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Old 23-10-2010, 14:36   #1
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Monthly Expenses Living on Land vs Living on a Boat in a Marina

So I am planning and planning with my last few months in my apartment, and moving aboard a boat in December or January. Boat is not bought yet, but that is the easy part as I see it: small budget, small pool of boats to pick from.

So I have figured out all my fixed monthly payments I am paying now, and which ones will go up, down, and no longer exist when living on a boat at the marina.

Apartment rent will turn into slip fee, going down
Water and electric will go down, or may even be included with the slip
Internet, down, already have a AT&T air card I use and its cheaper then ComCast! I don't really watch TV

Are there any expenses you have that you did not see coming?

I know the boat will need maintenance, but that is a separate refit budget I have figured out.

Anything you thought you could live without, but ended up needing?
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Old 23-10-2010, 15:28   #2
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Originally Posted by Ocean Roads View Post

Are there any expenses you have that you did not see coming?
Yeah. all of them. Oh, I do budget to eat some food, but all the rest are curve balls. I try and dodge 'em but they're too good.




Good luck with it.

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Old 23-10-2010, 19:21   #3
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Hauling and bottom paint will be a routine need unless you plan to let the boat be a "house" boat. And the marina will probably require liability insurance before allowing you to dock there. If there is a local "Power Squadron" group in the area (I'm sure there is) look at taking one of their boating safety courses, or joining the group. That may get you an insurance discount as well as some good local information.
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Old 23-10-2010, 23:23   #4
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for me the cost is probably 1/3 - 1/4 of what it was to live on land. and the environment in a marina is amazing.
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Old 24-10-2010, 07:16   #5
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Insurance, already mentioned. I've yet to get my first electric bill(just moved into a metered electric marina), but from what I've heard they can be higher than you'd think because you're paying commercial rates and not residential.

So don't automatically assume that'll go down.

I'm trying to budget for large future expenses. Bottom jobs, obviously, but at some point I'll need a new engine, new sails, maybe deck work, new standing rigging, new running rigging, etc etc. That stuff doesn't last forever.

But I consider that like owning a home. Water furnaces die, roofs need replaced, back yard decks rebuilt, termites controlled, etc etc.
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Old 24-10-2010, 07:51   #6
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All you are doing by living aboard in a marina is shifting condo/apartment/home costs to marina costs. All the other costs, food, auto, etc. stay the same.
1. Marina slip rent versus apartment rent - sometimes higher in upscale marinas; lower in dumpy, rundown marinas (actually very equivalent to good apartment versus slum).
2. Utilities - electric and water. You will buying these from the marina which is going to add their own "profit" percentage to the utility company's rates so expect sometimes a significant increase in utility costs. Propane/fuel for cooking and heating.
3. Live-aboard Fees. Most marinas must be approved for live-aboards by various levels of government agencies. One of the most expensive costs is the installation of sewerage pipes to each slip for pumping out your holding tank. For this reason alone a lot of marinas prohibit live-aboards and only allow stored/non-live-aboard boats.
4. Parking fees, club fees, and a dozen other minor fees that you do not have when living in an apartment.
5. The biggie differences are boat maintenance and upkeep which is now your cost versus the apartment manager/owners problem.
6. Over the years, I have built up an opinion that living on board in a marina is more expensive than renting an apartment of the same size. And this is the big *** - the same size (square footage) apartment as the boat.
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Old 31-10-2010, 03:35   #7
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I don't have the experience of "living on land" to state much in the way of comparing, but over the last forty years we have lived at about 18 different marinas, mostly in Florida. Of course, prices have changed from 10 to 15 cents/foot/day for transient marina stays or $50-$80/month for a forty ft. slip in the early 1970's. Presently, we do see a wide variety of costs on the US East Coast. For our current 41' boat we have seen rates (all fees included) from about $300/month up to $1,500/month with the most amenities for the dollar found from Virginia to North Florida. For the last eight years we have been spending about half our time anchored out and half at marinas. Most of our marina choices that we select for a monthly rate are in the $550 to $750 per month range. We do not choose to pay the higher rates that are common for slips north of the Chesapeake or at the South Florida "resort" marinas.
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Old 31-10-2010, 04:46   #8
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You don't own an apartment, so you don't have the incentive to spend on it's infrastructure. But, you will own the boat, and there are temptations to spend on shinny gadgets and upgrades when wear & tear demand that items be replaced. These expenses will certainly be more than you have been spending each month replacing lightbulbs in an apartment. With a boat, one is just as likely to buy a whole new light fixture than just replace the bulb. If the fixture is old and rusty, the bulb may be the only thing NOT needing replacement. This same theory goes for plumbing too. An entire new $150 faucet is purchased because you can't find a 30 cent rubber valve seat to fit in a 30 year old faucet built in Taiwan.

Oh yeah, and then you buy a dock cart to haul that stuff... and a propane BBQ that was on sale at West Marine... and while installing the BBQ on the aft railing, you smash the stern light with a wrench... now you're going back to WM to buy a new stern light... none of this stuff was listed as part of your re-fit budget.

If you haven't done much work on a boat before, figure on spending money on tools too.
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Old 01-11-2010, 21:20   #9
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I live in Washington State and living on a boat is the most cost effective way to life (here)....my cost for slip rental, live aboard fee other taxes and fees as well as metered power in the winter with electric heat are about $350/mo....you would be hard pressed to get a room to rent in a house here for $350/mo (not including utilities). I have my own place which when I am finished the modifications I am doing will be big enough for two...
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Old 03-11-2010, 16:44   #10
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marina's are trailer parks!
no matter how nice the trailer/boats may be.

on the hook is the only way for me.
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Old 03-11-2010, 18:06   #11
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Raised 5 kids living in a marina, all agree best times we ever had, but not a money saver. Eventually bought a home with a dock when the rest of the kids arrived. You'll enjoy the lifestyle but don't go into it thinking you'll be saving. Having said this I must qualify it in so far as we were living in a luxury marina in the heart of Miami that was close to virtually everything.
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Old 03-11-2010, 18:56   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by osirissail View Post
All you are doing by living aboard in a marina is shifting condo/apartment/home costs to marina costs. All the other costs, food, auto, etc. stay the same.
1. Marina slip rent versus apartment rent - sometimes higher in upscale marinas; lower in dumpy, rundown marinas (actually very equivalent to good apartment versus slum).
2. Utilities - electric and water. You will buying these from the marina which is going to add their own "profit" percentage to the utility company's rates so expect sometimes a significant increase in utility costs. Propane/fuel for cooking and heating.
3. Live-aboard Fees. Most marinas must be approved for live-aboards by various levels of government agencies. One of the most expensive costs is the installation of sewerage pipes to each slip for pumping out your holding tank. For this reason alone a lot of marinas prohibit live-aboards and only allow stored/non-live-aboard boats.
4. Parking fees, club fees, and a dozen other minor fees that you do not have when living in an apartment.
5. The biggie differences are boat maintenance and upkeep which is now your cost versus the apartment manager/owners problem.
6. Over the years, I have built up an opinion that living on board in a marina is more expensive than renting an apartment of the same size. And this is the big *** - the same size (square footage) apartment as the boat.

It is possible to figure out a direct equivalent of fees and costs for land vs boat, some are actually equal. Basing this on living in a house last year. rental for a 1br house (was a really good deal btw) was only 3 times my slip rental, water/sewer/trash was about 1.5 times the live aboard fees, power on land was 6/8 (winter/summer) times as expensive. The cost of propane cooking on a boat is repetitively cheap. If you could afford to live in a boat that had the same square footage as a 1br house you probably would not know how much a small house would cost (or even care).
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Old 03-11-2010, 19:50   #13
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It's the old apples and oranges thing. Moving from a 1 br or 2 br house to a 30-40 foot boat in a marina seems like it would be more economical, but you are not really comparing, comparable things. If you moved from a 35 foot trailer/rv in a trailer/rv park to the boat then it might be comparable. There are some old road side "motels" that are now "apartments" which consist of a bedroom, kitchette, bathroom, and sitting area. These are quite inexpensive and have about the same sq footage as a average boat.
- - I do think the quality and privacy of living onboard a boat is better than in a small house trailer or RV in a run-down park. And for house to boat it would be better comparing a land condo/house to one of the California or Pacific NorthWest 3 story "houseboats" would provide a better cost comparison to land house versus marina vessel. Again, if the sq feet don't approximate each of the places then you are simply down/up sizing and any cost comparisons are not valid.
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Old 03-11-2010, 20:24   #14
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My wife and I lived aboard in a marina for 5 years, probably cost us 1/2 as much as on land, but I agree with a previous poster, on the hook is the way to be
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Old 03-11-2010, 22:26   #15
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Trying to compare square footage just doesn't work. The kitchen floor in the house I lived in before I had the boat was 15' x 12, compared to 28"x 24" om my boat...as far as kitchens go the galley in my boat is far superior to the one in the house (not even including that I can reach everything with out moving my feet). I am truly comfortable for the first time in my life...a feeling I never had in a house. If you figure in the differance in comfort that living on land cost me it makes living on a boat an even better deal. The neighbors on the docks are laid back, relaxed, down to earth...it is a close knit comunity, the way I always remember live aboard comunities being and the way neighbors on land used to be...a long time ago. Living on a boat is the first time I have been happy with where I live...considering the tremendous amount of variables it really starts to get complicated and even if we only consider the original question land vs live aboard direct dollar comparison.....that varies tremendously depending on where you are located and what land dwelling you are comparing it to.
For me I will say this, on my extremely limited budget I would be hard pressed to have anything more than a room to rent/house to share arangement and even then my funds would be limited and it would not be my space. I am happy and comfortable in my own home plus have enough money to be able to apply it to things I would not otherwise.
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