4/30/00 | That's where my money goes

Back when we were reading every magazine article, book and web page we could get our hands on that had anything at all to do with the cruising lifestyle, one of our big burning questions was, "How much does it cost to go cruising?" Almost invariably, the answer was some variation on, "It costs about as much as you spend on it." This we regarded as a major cop-out -- until we started cruising and discovered that it does cost about as much as you spend on it.

What this really means is that your budget depends on your tastes, and vice versa. Someone who eats out frequently will spend more than someone who cooks on the boat. Some people pay for guided excursions and commercial dive trips, others explore on their own.

The boat and equipment you choose is a big factor. A 40-footer with refrigeration and a watermaker costs more than a 32-footer with neither, but people cruise on both. If you're willing to do without some things which are considered basic by many (pressure water, hot water, self-tailing winches, roller furling headsail, power windlass, electric lights, standing headroom) you can cruise in a very inexpensive boat. Heck, the Pardeys have been doing it for decades. A big boat with a lot of gear will cost more to outfit and maintain and fuel and fix.

So what does it cost for us to cruise on Windom?  That's a hard question to answer:  do we use as an example the month we spent $270, or the month we spent nearly $20,000? Should we exclude outfitting expenses?  What we spent on our car before we sold it?  In the end, I decided to lay it all bare and show every dollar we spent and where it went. If the total seems scary, remember that we started with an essentially new boat, with no gear; we spent less on the boat itself because of this, and if we sold it today, we'd probably recoup nearly all the cost of the added equipment (although not our many hours of labor). We also have most of our money (beyond what we need to meet expenses) invested in the stock market, which has done well enough that despite all our expenditures, we have a greater net worth now than we did when we quit our jobs.

We track all our expenditures with Quicken. Keeping tabs on our account balances is important since we don't get our mail regularly. The following table was generated by Quicken from our transactions for the 12 months beginning May 1, 1999. I used this date because we got Windom into the water in late April; May was the first month we were true live-aboards for the entire month. Some categories (indicated by TOTAL after the name) are further broken down into subcategories; one subcategory (Communications-Phone) is broken down into two sub-sub-categories. For example, Auto-TOTAL includes Auto-Gas, Auto-Rental, and Auto-Other.

Some notes on dates and categories follow the table.

	5/1/99	6/1/99	7/1/99	8/1/99	9/1/99	10/1/99	11/1/99	12/1/99	1/1/00	2/1/00	3/1/00	4/1/00	TOTAL
Alcohol	56.09	57.38	18.79	45	49.33	100.48	7	63.19	188.08	0	61	30	676.34
Auto-TOTAL	35.87	61.17	59.4	0	49.05	154.7	0	70	90.46	0	0	40	560.65
Auto-Gas	33.87	18.44	44.67	0	0	30.46	0	0	3.5	0	0	15	145.94
Auto-Rental	0	0	0	0	49.05	0	0	70	86.96	0	0	25	231.01
Auto-Other	4	42.73	14.73	0	0	124.24	0	0	0	0	0	0	185.70
Bank Charge	0.5	1	1.5	1.5	0	13	1.5	1.5	0	0	0	0	20.50
Boat-TOTAL	5,425.66	17,925.74	3,471.51	381.65	3,030.92	10,383.84	1,950.64	10,159.19	2,091.28	30	59.71	40	54,950.14
Boat-Charts	0	0	0	33.99	0	33.97	0	134.36	0	0	0	0	202.32
Boat-Dockage	391.77	450	92	240	884.68	15	206.94	108.76	997.35	30	0	40	3,456.50
Boat-Equipment	4,716.88	14,984.01	2,154.70	0	1,302.40	9,318.45	0	9,454.39	385.61	0	0	0	42,316.44
Boat-Fuel	3	7	46.4	0	3.57	138.62	3	175.59	75.99	0	49.71	0	502.88
Boat-Insurance	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,479.00	0	0	0	0	0	1,479.00
Boat-Maintenance	65.09	67.36	20.82	9.4	188.78	57.95	0	0	3	0	0	0	412.40
Boat-Parts	243.92	2,412.37	660.59	98.26	646.49	809.85	241.7	286.09	629.33	0	10	0	6,038.60
Boat-Service	5	5	497	0	5	10	20	0	0	0	0	0	542.00
Books	0	0	0	91.45	7	1	9	0	30.37	100.52	57.95	0	297.29
Clothing	17	0	71.38	9.99	308.28	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	406.65
Communications-TOTAL	22.12	180.37	100.26	66.66	118.89	82.67	136.03	83.74	300.61	87.22	110.06	127.71	1,416.34
Com-Internet	2.22	6.86	4.95	4.95	5.97	4.95	16.89	6.98	25.65	4.95	4.95	4.95	94.27
Com-Mailing service	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	12	12	12	48.00
Com-Postage	19.9	21.7	12.5	13.6	28.95	16.7	13.9	27.9	29.19	0	55.34	57.49	297.17
Com-Phone-TOTAL	0	151.81	82.81	48.11	83.97	61.02	105.24	48.86	233.77	70.27	37.77	53.27	976.90
Com-Phone-Computer	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	60	27.5	24	131.50
Com-Phone-Other	0	151.81	82.81	48.11	83.97	61.02	105.24	48.86	213.77	10.27	10.27	29.27	845.40
Computer-TOTAL	9.1	0	0	0	89	767.97	121.46	72.77	0	0	0	0	1,060.30
Computer-Software	0	0	0	0	0	767.97	0	0	0	0	0	0	767.97
Computer-Other	9.1	0	0	0	89	0	121.46	72.77	0	0	0	0	292.33
Dining	107	153	163.78	223.55	159.75	244.85	207.78	79.78	103.63	50	43	60	1,596.12
Entertainment-TOTAL	16	41	24	90.5	61	3	95	98	31	0	9	10	478.50
Entertainment-Bar	16	17	15	22	0	3	5	4	0	0	9	10	101.00
Entertainment-Movies	0	24	9	0	16	0	10	14	29	0	0	0	102.00
Entertainment-Museum	0	0	0	68.5	45	0	80	80	2	0	0	0	275.50
Groceries	237.37	376.96	480.57	125.69	185.71	500.35	230.99	555.74	720.57	3	64	100.18	3,581.13
Household	147.62	13.49	69.53	0	23.61	56.1	0	39.55	24.17	0	5	0	379.07
Laundry	12	21	14	9	21	11	19	8	22	0	18	12	167.00
Licenses and Permits	0	0	0	12	0	160	0	0	125	0	0	0	297.00
Medical-TOTAL	442.5	0	263	262.5	312	1,417.35	262.5	0	380.98	0	331.3	0	3,672.13
Medical-Dental	0	0	129	0	312	1,400.00	0	0	30	0	0	0	1,871.00
Medical-Doctor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	298	0	0	0	298.00
Medical-Glasses	195	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	199.00
Medical- Insurance	247.5	0	0	262.5	0	0	262.5	0	0	0	331.3	0	1,103.80
Medical-Other	0	0	130	0	0	17.35	0	0	52.98	0	0	0	200.33
Misc	34	18	81.45	20	17.61	128.61	21	15	42.2	0	17.5	20	415.37
Music	0	0	0	0	0	19.95	36.54	0	0	0	0	0	56.49
Office supplies	28.34	6	15.93	0	0	0	11.05	12	7	0	0	0	80.32
Recreation-TOTAL	0	846.2	265.25	22.21	184.36	208.46	11.56	50	1,582.27	0	547.85	36	3,754.16
Recreation-Bicycles	0	820	107.51	0	7.02	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	934.53
Recreation-Diving	0	0	0	0	51.35	0	0	0	1,582.27	0	16	36	1,685.62
Recreation-Entry fees	0	0	0	0	0	49	0	0	0	0	4	0	53.00
Recreation-Equipment	0	26.2	0	0	125.99	0	0	0	0	0	484.45	0	636.64
Recreation-Fishing	0	0	157.74	22.21	0	159.46	11.56	50	0	0	43.4	0	444.37
Sewing / Crafts	0	0	69.87	0	29.75	846.04	0	20	28.02	0	0	0	993.68
Subscriptions	0	31.75	0	0	57	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	93.75
Tax	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	418.17	0	0	0	418.17
Tools	7.84	235.42	67.85	16.91	12.49	14.99	0	0	16	0	0	0	371.50
Travel-TOTAL	0	4	0	6	0	0	15	0	0	0	152	726.8	903.80
Travel-Airfare	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	96	726.8	822.80
Travel-Transit fares	0	4	0	6	0	0	15	0	0	0	56	0	81.00
TOTAL	6,599.01	19,972.48	5,238.07	1,384.61	4,716.75	15,114.36	3,136.05	11,333.46	6,201.81	270.74	1,476.37	1,202.69	76,646.40

Notes on dates

During May and June of 1999 we lived in a marina in Annapolis while we worked on outfitting Windom. July through October we alternately traveled around the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays and worked on our boat. We sold our car and began cruising south down the ICW in late October. In late January 2000 we crossed over to the Bahamas, where we are still cruising as of May 2000.

Notes on categories

Alcohol

Booze bought from stores. Drinks in a bar are listed under Entertainment-Bar.

Boat-Charts

Includes cruising guides and tide tables as well as charts.

Boat-Equipment

There's a fine line between "equipment" and "parts". Mostly, "equipment" is gear which retains its own identity, e.g. the watermaker is equipment but the hoses we had to buy to install it are parts. Electric fans are equipment, the wires and crimp connectors to hook them up are parts.

Boat-Fuel

Includes diesel, dinghy gas, and propane for cooking.

Boat-Insurance

Windom is insured with Blue Water for $200,000.

Boat-Maintenance

This includes items which must be renewed or replaced regularly. Bottom paint, fuel filters, oil filters, engine oil, metal polish, wax, varnish, and so on.

Boat-Service

Pumpouts, haulouts, and anything else we need to pay someone else to do.

Communications-Mailing Service

The first mailing service we had was paid by the year; we paid in March 1999 so it doesn't appear on this report.

Communications-Postage

This includes the postage fees we had to pay to our mailing services in addition to postage on items we mailed. It doesn't include delivery charges on mail-ordered equipment (we rolled that into the equipment category).

Communications-Phone

We separated out phone usage in the Bahamas that was strictly for making an internet connect (Batelco connect charges and phone cards) from general phone usage. In the US we usually used our cell phone or marina facilities to connect, and those charges aren't separated from our general phone usage.

Groceries

In addition to food, this includes nonedible consumables like paper towels, soap, toothpaste, bandages, and also nonprescription drugs such as aspirin. It also includes block ice in the months before we installed the refrigerator. Although our meals in the Bahamas have been mostly built around fish we catch, we brought plenty of canned meats and canned and dried beans, so I don't think a non-fisherman would spend much more than we did.

Household

Things for the boat which are related to making a home aboard, such as towels, storage baskets, soap dispensers, kitchen utensils.

Medical-Dental

The big dental expenses were for finishing up some work Britt had begun in Boulder.

Medical-Insurance

Our insurance is from Golden Rule and basically covers only hospital stays for major illness or injury.

Medical-Other

This includes prescription medicines and vaccinations for hepatitis A.

Recreation-Equipment

Things that don't fit into other subcategories. The digital camera is under this heading.

Sewing / Crafts

Most of our sewing projects are boat gear in some way, so this is sort of a boat subcategory. The big expense in this category of course is the Sailrite sewing machine we bought.

Tax

We applied for a filing extension, so the tax amount shown is what we paid as estimated tax in addition to what was withheld and paid as estimated tax during the months we worked in 1999 (before the start of this report).