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

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Most I don’t think can overhaul and engine or do any in-depth electrical work.
Most will change pumps, maybe a hose or alternator belt etc.
Most it seems contract out Solar and fridge work for example.

I'm not sure what you would do with all your time if you are not doing most all of your maintenance and installs including the solar etc

For me, playing with the solar during my short cruises gives me a project.

If you cannot rebuilt an engine, you can then at least remove and replace which in itself is a good project

Now if you are crossing oceans, I'm thinking you need to know most all your essential systems and how to repair them this would include solar or whichever type of electrical generation system you have unless you plan on total redundancy

[sailorboy1]

The point I feel of these budget threads is just to put the numbers for others to use as a basis for planning. For me it was to provide a set of numbers that included all the “not counting” things that were always mentioned when tried to do my own planning.

What it isn’t is a contest or endless debates about what could be. For each person posting the info it’s just the “what it is” for them.

I bet even I could easily do it for under $1500/mo with a couple of changes and application of “new counting”.

Btw - when it comes right down to it the boat maintenance hardly takes much time. It was a lot harder to find time to do before I became a full time cruiser

[Seman]

Originally Posted by SVTatia

I really appreciate to get realistic expenses and thanks for sharing. I'm glad to see that most of you are living at just about the poverty line, and this is where I am heading as well...



Seman, may I ask which of these regions were the least expensive? and did you use a bank card? and if so, which bank?




Mike, is this US or CAD? I ask because I'll need to take the CAD-US conversion rate into account when planning mine.

Thank you all

SV Tatia,

Least expensive for us, no 5 star hotels or restaurants:
Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Madagascar, Guatemala. We use a Mastercard from Revolut, great service and less expensive ( better exchange rate ) than major banks.

[zengirl]

Wow, that monthly health insurance is a killer! When you get to be 65 you can have medicare. That will be a relief. I live on my soc. sec. totally. $1,500. You stated marinas $58.16. Did you live on the hook mostly? If so, where? Thanks.

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Good to hear. You should have reached out as I spent 3-4 days in New london beginning of month. I could have told all the things you didn't want to hear

Always good to get a dose of reality. Sorry I missed the opportunity.

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by rickdamico

I thought my health insurance was high....bout 800 dollars including Medicare!

Yeah, it stung to write the check, but I told myself at least it was for three months! It was a great deal when I was working because it's gold plated and my employer picked up all but a few hundred dollars of it every month.

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

The point I feel of these budget threads is just to put the numbers for others to use as a basis for planning. For me it was to provide a set of numbers that included all the “not counting” things that were always mentioned when tried to do my own planning.

What it isn’t is a contest or endless debates about what could be. For each person posting the info it’s just the “what it is” for them.

I totally agree with this. Everyone is going to be different, but people can make their own mental adjustments. Sailorboy raises an excellent point though. Numbers that leave categories out aren't quite as helpful. That's why I put down everything - even the replacement 9 volt battery we bought for the multimeter!

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Cthoops

Always good to get a dose of reality. Sorry I missed the opportunity.

Pickup the pace and you can have another chance. I will admit it’s a dangerous thing as I don’t toe the line a lot of time.

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by zengirl

Wow, that monthly health insurance is a killer! When you get to be 65 you can have medicare. That will be a relief. I live on my soc. sec. totally. $1,500. You stated marinas $58.16. Did you live on the hook mostly? If so, where? Thanks.

Yes, the health insurance number is awful, even if it is for three months. It will be much better in January when we go on the exchange.

We only stayed one night at a marina in September. The rest of the time we were at anchor with the exception of three nights on Block Island where our club has a mooring that can be used for free. We also stayed for two nights on a mooring in Old Saybrook which is free for transients.

We were on the hook in Newport and other parts of Narragansett Bay, Coecles Harbor, Mattituck, Port Jefferson, and Oyster Bay.

[sailorboy1]

Stop in port Washington

Free mooring and easy provisioning

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Stop in port Washington

Free mooring and easy provisioning

We’re actually there now. I can’t believe there is a Super Stop and Shop across the street from the dinghy dock! It’s fantastic!

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Cthoops

We’re actually there now. I can’t believe there is a Super Stop and Shop across the street from the dinghy dock! It’s fantastic!

take a left from that dinghy dock and walk 1/2 mile and there's a West Marine (they matched Walmart price for oil for me), Ace hardware, movie theater, Target, laundry, liquor store, and a coal fire pizza place (cash only but good)

they have a free pump out boat there also

[conachair]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Most I don’t think can overhaul and engine or do any in-depth electrical work.
Most will change pumps, maybe a hose or alternator belt etc.
Most it seems contract out Solar and fridge work for example.

Think we anchor in different circles..

Taking the head off could be beyond many but there's always someone knowledgeable around the anchorage to help for a bit of barter. Regassing the fridge once a decade most likely farmed out, otherwise little work goes to outside companies.

This for long term living on the hook/almost never go near a marina type boats, sail for the summer then dump the boat somewhere and fly home much more like your comments.

Probably as much a "can do, can't be that hard lets give it a go" type attitude as much as anything, the long term cruisers I come across tend towards self sufficiency in the extreme

Much of the time you can do a better job yourself anyway, no time constraints, then next time far from anywhere you know how to do it and have spares as you bought twice what you needed plus any special tools needed for the job.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by Cthoops

Yeah, it stung to write the check, but I told myself at least it was for three months! It was a great deal when I was working because it's gold plated and my employer picked up all but a few hundred dollars of it every month.

Just to be clear then, if you divide that line item by three, you come in under $3K/month. There are other one-time or longer-term costs in there, but then again, there will always be those.

One thing using financial software (still a MS Money hold-out) has taught me over the years is to categorize everything. For this boat, I have several different subcategories; repairs, maintenance, fuel, and improvements. Anything not specific to this boat, like slip rent, or things I buy to use on the boat, go under "Leisure," subcategory "boat." In other words, things I'd spend on no matter which boat I owned.

I'm not saying to use my categories, just that categorization is a great way to really understand your budget.

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

Just to be clear then, if you divide that line item by three, you come in under $3K/month. There are other one-time or longer-term costs in there, but then again, there will always be those.

One thing using financial software (still a MS Money hold-out) has taught me over the years is to categorize everything. For this boat, I have several different subcategories; repairs, maintenance, fuel, and improvements. Anything not specific to this boat, like slip rent, or things I buy to use on the boat, go under "Leisure," subcategory "boat." In other words, things I'd spend on no matter which boat I owned.

I'm not saying to use my categories, just that categorization is a great way to really understand your budget.

Looking at my original post, I see that what I thought was clear could have been explained in a much better way. I wish there was a way to edit it now. Oh well.

The $4,726.23 for medical covers all three months. It's a lump sum payment covering us to the end of the year, so it's $1,575.41 per month. I included the whole amount because we paid for all three months in advance in September.

As for categories, I think they're great. We use them in the financial software we've had for years (YNAB). The categories I listed ARE my categories.