save $6000. You have to get out of the box which means stop listening to the group talk.

What plan do you have that handles out of country (Bahamas)?
How does your plan handle out of network (state)?