January 2011 Cruising Costs Three Year Comparison

This is a re-post from the http://www.expaticus.com/ Blog. Since I'm catching up on EXPENSES, I figured I'd include it since I'm reporting a back-up of posts I've neglected. And get this... I  realized, upon closer inspection, that the Arizona trip that Jim and the kids took in November  2010 didn't show up on the credit card until this month! It's under MISC; no I didn't break it out. It's mostly gas for the rental car (rental car was posted already last year), hardware, school books and miscellaneous boat parts. It changed the total... a bunch! So, disregard my first sentence below.

We did fairly well this month with our overall spending. Keep in mind that there were absolutely no marina stays and no major equipment or repair purchases. There is no doubt that anchoring out is far more cost effective than being tied up to a dock.

However, the inconveniences are greater when you are at anchor. For example, getting to shore with one dinghy requires multiple trips back and forth when dealing with the desires and needs of a family (and a doggie that likes to do her business on land.) And that movie you want to watch? Solar power requires monitoring. Want a shower? Making water requires incoming tides with little muck floating about, and speaking of showers - showering on board requires planning (okay - who's first, second, next, etc...)***this is because we use our shower as storage when we aren't taking a shower***.

Imagine needing to do laundry and having the dinghy gone for hours and no way to reach the dinghy driver - the laundry needs to be hung to dry and the warm mid-day hours are ticking away. And God knows you really don't want to do the laundry anyway, but you have nothing to wear that doesn't smell like 'cruiser'. Gross.

Notice our DINING OUT expenses - much higher than in previous months. This is mainly due to being in three new towns in one month: Mazatlan, San Blas, and La Cruz. New taco stands were discovered, we had a few 'special' dinners with friends without the kids - so we splurged, the grilled chicken was cheap but we managed to buy a LOT of grilled chicken, and we had a lot of seafood options that tend to be more pricey than your average taco. If you average out the eating-out total, it only comes to $10.43 each day including tips... but that gives you an idea of how it adds up!

Medical - Tim needed an eye exam and contacts and Bailey got her rabies and other vaccinations.

JANUARY EXPENSES

2009              $1,092,13 USD	2010     $1,539.29 USD	2011  $2,433.72        USD
Groceries           630.01	350.38	663.46
Boat Hardware             103.83	50.14
Transportation      13.46	55	41.62
Dining Out          106.23	149.52	323.40
Internet/Skype      27.46	22.15	42.55
Tourism                 5.54	132.54	5.11
Laundry               30.46	9.52	22.72
Mail                    20	30
Clothing              14.23		27.66
Extra Tips             4.08	10	8.51
Fishing/Snorkel     41.92
Marina/Mooring     75
Computer Hosting 19.91
Booze	70	154.64
Medical	51.83	116
Boat Repair	62.02	45.45
Gifts	12.02	10.21
Dinghy Dock		8.17
Boat Fuel	12.40
Propane	11.90
Boat Equipment	450
Fabric/Crafts	5.35
MISC	54.52	964.22