Cost to not cruise - June 2014

With the arrival of June we now have half a year of 'un-cruising' data to look at.  And though we continue to see a decline in the average month costs (largely I think due to further amortization of travel costs over a greater period of time) perhaps things are starting to starting to settle down some in terms of the 'average'.    Each month still has some wild swings - though these days it is as much about how we share costs with Kristi's folks than anything (ala, the Groceries in April reflect a 'balancing' of things between us all).

Sharp eyed folks might notice the Medical costs.  They are 4 reasons:

1. We had to drop our IMG international policy as we are no longer outside the USA more than 6 months out of the year.
2. We had to take up an ACA policy, as we are not outside the USA more than 11 months out of the year.
3. We had to take up a policy in Minnesota vs. Washington State as we now claim Minnesota as our state of Residence.
4. I (Al) am working through a developing medical condition.  (Sigh)

Points 1-3 combined resulted in an increase of our yearly insurance cost from $1,400 to over $2,300, as well as a doubling of our maximum deductible/out-of-pocket for these 'catastrophic' insurance policies.   Point #4 is a life thing, don't want to make much of it - as it is manageable -  but it will add a bit to our ongoing medical costs.  And does go to show why one should get on with life:  "The whole idea is freedom, go simple, go cheap, go now"


With 6 months of averaging perhaps we can start to compare the cost to cruise vs. the cost to not-cruise.  Simply put:  $3,100 a month vs. $2,200 a month.   When looking at these monthly averages, keep in mind a few things:

• While cruising, we did not pay for moorage - outside of transient times and winter months (Nov..Feb)
• While not-cruising we have moorage, but are not covering 'housing' nor auto costs - that is part of the deal for Kristi and I helping out her folks.
• We do however share food costs (Groceries and dining out), as well as pick up any personal items.

For me, the most interesting lines to compare are:

• Boat Maintenance:  How much does it cost to use it vs. store it?
• Groceries:  Automobile = access to different stores, plus we have cut down on 'adult beverages'  (Hard to have sun-downers while fighting off the Mosquitos)
• Personal:  Oh So Much Time On Ones Hands + Oh So Easy Access To Internet + Oh So Simple To Have Things Delivered To Us....  (Each day brings a new surprise at the post office!)
• Medical, well - kind of talked about that above - and it really is more of a USA social issue than a cruising thing.  Until we are able to leave the USA for 11+ months out of a year we will be under the highest cost medical system in the world.  (Oops, that box was sneaking out again).  But given it still represents over 20% of our budget this is a major cost item and consideration for anyone looking to live life on a budget.

There you go.  July will be kind of low-key, August I fly back to Washington for 10 days of boat maintenance and preparing her for another winter alone.



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And now here is the standard explanation: If this is your 1st time looking at costs on our blog, and want some more background on why we are reporting what it costs to not-cruise on a cruising blog - well, we are taking a break by moving back to Minnesota to help out Kristi's folks.  And we thought it would be interesting to be able to compare our costs on Land vs. on Sea., see more here:   mvVikingStar.blogspot.com/.../cost-to-not-cruise-january

For reference here is a summary of what it did cost us to cruise last year:

For Reference, Costs for Cruising in 2013

Again, following the link above will give you access to more details, or you can click on the Costs label to the right.