Month 4 Expenses & Costs of Cruising

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Truth is a lot of what is killing me trying to get a hand on a budget is I have no idea what we spend now on different items like food or clothes for instance.
Wife has her own job so she has her own money to spend, it is not shared, so I'm afraid she spends way more on clothes than I realize

Of course we are going to cruise on the money I have saved for retirement.

Not to sound like Dear Abby but I don't see success in this life style with anything less than an absolute and totally open (financial & otherwise) equal partnership.

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

We don't have that many clothes really and I bet she will have to stop buying as there isn't room to store them. Each time we do wash I put away more pair of underwear than everything else combined (should just stop wearing them ). Also you can control clothes buying by not going to places where it is possible to shop for them.

Women always have more clothes than men, just how it works, usually the physical space puts the limit on them. Me, I live in t shirts and shorts and bathing suit 99% of the time. My wife has a little more variety but is in her bathing suit 75% of the time. Most cruisers have way more clothes than they could ever wear. Careful with shoes, women can't have enough but often leather will go moldy. 99% of the time my wife is in flip flops or Keens and just the odd time has the opportunity to wear some of her shoes so of course she has one pair of flip flops and one pair of Keens and probably 10 pair of shoes, you can see this is all making sense, lol but for girls it makes total sense. I wouldn't worry too much about it, over time things get reorganized.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

Not to sound like Dear Abby but I don't see success in this life style with anything less than an absolute and totally open (financial & otherwise) equal partnership.

No, it's been that way since she started working and I do not mind it, it's her money to do with as she pleases, she buys stuff for the kids etc too.
She has my Amex card, but of course I see where it's spent.
When retired we will track every penny until I'm comfortable where it's going and how much it takes, we will only have one card then, one phone etc as no need for duplicates.

[a64pilot]

Yes the boat will cut down greatly on clothes, a part of the second Stateroom will be her closet, just they way it is. She won't go without more clothes than she needs, and I won't go without a ridiculous amount of tools

[Hudson Force]

It's often difficult for men, or at least me individually, to understand the manner in which the ladies collect stuff. I thought that I would post here with some pride, a statement about how well my wife adapted to living aboard by having such a small amount of stuff, but, as I scan through the boat and consider the lockers and storage, I'm amazed at how much volume of material she keeps.

This has become very evident as we are moving off our boat that has been our home for the last 32 years. She probably considers that we have an equal amount of stored material aboard because she considers much of her material as important for both of us, but I disagree. I know that my tools for boat maintenance are important for both of us, but I list that as my stuff.

If I were living aboard by myself I would not have the dozen or so plants on the portlight shelves. I would not have the thirty or forty pounds of decorative glassware or the two dozen pieces of stemware. I would not have a set of stored decorations to adorn the boat for Christmas, Easter, July 4th, Thanksgiving, and Valentine's Day. I would not have the collection of curios and artwork that is fixed on shelves.

I'm not complaining! Nancie has lived aboard and cruised with me for 45 years, but it's just an observation. I'm not troubled by all this stuff, but I'm not one to seek it out. Here we are putting our boat on the market and moving ashore and she is already buying things to fill our home on land. We don't take possession of our land home for another few days, but she already has chairs, tables, couches, an ottoman and a vacuum cleaner bought and stored at friend's houses.

[ur2slo]

Sailorboy,

Screw the naysayer's and keep up the good work.

There are a few of us that actually use the info for OUR knowledge, not to use against others due to what I term "Pointing the Finger of Shame"

(All gloriously lost in their great knowledge, used just to bash others to find worth in their dank world)

Question Stupidity...................

[a64pilot]

I decided years ago that similar to a fish in an aquarium that will grow to fit its living space, people will accumulate "stuff" to fill the available space.
It's just Human nature. In the Army we moved often and that forced a culling of stuff, but our last house was a little large and we stayed there for many years, the amount of stuff we accumulated was amazing

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I decided years ago that similar to a fish in an aquarium that will grow to fit its living space, people will accumulate "stuff" to fill the available space.
It's just Human nature. In the Army we moved often and that forced a culling of stuff, but our last house was a little large and we stayed there for many years, the amount of stuff we accumulated was amazing

Good analogy!

[sailorboy1]

So it's basically a "we're going to need a bigger boat", pretty sweet how that works out!

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

So it's basically a "we're going to need a bigger boat", pretty sweet how that works out!

Can't win that race either. We agreed after 4 years 24/7 on our present boat that for all new stuff brought on something old must be removed. That had an immediate effect and there have been no new additions for quite some time.

[goat]

Thanks again for posting Don. Whether others spend on things you do or not, it gives a good comparison. My costs now that I've been in Mexico have been cut in half, but realistically that's only because I spent a lot of money on spare parts and boat maintenance items before I left, ie; my old Raytheon tiller pilot died on day one from Ensenada to Los Cabos. Luckily I'd bought a backup before I left the States. 600 bucks well spent. I could justify and say it's not part of this months cost, but neither are the spare starter, alternator and a thousand other things that are paid for but are spread out through the next few years expenses.
Of course if you decide to come through the canal to the big pond, the first Pacific beer is on me.
" They see me rollin', they hatin' "

goat

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by goat

Thanks again for posting Don. Whether others spend on things you do or not, it gives a good comparison. My costs now that I've been in Mexico have been cut in half, but realistically that's only because I spent a lot of money on spare parts and boat maintenance items before I left, ie; my old Raytheon tiller pilot died on day one from Ensenada to Los Cabos. Luckily I'd bought a backup before I left the States. 600 bucks well spent. I could justify and say it's not part of this months cost, but neither are the spare starter, alternator and a thousand other things that are paid for but are spread out through the next few years expenses.
Of course if you decide to come through the canal to the big pond, the first Pacific beer is on me.
" They see me rollin', they hatin' "

goat

Where are you cruising in Mexico right now?

[goat]

Just pulled in to Los Cabos marina yesterday. Going to catch up on some sleep then work my way up to the islands past la Paz. It was a great trip down the Pacific side of the Baja, a little bit of everything.

[gus110]

Sailorboy, thank you for posting your expenses. We are in the process of culling out things we don't need in our home, the house goes on the market as soon as our daughter graduates college in May and we will be liveaboards. I have gone through budget numbers and most of my calculations are close to yours except I budgeted quite a bit more for fuel. We haven't bought our boat yet but I expected that number to be higher. I assume you have a trawler. Can you tell me a little about your boat? Thank you in advance.

[sailorboy1]

I have a sailboat, but there's hardy been any sailing opportunities coming down the east coast and ICW