A Month’s Cruising Expenses

El Cardoncito reef fishing As a general principle, the longer you spend at anchor and away from marinas and fancy restaurants, the cheaper cruising gets.  Let's look at our expenses from November 2008 as an example.  All expenses have been converted to US dollars where they weren't already US dollars.

Our out of pocket expenses were:

One day at Marina El Cid, Mazatlan: $24.29

Fuel: Diesel for The Fox, gasoline for the dinghy, propane for the stove:  $182.04 

Grocery and liquor (sweet, sweet liquor) (we live large): $529.78

Restaurant meals: $31.00

Transportation (bus, taxi, dinghy dock fees): $17.62

Laundry: $7.70

Internet cafe: $4.00

Fax from Mexico to US: $1.40

Monthly fee for storage pod in US: $48.98

Skymate satellite email/weather charts (varies from month to month): $34.99

Subtotal out of pocket expenses for the month = $881.80

Next up, just to make this analysis a little more accurate and complete, let's add prorated expenses for November 2008 that we typically pay as one annual fee:

US boat insurance: $221.33

MX boat insurance: $16.25

FM-III visas (2): $28.25

MX fishing license: $4.00

MX National Park passes (2): $4.00

US mail forwarder: $12.00

Subtotal prorated annual expenses = $285.83

Total expenses for November 2008 = $1,167.63

Of course, there are cruisers who live well at anchor on less than we spent. Many people save money by not insuring their boats; others aren't interested in FM-III visas, or storage pods — and many cruisers have grocery and liquor bills lower than ours. But then, they don't sail with The Propane Chef, so it sucks to be them. On the other hand, there are months where expenses can be much higher, with haulouts, boat repairs, trips to the US, etc.  But the bottom line is this: November 2008 illustrates that by avoiding marinas you can still live well on $1167.63 for a whole month. Or, $14,011.56 per year.

Your turn: wherever you are, whatever you do, calculate all your expenses for one month. Mortgage orPartida December sunset 2 rent, utilities, cable, Internet, phone, groceries, restaurants, bus fare; gas & insurance for your car; car loan, credit card payments; and then on top of that prorate your property taxes, house & car insurance — Got a boat? Add your slip fees & if you haven't paid off the boat, add in the loan.  Don't be in denial – include everything.  And then see if you can afford NOT to sail away!

m

6 responses to “A Month’s Cruising Expenses”

  1. Jason Avatar
    Jason

    I love hearing this stuff. This is even less than we budgeted annually for cruising. But we don’t really know how to budget the Things That Break line item. How have you found unexpected boat repair affects your budget?

    Reply
  2. sailnmuffin Avatar
    sailnmuffin

    Hi Jason – the Things That Break line item is a tough one – the older your boat, the more you have to budget, even if everything is going well and nothing’s broken yet. Gary’s rule of thumb – gleaned from a lot of cruising books – is that if you have a newer boat (less than 10 yrs. old) you should budget per year about 1%-3% of the boat’s value for the Things That Break. For an older boat, expect about 3%-5% per year for breakage. But there are so many variables, starting with how well the boat was maintained before you ever owned it. Take us, for example:
    Our boat arrived new, right out of the box, in February 2002. We’ve had no significant failures, but we’ve had a lot of upgrades & outfitting that drive up the annual costs (more & different-type batteries; bigger alternator & wiring to match; self-steering wind vane, SSB….). Our boat’s now almost 7 yrs. old & even the sails are still in fine shape – but by the time we plan to be through the Panama Canal & reach the East Coast of the US in 2 or 3 more years, we’ll be expecting to have to find some money to replace what will then be an old and possibly busted radar/chart plotter system, replace the batteries, repair/replace any blown sails, etc. Even things like replacing mattresses & upholstery can be expensive.
    I guess there will always be unexpected failures on a boat, but good inspection and maintenance habits tend to hold down costs for unexpected failures by spotting small problems before they get to the failure category. Something as simple as periodically cleaning out lockers and bilges on a regular basis (which we needed to do in Seattle, just to keep ahead of the mildew) helps you spot, for example, a little leak allowing you to fix it before it becomes catastrophic. Being anal-retentive about general boat maintenance helps you learn your particular boat very well; you’ll likely know the areas that are the oldest and/or the most likely to fail (Engine that hasn’t been overhauled since the Summer of Love? Rickety-feeling rig?). You’ll be surprised how many boat owners never check anything – they may the same folks who drive cars until the red dashboard light comes on telling them there’s no more oil in the engine. Heh.
    m

    Reply
  3. daniel taylor Avatar
    daniel taylor

    nicely written. what confuses me, is when to leave these San Juan Islands, enjoy parts of Mexico (we have a home in San Miguel de Allende), and then after a very short duration … when to head west. and .. all these nasty reports from San Diego and environs makes me want to simply head for the Marquesas direct!
    great report by the way (ms & gb) ..
    captain dan
    daniel taylor
    s/v Sequel

    Reply
  4. sailnmuffin Avatar
    sailnmuffin

    Good to hear from you, Dan! If you have a place in San Miguel, my advice to you is to get Sequel on down here pronto & cruise the Sea of Cortez for a year or more; keep Sequel safe for hurricane season in Mazatlan, which is a very plush first-class bus ride away from San Miguel. Stay in your place in San Mig for the hottest of the summer months, then back to Sequel by the start of November; & keep doing that until you’re ready for another change of scenery. Meanwhile, until you get down here yourselves, GB & I would be happy to rent your place in San Miguel for a month or two, say in August-September, 2009. We’re nonsmokers, no pets, and we clean up after ourselves. Let’s talk more about the possibilities….
    m

    Reply
  5. Naomi Avatar
    Naomi

    Great post – thanks for this info. I’m so glad to hear that the $1000/mo cruising budget isn’t a fairy tale myth after all. We’re trying to be realistic about the costs, and this is helpful. Jason’s line item: “things that break” is likely going to have the biggest impact on our budget, if this last year is any indication (and we haven’t even left yet)!! But…you’re right…we really can’t afford not to go!

    Reply
  6. sailnmuffin Avatar
    sailnmuffin

    Yes, Naomi; a modest cruising budget is feasible – but the only way we’ve found to do it, is (1) to sell everything and pay off the boat and all your other debts before you leave. As GB says, “you can go if you don’t owe.” Another factor to consider, is (2) anchoring out for all but one day per month is simply not doable for most people, every month. I know of only a few cruisers who are very aggressive about avoiding marinas — but even they still have to pay to put their boats in one to get major work done, or for hurricane season (which is up to 5 months out of every year). Finally, (3) how much time you can spend away from a dock (i.e., how much money you can save) depends in large part on where you are cruising (lots of safe anchorages? OK weather? Shore amenities accessible by dinghy?) and how well you can develop your tolerance for inconvenience (can you perform engine repairs or clean your bilges in a rolly anchorage without any spills, or getting seasick? Can you keep your groceries and clean laundry dry when you drive your dinghy back to your boat through surf or a nasty afternoon chop?) For us, we’ve had 2 years of full-time cruising and we’re still trying to figure out a good balance between how much time we spend at docks, and how often we stay anchored out. The docks are handy when you’re doing big repairs, need lots of fresh water to clean the boat, or the weather’s bad, or when you need something really special, like a forwarding address to get your mail. Heck; I’m writing this reply right now from the comfort of Marina Costa Baja in La Paz & I’m enjoying every minute of the time we’ll be here. But in many ways GB and I both feel much more comfortable at anchor & we’re both looking forward to getting back out there. So, the budgeting-in-real-life is still a work in progress. Some time later I’ll post our expenses for December – a month spent half at anchor, & half in a marina – just to illustrate the pricier onshore turista lifestyle – heh.

    Reply

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