We track and report every penny we spend living aboard and cruising on
Tickety Boo, our Moody 346 sailboat for a couple of reasons.
1 - It helps us see where our money is going, helps us make informed
choices about where to spend our money, which in turn helps us stretch
our money further so that we can keep adventuring longer.
2 - We found it really useful to check out other people's cost of
cruising when we were starting out, so we figure we can return favor by
sharing ours.
We're currently at Indiantown Marina in Florida. Scott is working
overseas and I'm allegedly working on boat projects while he's gone
(there's a lot of procrastination happening).
You can find links to other cost updates from ourselves (on Tickety Boo,
camping across the States, and our previous boat in New Zealand) and
others on
this page, as well as on
The Monkey's Fist.
* * *
Cost of Cruising & Living Aboard | March & April 2018
Overall, we spent
>>$2,236<< during March & April.
When you look at the nitty-gritty details of what we spent below, here are a few things to keep in mind:
1 - All costs are in US dollars.
2 - Not all expenses are included - here's what we've left out:
(a) We don't report how much we spend on alcohol. I remember reading
some horrible, judgy comments in a blog post a few years back about how
much someone spent on booze, so I left it out when we first started
tracking our cruising costs back in New Zealand. For consistency's sake,
I've continued to leave it out when tracking our cruising costs.
(b) We've also left out our costs for medical insurance. We didn't think
it made sense to include insurance costs as they can vary so widely
depending upon your nationality, where you cruise, what level of
coverage you want and can afford, whether you get subsidies etc. In case you are curious, while
we're back in the States, we do have a high deductible/high out-of-pocket expenses insurance through the health
insurance marketplace (aka the Affordable Care Act), primarily to protect our
assets and cover us in case of a catastrophic medical condition.
(c) I haven't included any expenses related to my writing projects (e.g., editor, book cover design, publishing expenses, author website).
(d) Scott was in Scotland during the past two months, so our expenses are a lot less than they would be if he was here.
3 - I've included any shipping and taxes we've paid in what we report - Florida has a 6% sales tax.
* * *
GROCERIES | Total = $364
This category includes everything we put in our bodies in terms of food
and drink (excluding booze) that we prepare ourselves. It doesn't
include things like paper towels and ziploc bags, which I know some
people would classify as groceries. Sure, you could probably eat them,
but they wouldn't taste very good.
Although we don't budget (you can read more about that
here), I'm happiest when we keep our monthly grocery spend per person under $200. So that means a spend of $364 for the past couple of months for just me made me very happy.
PERSONAL & HOUSEHOLD | Total = $34
This is the category where we include household things (like paper
towels and ziploc bags) and personal hygiene items (like soap and
shampoo). We also capture items for the "home" here - like bug spray.
ENTERTAINMENT | Total = $107
In terms of drinks and eating out, this includes everything we don't
prepare ourselves, even if we get something to go and eat it back on the
boat. We also track how much we spend on books, magazines, DVD rentals and going to the movies
in this category, as well as the occasional lottery ticket.
My entertainment over the past few months included eating out with friends (including one really disastrous meal where someone found saran wrap in the middle of their lasagna), a naughty trip to a fast food joint one day when I was too lazy to cook, and buying some books for my Kindle.
COMMUNICATIONS | Total = $110
Our cell phone is actually one of our biggest non-boat related expenses.
We have a monthly prepaid plan with AT&T which includes 8GB of
data and unlimited calls and texts.
BOAT FUEL | Total = Nil
Tickety Boo has been sitting in her slip so we haven't needed to get any fuel.
PROPANE | Total = Nil
We have a propane/LPG cooker on our boat, which we need to replace as
the stove no longer works and replacement parts aren't available. While
we're at Indiantown Marina, we use an electric hotplate and a crockpot
for cooking, so we haven't had to spend any money on filling our propane
tanks.
MARINA COSTS | Total = $1,355
Keeping Tickety Boo in a slip is one of our biggest expenses, and the rates went up in January. The
new monthly cost of a slip with electricity at Indiantown Marina for a 34'
boat is $657. The guys at the marina will also come pump out our
holding tank on demand - $10 for each visit.
BOAT STUFF | Total = $36
This category is for all the stuff we buy for the boat, as
well as
repair and maintenance costs.The only expenses I had were for joker valves for our marine toilet.
TRANSPORT | Total = $26
This category is for costs related to our vehicle, mostly for gas to drive into the nearby "big city" of Stuart for
errands. I rarely use our car, preferring to walk into town to run errands (provided it isn't too hot), so the only expense over the past couple of months was for an oil change.
MEDICAL EXPENSES | Total = $15
This category includes medical expenses outside of our monthly insurance
premium (which aren't included here - see section on exclusions above),
like over the counter medications, prescriptions and things for our
medical kit. It also includes the costs of doctors visits and medical
tests which aren't covered by our insurance. The only expense over the past two months was for over-the counter medicine.
OTHER | Total = $206
In this category, we break out how much we spend on clothes and travel
expenses. We also include a catch-all miscellaneous group for stuff that
doesn't fit neatly anywhere else - things like laundry, Amazon Prime, presents, computer parts, postage etc.
Did we spend more or less than you would have expected? Do you track your expenses? Any frugal tips and tricks to share?
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