Our cruising costs - month five for a middle-aged couple on a modest boat.

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by Andreadsuchyshi

Hi Chuckr- I've read a lot of blogs, vlogs and post about expenses and am trying to get a realistic expectation. I don't want to run out of money. And of course I'm keeping an ongoing spreadsheet with how we live now and how we will on a boat-Going out to eat on occasion, drinking alcohol, day trips, dogs, sometimes having to stay in a marina, keeping a driver's license and a car on land.

And of course, I understand our lifestyle and expenses will/can be different than everyone else's. But I don't want to under estimate.

The following is my best estimate for monthly expenses:

cloth/shoes 20
life insurance 950
mobile phone 139.99
Netflix 12
auto insur 62.71
internet 50
xbox live 10
car registration 5
dog food 240
gas/diesel 617
groc/hygiene 745
car maintenance 4.58
dog health 105.75
customs 100
anchor/marinas 1013
hair/peds 18.33
day trips/alcohol 480
Iridium go 250
predictWind 33
apple iTunes 2.99
boat insur 300
dental 16.67
transportation 107
driver's lic 1.59
Total with dogs and land car- $5284.61, without dogs and land car-$4972.32 And I didn't include medicare premiums which add approximately $600.00 more to our budget and I could drop the life insurance which would be- $4622.32, without alcohol or day trips- $4142.32, reducing marina/mooring fees to $20 average per day- $3729.32, oh and then add 10% cost of boat maintenance everyone tells us- another $100-$600 per month- $3829.32 to $4329.32 per month.

I'm sure I'm missing items. Any help or suggestions would be very welcome.

WOW -- each of has what we perceive to be what we need for a comfortable and "secure" life. Not sure how big your boat is or your age but the follow are interesting

1. Life Insurance at $11,400 a year
2. Customs $1,200 - that is huge where did you go?? or plan to go that costs that much?
3. Marina at $1,000 a month is possible if it is a huge boat in an expensive marina -
4. Iridium - $3,000 a year - for a sat phone I guess - that seems a lot unless you are using it a lot and if so look at ssb - 2-3 years pays you back
5. Boat Insurance - $3,600 - again a big boat inside the hurricane zone full time my well be this much.

These are just initial thoughts.

Not sure if these are estimates or actual but if actual you and you can afford to cruise on this great. One thing is did not see was boat maintenance. Why not?

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by jc_nightshade

Was that to be 3200 per month or actually per year like you have stated?

yea it was a bobobobobo -- it is a monthly average.

[SailMoonShadow]

Those figures sure are interesting and seem waaay over the top to me but I guess it depends on what sort of lifestyle you want (or can put up with!). If you want to carry on your land based life but just live on a boat then I can see how it might add up to that much - and of course living on a marina is putting a big dent in the finances. I know people who live on around $650/month but spend zero nights in a marina...

[jc_nightshade]

Originally Posted by SailMoonShadow

Those figures sure are interesting and seem waaay over the top to me but I guess it depends on what sort of lifestyle you want (or can put up with!). If you want to carry on your land based life but just live on a boat then I can see how it might add up to that much - and of course living on a marina is putting a big dent in the finances. I know people who live on around $650/month but spend zero nights in a marina...

That is more like it! LOL. My wife and I were hoping to get to be able to live on about $20K per year which is about $1600 per month but the numbers being listed in here was really starting to scare me.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by SailMoonShadow

Those figures sure are interesting and seem waaay over the top to me but I guess it depends on what sort of lifestyle you want (or can put up with!). If you want to carry on your land based life but just live on a boat then I can see how it might add up to that much - and of course living on a marina is putting a big dent in the finances. I know people who live on around $650/month but spend zero nights in a marina...

Very, very few live on $650/mth. A boat that does nm's costs money to keep it in a seaworthy state.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by jc_nightshade

That is more like it! LOL. My wife and I were hoping to get to be able to live on about $20K per year which is about $1600 per month but the numbers being listed in here was really starting to scare me.

Before getting excited about a long cost/month cruiser budget be sure you do more/better research of the number. Be sure you see documentation of the costs over time to see what is and more importantly what is not in the reported numbers. Also be sure you are looking at a "living on a boat" number or a "cruiser" budget. If you read anything that says "not counting" or similar it is just a story as far as a useful budget number goes.

It is better to be "scared" of the real number over being "surprised".

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by fred4936

Thank you for continuing to post! Your expenses on boat gear drive the point of costs of a modest boat versus something larger. As we consider moving up from out Tartan 27-2, a big question for us is "How much bigger?". So thanks again for your info!

I'm glad it's helpful!

When deciding on our boat we asked ourselves, "What's the smallest boat we can happily live on?" vs. "What's the biggest boat we can afford?". Another regular CF poster, Mike O'Reilly, has the same philosophy.

Virtually everyone told us we were going to get a bigger boat, but this size has worked out perfectly for us. Besides, at this point we can't get a bigger boat without going back to work, and that is simply NOT going to happen. And yes, paying less for smaller boat gear, docking fees, etc. is definitely an added bonus.

Good luck in your research!

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by seabum

This is very helpful, thank you, as we're fine-tuning our boat-living budget at this time. I just need to know how you manage to get healthcare insurance and service for only $176/mo! Add a 0 to that figure and it's about what we have to shell out per month, and we're both in fairly good health for 60+ yr olds. We're moving onto a boat, hopefully by this fall (purchase pending), and will be living on a smaller budget than in the big house... but unfortunately not that small Best of luck!

We have health insurance through the exchange in Connecticut. The rates are one of the reasons we decided not to switch our residency to another state (and we did look at several). It's based on our projected annual income which is low, so the rates are low (with a hefty deductible). January's expenses do NOT reflect what our annual income is. A big chunk of that came from post-tax savings.

Good luck on the boat purchase!

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by pbaumann

You seem to be putting a lot of effort into your blog and educating the cruising community - have you considered generating revenue from your efforts?
Are you aware of patreon.com? Take a look at www.youtube.com: Lady K sailing.

Nah. Besides the fact that I highly doubt I could generate any meaningful revenue from my little blog, I can say that I do it for fun. Anything else would feel like a job. I've already quit a perfectly good one. I have no desire for another if I can help it.

[SailMoonShadow]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Before getting excited about a long cost/month cruiser budget be sure you do more/better research of the number. Be sure you see documentation of the costs over time to see what is and more importantly what is not in the reported numbers. Also be sure you are looking at a "living on a boat" number or a "cruiser" budget. If you read anything that says "not counting" or similar it is just a story as far as a useful budget number goes.

It is better to be "scared" of the real number over being "surprised".

Fair point.

The figures I've seen are for ongoing costs including maintenance but NOT including buying the boat and getting it up to scratch in the first place (which, if memory serves, was around $60k - $70k for his boat) because those costs will be so different boat to boat (even for the same make/model of boat) and person to person.

As I said, it really depends on what you want and your live aboard philosophy. If you want to live on a large boat, in a marina, in a kind of "marine condo" it's going to cost and you need to prepare for it as, clearly, the OP has done, if you are prepared to live simply and spend the majority of of your time at anchor your costs will be much less.

There's no right or wrong just different ways of life.

[sailorboy1]

I wouldn’t know

I’m just a lying idiot fat man living in my parents basement in Ohio

[SailMoonShadow]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I wouldn’t know

I’m just a lying idiot fat man living in my parents basement in Ohio

Haha, clearly you do know. No offence meant.

All I was trying to point out is that lifestyle has a big influence on living costs. If you want to enjoy the trappings of modern life then you need to budget accordingly. The guy I know is a self-confessed "sea gypsy" and lives a frugal life (by choice).

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Cthoops

I hope this is helpful.

You guys did a lot of refit on you little Bristol "simple boat". Any idea what all that cost?

I ask because in a way long refits are part of cruising costs and some don't count the money because they did it before they left, but others do it along the way.

Never mind it's right in your blog, it's been a lot!

[ras1544]

Thank you for taking the time to post the monthly expense report. My wife and I have been reading your blog for awhile now and really enjoy it. The pictures are great.

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

You guys did a lot of refit on you little Bristol "simple boat". Any idea what all that cost?

I ask because in a way long refits are part of cruising costs and some don't count the money because they did it before they left, but others do it along the way.

Never mind it's right in your blog, it's been a lot!

Yeah, I have to keep reminding myself that we touched and typically replaced virtually every item on the boat - from the engine down to water hoses. Unless we're really unlucky, we should be able to avoid any major replacement costs for several years (she says as she knocks on the nearest piece of wood).