Dinero!
What does it cost to go cruising?
This is everyone’s favorite question, including ours! Hopefully we can figure it out and then post the info here.
Here are the results of a poll that I found on a large cruisier’s forum.
Does this really give us any solid info? To me it only reinforces the typical answer that “cruising costs as much as you have to spend.”
With that said, we obviously do need to have some money. We have been working to solve this age-old dilemma on multiple fronts:
- Retirement savings (why save until we are to old to enjoy it?)
- Sale of house (we will live in a tent until we get our boat)
- Sale of business (working just gets in the way of our learning-to-sale preparation anyway)
- Sale of “stuff!” (where did all this crap come from???)
- Decreasing monthly expenditures (we pay how much to watch Simpsons reruns???)
- Begging (did you notice the new ads and Paypal donation box?
)
With respect to #4 above our pile of “stuff” is getting a bit smaller and our savings account is getting a bit bigger. We are being fairly proactive on this as the house sale (see #2) could be final in just over 8 weeks. There is no way in the world all of our crap is going to fit into our tent!
We have had a few friends come to visit recently who have asked why we no longer have TV service. We weren’t exaggerating when we said that we were spending close to 100 bucks a month to watch a few hours of Simpsons, King of the Hill and South Park reruns (yes, all educational TV). Upon canceling the service though we made a point of creating an auto-transfer from our bill paying account into our “boat” account for an amount equal to what we were paying the TV people. I think this is important as you don’t want that money saved to then evaporate, going towards some other unnecessary expenditure.
Oh, and if none of the above is sufficient there is always the old standby…
It has been quite some time since I have updated the Dinero (money) page even though so much of our cruising plans depends on it. Let’s check to see where we stand on the items I listed above:
- Retirement savings – Market still sucks, but this money will be the last to be used so we are in no hurry for it to come back
- Sale of house – Sold! We have been out of our house for almost 6 weeks now. Fortunately the real estate market here did not take the hit that it had in many other communities.
- Sale of business – Still working on this. This is really the most complicated of all of the items. Due to the nature of our business we can’t, and won’t turn it over to just anyone. This is our life’s work after all. Think you might be the right guy or gal? Contact us to discuss it!
- Sale of “stuff!” – We have sold almost all non-essentials. Basically if it is not coming with us on the boat it is gone, or soon will be. The majority of our stuff was sold via the internet on Kijiji.
- Decreasing monthly expenditures – I think we are being very frugal. Although we still do allocate a small amount of our budget for entertainment we are very much conscious of the fact that every dollar we spend is one less that we will have to pursue our dreams.
- Begging – Not having so much luck with this. I guess we don’t look pitiful enough.
Saving money is one of those things that I have always had challenges with. We have now, however, been setting and achieving savings goals on a regular basis. I guess I just needed a powerful enough motivator to put it all together!
Point #3 above, “Sale of business,” has now been completed! This “cornerstone” of our financial plan was one of the most difficult to put together, as we knew it would. The lion’s share of the proceeds went directly to the bank to pay off our boat loan. Katana is now ours, free and clear!
We now begin a very different, and exciting chapter in our lives. Managing our funds without the business to directly support us will definitely take some re-training!
Stay tuned for more!
We are also at that “before cruising” point. We have 30 months to go, but we bought our boat in April and like you, we are getting some work done and getting familiar with it.
Life is great on a boat!
Hi guys. Thanks for the comment. We agree… life is great on a boat! I’ll be sure to check out your blog!
Thanks for the update.
Dinero (or lack of!) is probably the biggest obstacle to most people going cruising so it’s no surprise that the subject draws so much interest on discussion forums and websites.
My sailing plan will be financed almost entirely by the sale of my house. When I look back on all the blood, sweat and tears of the last 22 years of buying/selling/moving/house renovating, you can probably understand my reluctance to keep dropping the price in order to find a buyer. Latest housing market data over here points to things picking up (several months of small house price rises) but the stumbling block still seems to be that banks are less willing to provide the necessary finance to enable people to move house, although there are glimmers of hope there too. There is talk of 2010 being the year we come out of recession so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Looking forward to more updates in this section of your website – it’s always interesting to know how other people finance their cruising dreams.
I can totally relate to not wanting to “give away” something that has value and that you have invested a lot into. We felt the same way about our home, our business and much of the stuff that we needed to sell.
I am sure the market will turn around in the near future, Keith. Stay positive!
Hang in there!
We’re actually doing the “cruising lite” version. We have positioned ourselves to be totally debt free,we are relocating to the Midwest(family)and plan to semi-retire,that is we will work 8 months of the year,and spend the other 4 cruising in the Bahamas,Exuma being the final destination.
We would love a big keelboat,but the logistics aren’t practical,so we are doing it on our 26ft,trailerable, shallow draft powersailer. Your wish list is very close to mine. We purchased this boat 4 years ago with this goal,and this is the year. The upgrades are almost done,and the takeoff is scheduled for end of Dec 2010.
Even though it seems so much easier than going full time liveaboard-it still seems like just as much prep work!
Very cool Dan! I am sure the prep work is about equal. Keeping things organized back home likely has its own set of challenges. Looking forward to hearing how you make out. We may very well run into one another out there!
Hi guys, we’ve parted with our express cruiser after 20+ years and are interested in a cat that we can eventually sail south.
Hi guys
Thanks for the comment. Let us know what kind of cat you end up with and when you plan to be heading south.
Mike
Mike,
I’ve searched for marina’s that offer “liveaboard” status. based on that..I cannot say anyone on a budget can retire at a marina…would you agree? it seems in florida, they charge about $1.85-$2.10 a foot (is that double for a cat?) per day!. This could easily amount to over $2000 a month.
Where in the tropics would you say it is easy to be on a budget and enjoy yourself?
Thanks..enjoy your blog and the many others i have come across
I don’t think we are the ones to answer those questions because as you know, we haven’t gone anywhere!
We didn’t even shop for a marina based on fees because when we got our boat mid-season, there was only 1 local marina that could accommodate us! The rates you are quoting have to be transient day rates. I am pretty sure that every marina has a serious discount over day rates for seasonal customers. At our marina we pay 1.5 times the normal dock rate because with our beam, we take up two slips. Other places do charge double, and for obvious reasons if you are taking up the skip for two customers.
In the tropics we plan to live at anchor as opposed to marinas so I am not too concerned with marina rates once we get on our way. Your circumstances may very well be different though.
Just downloaded all your archives. Looking forward to sitting on the boat and catching up with what you’re up to. We are scheduled to set out on our journey south to Mexico and ? next month. A haulout, a bottom paint job, then anchor in the Yaquina River waiting for a weather window for a short hop to Winchester Bay Or. The we’ll continue harbor-hopping our way down the coast. Got to your blog via Livia & Carol’s blog (Estrellita 5.10b).
Hi Steve. Thanks for the comment, and the subscription!
Your blog has been on our reading list as of late too. Looking forward to reading about your adventures!
Mike
Enjoyed reading your blog!!!
Thanks Tom.
Hi guys, I met you at the anchorage resturant in Kingston NY in fact I’m the guy that took your pic. Lisa and I have been curious how you and Rebecca are doing. If there is anything we can do help let us know, who knows you may need research etc… done. We will enjoy stopping by and reading your updates. Take care and I hope we get to lift a couple when you pass back thru.
Mike