$3,000 / Month Cruising Budget Planned

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

You kidding? The difference between $3k & $4k per month of spending is a HUGE difference in lifestyle possibilities.

You are quoting me out of context but maybe I wasn't clear.

It doesn't matter what any one individual's budget is. Not that the amount doesn't matter.

If one lives on $3,000 on land or one lives on $4,000 on land it is due to that individuals circumstance. Each individual will have to make their budget work for them.

It's the same on the water. Each person will have to make their budget work. So it doesn't matter what someone else spends.

Too many people here are looking for a "target" income to go cruising and they are gonna work 5, 10 or 20 years chasing an elusive and largely irrelevant number.

You either wanna go and go. Or wanna go and spend the rest of your life wringing your hands and die in front of your spreadsheet.

MarkJ has my intended context right.

Clearly from all the "go cheap" threads and posts it doesn't take near as much to "get out there" as most people think. It's also been said that the guy on the 60 footer is just as friendly in the mooring field as the guy on the 26 footer.

[travellerw]

That is exactly it.... The cruisers I have spoken with had a wide range of budgets..

The point I got from them.. "You will spend what you budget". So if someone budgets 5K they will spend it and think there is no way to go cheaper, but if they were forced to live on 3K it wouldn't be a problem. All those things they thought they "needed" they realize they can do without. You make it work..

Here is a good podcast (SV Delos) where he describes this. He originally went with a bigger budget but was forced to shrink it (or go back to real life) after a few years.
S/V Delos: New Podcast!!- The Adventures And Finances Of Delos!

[SV THIRD DAY]

How many Angles can dance on the head of a pin?
Well it depends on the size of the pin and the shoe size of the angel.
But the one thing you can count on is that in the Angel/pin debate will have the professed experts and pontificators.

How much does it cost to live in Florida in retirement?
How much does it cost to live in Italy in retirement?
How about California?
How about Paris and Mississippi?

We can have these discussions all day long but until YOU are out doing it .... It is all a guess. Some people are comfortable with making guesses in life...others are not and the not folks usually don't end up being good at cruising. The structure of an assisted living home with meatloaf on wed, and one eye sandwiches on Friday gives them more peace of mind. But when you have no teeth....does it matter?

[a64pilot]

Something my Father told me years ago,
There is nothing at all wrong with living in a trailer, but it's tough to have to move back into a trailer.
Point is of course once you get used to a standard of living, you want to maintain it, or at least not have it drop too much.

[a64pilot]

What's a "one eye" sandwich?

[travellerw]

I don't think I articulated it well in my last post, so here is my take on a budget after researching.

CF, other forums and contact with active cruisers has taught me you can go cruising for an insanely low sum, or an insanely high sum, BUT.... The real question is "Are you prepared to change your lifestyle to make it happen?"

My answer is Yes, so I have made a rough budget and will tweak my living style to make it work..

[MarkJ]

Changing lifestyle to fit the budget is all well and good... But people themselves do not fundamentally change, imho.

Someone who has worked hard in a complex, responsible job, wearing a suit and being in a position of resepct for 30 years has a great deal of heartache after the first year of living in ripped rags, slicing grains of rice for dinner, and counting the months since the last fresh water shower, and putting their executive management skills to work pulling apart a blocked dunny.

So I think the budget must fit the people.


Mark

[travellerw]

I guess that's where we differ.. I see people change all the time. The financial crisis changed ton of people..

I also believe you are being overly dramatic to try and prove a point that isn't there. Yup everyone needs to have a starting budget, but every person on earth can adapt.. The real point is they do they want to want to. I think this is the question people should start with, before a budget.

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[DanDanDan]

Originally Posted by travellerw

The real point is they do they want to want to.

That's the key to making any real change. Anyone can quit smoking or lose weight or live on a smaller budget if they really want the change more than they want the status quo.

I quit smoke many years ago on my 3rd try. I just decided that I really wanted to be a non smoker much more than I wanted a cigarette. Once you really decide that (and actually mean it) the rest is easy. Watch a season of the biggest loser and you'll see people making the same choice. They can choose healthy living or cheeseburgers and they all make their own choice.

Feels like the same thing applies in changing lifestyle. Anyone can say they want to sail around and live a simpler life and cutout all of the bs associated with modern civilization. The question is do they want to do that more than they want ac on a hot night or a nice dinner at a fancy seaside restaurant?

It feels right to say that anyone can change just like anyone can get in better shape or quit smoking. Will everyone or even most people actually make a significant lifestyle change? Of course not, but that's not bad. It's just the choice they made.


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[a64pilot]

Ah yes, but the key here is to quantify how much does AC on a hot night cost and how much for that fancy dinner? Not whether or not you want it.
I can live in a cardboard box under a bridge, those that have been deployed to SWA can understand, but I don't want to.
So I think the key here is to determine as much as possible the fixed costs like maintenance if possible, but Hell even that's variable isn't it.

[Mike OReilly]

Strange as this sounds, I gotta go with Mark on this one. While it's obviously possible for people to make substantial changes in lifestyle, mostly this is based on necessity. Few people go to sea in a small yacht out of necessity. We go to sea as part of life. Most people will not be planning to significantly reduce their lifestyle.

[Coops]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

How many Angles can dance on the head of a pin?
Well it depends on the size of the pin and the shoe size of the angel.
But the one thing you can count on is that in the Angel/pin debate will have the professed experts and pontificators.

One more thing that it depends on. What dance it is that the angels are doing. Angels doing the flamenco need much more room than angels doing the smoochy.

Coops.

[DanDanDan]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Ah yes, but the key here is to quantify how much does AC on a hot night cost and how much for that fancy dinner? Not whether or not you want it.
I can live in a cardboard box under a bridge, those that have been deployed to SWA can understand, but I don't want to.
So I think the key here is to determine as much as possible the fixed costs like maintenance if possible, but Hell even that's variable isn't it.

Almost. It isn't about how much that meal costs it's about what else would you like to do with that money. One person wants to spend $100 on a fancy dinner and another wants to eat for 2 weeks on that money.

If you don't have a pile of cash and you want fancy dinners you'll get a job. If you want to eat out of a can more than you want to have a job you'll do that.

Perhaps the key to enlightenment here is to try to be really honest about what you want and how your priorities line up. You won't know how you'll feel about a lot of things until you do them so you're not wrong if you change your mind later. In fact you'll be better off as you will have learned something about yourself.

Feels impossible to determine fixed costs as so little is really fixed. Just ask the $500 crowd.


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[MarkJ]

But this isn't the $500 crowd. They have their own thread. This is the $3,000 crowd, who, may I add, outnumber the $500 crowd in reality. And people who have worked hard enough to still get that disposable income after they retire don't want to live like beach bums till they die.

On the $100 dinner point, you must remember that most cruisers are couples so a $100 dinner = $200. On a $3,000 budget they dont occur often, but theres birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, Thanksgiving away from home... Theres plenty of times in a year that a nice dinner is not so much a luxury but a necessity in the lives we have grown up with.

[DanDanDan]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

But this isn't the $500 crowd. They have their own thread. This is the $3,000 crowd, who, may I add, outnumber the $500 crowd in reality. And people who have worked hard enough to still get that disposable income after they retire don't want to live like beach bums till they die.



On the $100 dinner point, you must remember that most cruisers are couples so a $100 dinner = $200. On a $3,000 budget they dont occur often, but theres birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, Thanksgiving away from home... Theres plenty of times in a year that a nice dinner is not so much a luxury but a necessity in the lives we have grown up with.

I have no problem with trading bucks for happiness. I'm planning on being in the $3-4k crowd because that's the type of adventure I think we'll have the most fun with.

Not trying to advocate for one position over another. Just saying that too much spreadsheeting isn't really practical. Sort of a significant figures type thing. Really try to be honest about your real desires relative to one another and you'll be in a better place.

And to the op, don't stress over the fact that you don't have all the answers. If it was easy everybody would do it.


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