So, what’s your bottom line? A long, long time ago I think it was Lin Pardey who coined the $500-a-month-budget as a passing reference of the “Some people do it for as little as…” example. Back in the late 60’s, $500 was a doable, if tight, budget for cruising but today, according to a handy …
Whether it’s building a boat, refitting a fixer-upper, or actually cruising, the bottom line is always going to be what you can or can’t afford. As much as we might prefer otherwise, the bottom line is always going to be with us. Living in a consumerist society is problematic where budgets are concerned. After all, …
Everyone, whether they admit it or not, is going to be on a budget. It’s just part of how things work. Some years back we had a client contact our charter brokerage asking us for the best charter yacht in the Caribbean when we queried how he defined “Best” it turned out that what he …
It was just pointed out that I’m rather stupid because I think it’s possible to buy a boat for not a lot of money, sort out any needful issues, and go cruising. It’s not the first time… Apparently, the ex-reader in question is of the opinion that it’s impossible to buy a suitable boat for …
One problem most all cruisers at any budget level find is that their first year of cruising costs a lot more than they expect to spend. Sadly, I speak from experience and in our first year of full time cruising; we spent money like the proverbial drunken sailors on steroids. It doesn’t make it any …
I’ll say that again… Everyone is on a budget. That guy in the beat up old Morgan Out Island, that attractive couple on the million-dollar condomaran, and the owner of the 180-foot megayacht coming through the Simpson Bay bridge, all share a common link that they’re all on a budget. Want to know something interesting? …
Budgets are just a tool for organizing and taking control of your spending. A very simple budget that works is the 50/30/20 budget. So simplistic that, you might be inclined to go with something more complicated. That said, give it a try and you’ll find it does the job just fine. It works like this. …
So, here’s the big question… What can you afford? It doesn’t really matter what you think it costs, what other people are spending, or the relative price of tea in China. It’s all about what you can afford in the long run. Let’s take a number out of a hat… $18,310. $18,310. is the current …
Now, a lot of folks will tell you it costs whatever you have, while others will say that it depends. The fact is that both answers really piss me off and it really bothers me to have to admit that they are correct in a kind of way. A lot of folks spend all they …
The real trick, where refitting an old boat is concerned, is simply to not spend a lot of money on it. Or just spend less. While spending less is a very workable tactic, it butts up against the consumerist mainstream and viewed by a substantial proportion of people as being akin to heresy. I’ll point …
