Finally, someone with a definitive answer. Haha.

THANK YOU for saying the final number right at the beginning and not hiding it through the video like most people do to force you to see the whole video! You are a good man.

Good to hear this, it's not impossible for a working-class guy or gal who works to do the cruising thing. You are the Survival Mariner!

Kevin, You have the most honest sailing channel on the net bud. No freakin women in bikinis with everything hanging out to get clicks. Thanks for the honest info and stay safe.

Thank you for your candor, it really helps those of us considering a similar life style.

The beginning was short and sweet! Thanks for the deep dive :)

I won’t give a donation, that sounds like a charity...but I will compensate you for your time and knowledge. Thank you, good sir!

A significant slice of your budget goes to maintaining a lovely old wooden boat…a good to you. Of course if you had a boring grp boats, lots of this would be saved. Twin fin keels, you could lay up on a beach, another saving. And I would have a junk rig, cheapest and easiest to maintain

Thanks a lot for doing that. Go simple go small is looking more and more appealing! Really interesting to hear about your background too. Much appreciated.

Kevin, you overlooked a very important cost category. I was not able to listen to this due to travels, so turned on the subtitles. It appears that you have "3.5 whores outboard". Why did you not mention that substantial cost?

Key is he is frugal and does a lot on his own also he has no inboard engine to cry over. Either way, I love this series and the insights. God bless you and be safe

So informative, thanks K.

Thanks so much for your candor. Very helpful in planning!

This is why I love this channel!

Once again a great and useful video. Be safe.

So good to see such honest analysis. Thank you.

I love your sailing channel so very practical love it thanks

Thank you for sharing some of the history of your life with us.

Best breakdown of sailing expenses I have seen yet.

Great cost breakdown and the intro was interesting

Great video. Thanks for your transparency. It’s really helpful to those thinking of making a change in lifestyle. You’re an inspiration.

Thank you truthful and spot on. This really helps to understand if someone can do it or not. Ofcourse you had to tease is with those drone shots of your beautiful boat. Cheers.

Kevin great video thanks again

Most amazing sailboat channel I've found. Wow! The information! Thank you so much. Your videos are phenomenal. I've been looking for a channel like this for a while.

Thanks, Kevin. Thanks, Kevin.

Brilliant. You are one of the best on youtube . Fair winds :)

Very informative, reminds me of all the hidden costs from running boats on the ocean fishing in the eighties, the incoming money was great, but so was the outlay. Thanks for the great video.

great information, thank you for sharing!

Thank you, that was very informative! Your videos are great, keep them coming please.

Great stuff - thanks!

Best breakdown I’ve seen yet! Thanks!

Great video, honest feedback, thank you

You have a lovely boat and i wish you all the best

What a great video. Seems many people are shy or secretive about this topic. Thanks for the great and rare information.

Just goes to show ,that with dedication, self control, and hard work , dreams can come true. Congrats to you !

This video was huge help. Thank you for doing the work to break down the spending for a year. This video was well done. One thing that I learned is that it can be really expensive to have a wife and kid. They are crowding out my ability to have a boat...

Thanks Kev a really honest breakdown of costs when living aboard, it would be interesting if someone did a similar breakdown of yearly homeownership costs.

Great man. Nice new tune. 👍🏽

Thanks friend!! Very interesting.

Thanks for doing this episode. You had me laughing when you just gave the number. It did appear that you live very frugally. We should all learn that and what we really need to live. Myself included Please keep these coming. I look forward to each episode.

Thank you!

Very good Info !

Very useful. Thanks.

Thanks Kevin‼️ 💪💰👊

Thanks for another very informative and excellent video. Kevin could you make a video of your routine for setting the boat up in preparing to sail through the night ?

Brilliant and frugal, hope people will learn from your life story. Finding true satisfaction is what you just proved. Thank you, I really liked the honest breakdowns as well as your explanation about former income/investments. Salude! 🍻🍻🍻

THIS HELPS ME GREATLY. Thanks!

Nice to meet you tonight! Look forward to seeing you again somewhere out there.

Kevin. Thank you for your openness and what a great insight into living aboard. I’ve been living for three yrs now ( Australia) on my 30’ steelie and even that( because of the expenses) has been sending me backwards, supplemented by working for income. I’m inspired by your spreadsheets to do the same to get a tighter handle on my budget. Thanks again. Love your vids Jim ‘Sayshell’

Hey Kevin, you in that hurricane path? Stay safe mate!!! You have inspired me to go engine less my friend!! My old diesel pooped its self and its not getting replaced. On another note, I'm not sure how you don't have 50k+ subscribers. Wont be long now and it will take off for sure!! Stay safe!!

Lol, I originally went on to KZfaq today with the intention of learning more about sculling oars and their use. Six videos later I've discovered a new sailing channel to subscribe and binge on. I will add you to the list sir!

very useful. thank you for sharing. :))

Once again, you have produced an informative video that gives us a "real world" example of what can be done to make a life long dream come true. Thank you for sharing!

Thanks Kevin, that was a very useful breakdown and the image of a Merryl employee on a mattress was laugh out loud! THAT'S the way to make the system work for you. I've left you a tip, not huge, but by your standards, a pretty sweet night out 😂

Mennnn!!! Your videos are great!. I don't want to say they are the best because they are on the same page of C. Williams and Patrik's videos. Your videos, like the names before, should be shown in all the yachtmaster's classes.

Very concise. Very well done. Beautiful boat. just finished reading "License to Lie". What a shameful thing the DoJ did to Arthur Anderson AND to those few Merrill Lynch guys that worked on early financing of some Enron deal. Glad you were able to finance your desired lifestyle out of your corporate experience there.

Love your channel. No engine and no health insurance,you sir are living on the edge, I hope u never need either, if it were me I would at least buy catastrophic insurance,and a used outboard. I've been in the breakers a few times in my life,it's not recommend. Stay safe ,slan

Ha! Great beginning to the video.

Thanks for another great video. You showed people they can live a good life for under $1,500 a month. And get to see the world. A nice simple well built boat is the way to go. Thanks Kevin

Thank you for covering this topic. I loved the beginning and then the deep analysis. I am in my second month of a cruise on my sailboat from the Great Lakes to Florida. Your video helped me to rethink how I categorize my budget for this as I am finding that some of my budgetary assumptions needed some tweaking.

Kevin, you have confirmed my plan... As a 'Pensioner' with similar investments as yours, a simply equipped 30 ft monohull with a recent refit, I won't starve or sink (hopefully). See you out there!

You hit the nail on the the head I too had asked and not that I cared about your financial situation but because of your financial responsibility I am going to retire to this life style and I’m just a average guy I’m not into a lavish life style thanks for sharing this👍👍

Kevin thanks for the great breakdown of all the expense for Ruth Avery. One question. What about boat insurance. Since you own your sailboat free and clear are you required to maintain liability + any other coverage on the boat. Especially when hauling out in the boatyard & sitting on the hard for weeks doing boat projects. Thanks in advance for your reply. Great channel.

I am on the smallest budget imaginable with no saving or secure income. Because of this, I live on MUCH lower expenses but this is also much more possible in different areas of the world. In Mexico's Sea of Cortez, I am able to live fulltime on a budget of only $550 USD a month! Food is much less expensive, anchoring is free and haul out and bottom work is included in my monthly budget. No, I do not get to go out for dinner and I do not drink alcohol but I am still able to enjoy all the free things in life and actually live life instead of working it away.

Good video...enjoyed. In our earlier years when we barely had enough money, and no income, that’s just about what our budget looked like. Funny...when we started having income, our budget went up about the same. Bottom line...you spend what you have :) -Rebecca

Hey Captain, thank you for your videos. I sent you something to contribute to your voyage. I hope that God will give me the ability to do what you are doing. Stay safe Brother and thank you for all that you do!

hello nice video thanks you have tremendous discipline. saludos

Luxurious sailing 16kwow

Nice breakdown of your costs. I think you are saving quite a bit by sailing without inboard diesel engine. I noticed my maintenance expenses also went down quite a bit when I ditched the diesel and converted to electric propulsion.

you may want to try a strong electric outboard like the bass fishermen use. Attached to your hull on a retractable bracket, you could have some power available for maneuver or whatever. Recharge the deep-cycle battery with the solar cells. Just a thought.... Thanks for the excellent content.

That's totally doable boothby. I make just over 13k annual being retired early. Being said I'm cheap so I could probably do it for a little less.

Those cost figures seem pretty reasonable to me. I would think if you were living on the land your costs would probably be more. You didn't talk about the cost to buy the boat, or replace it, but the costs probably would equal out to paying rent for an apartment and/or keeping a car. If you had a cabin cruiser those costs wouldn't be anywhere near the same as the sailboat. Thanks for sharing and happy sailing.

I've watched many expense reports by live aboards. Zero understandable info. Hiding the reality and generally suck. Thanks for a thorough and inspiring update.

Bottom line - invest rather than saving and learn to live frugally. Wish I'd learned this earlier!

Time to buy a new tuner😂🤣😆 just kidding love your tunes and vids.

Life Styles vary widely. A smaller boat is a very wise choice. "If you can't fix it, it shouldn't be onboard", 'forgot the wise Old Salt that I heard that truism from. Most long-term Cruisers I've met talk of more cash flow, than more boat size. (my few decades concur) I met one couple who "couldn't go" until they had $10M usd. (still on the dock 15 years later) And a guy who averaged $80/mo over five years sailing the Sea of Cortez. (great spear-fisher, cook, and an avid careener ) Now since the world is "closed", I'm content to stay where I am, which is also cheaper than sailing the Caribbean or Oceania's islands. To each their own.

Liked it.

Very well done, and helpful, thanks! I'm impressed with your dedication to sail. Do you think it would be possible to maintain your current live aboard style, and at a lower cost? Or are you pretty much at minimum? Thumbed!

Really good to hear the insurance did come through for the dingy. It seems you are always out a little when dealing with insurance though.

Could you discuss the Anchorage situation for your years trip? Difficulties??...accessibility etc.

Another great video!! So helpful as I am nearing retirement and hoping to shove off in a few years. I did not see a monthly cost for health insurance. Rolling the dice on that one?

This was really informative. Of course for most of us, we'll need to take into consideration the costs of engine operation and maintenance. However, if we follow your example of sailing as much as possible, those costs can be greatly minimized. It is amazing that you are able to live off of investments made from just 7 years of working, many years ago! You must have chosen your investments very well.

Thanks for opening up on your expenses. Your very frugal. Lol

I notice there was no "haircut" budget...Thats alright. The DIY buzz job looks fine!

Very detailed breakdown, thank you! What would you say you "paid yourself" to keep up your boat?

Great video. You should write ebooks. The drama of having a mermaid girlfriend. Sea monsters. Underwater aliens. Pirates. Demons that visit while all alone out at sea.

I live off 11k a year on my 26ft Pearson and have sailed from Michigan to key west. money is only important for comfort level.

Hahaha I was about to dislike you after the first couple of minutes. Great video ;-)

Another interesting video Kevin, thanks. So who’d a thought I’ve been supporting a banker 😳.. but one who can live humbly off $16k a year doing what he loves and teaching us his craft. You’ll do me. Upping my subscription.

Great episode. Thanks for sharing. Health Insurance costs?

Hi Kevin I'm greatly enjoying your video series, one question asked in ignorance, why so much movement allowed on the tiller when self steering wouldn't be better to have closer to midships? Thanks again Nick Jones U.K.

My claim to fame: Circumnavigated on $14.66/day (budgeted $20) over 6 years = about $32K total = $5351/yr. That's with one haulout included. The boat cost $12K and is not included. This was in the 1990's.

Just like a land house, your “housing cost “ was 36%. Do you catch fish to save some money for your grocery bill?

Interesting video! What new foul weather gear did you end up getting?

@ 10:16 mark: March/April 2019 Dockage fee of -$166.10 throws off your total, which should be $1,150.49, not $984.39. Your spreadsheet deducted it from your total fees. However, I greatly appreciate your thorough breakdown! I have greatly enjoyed your channel.

Good info, Thanks! If you mentioned insurance, I missed it? Do you carry insurance? I'm not living on my boat yet and keep it at a marina, which requires me to have insurance.

I'd like to see a video on specifically outboard motors. I see you have a Tohatsu. Are they really that good. I'm leaning towards a Merc or Honda. But really not sure which direction to go. The cost skyrockets. And service is everything. Are the Tohatsu dealers readily available and dependable world wide ? Also Props. From researching a three blade prop, though not for speed offer a lot more power and less cavitation

Good looking haircut.

WOW

I have a couple of questions after this informative and detailed segment. First, it seems you carry no liability insurance. Second, you did not stop in any location (e.g. Bahamas) where you are required to purchase a license to hang around for a while. Finally, no health insurance. It occurs to me that many would-be cruisers may have to consider these expenses in addition to those you have detailed. And, finally, in spite of living frugally, I do suspect the IRA does get something from you every year...... but perhaps that was not part of your "brief" when adding up your "running costs". Regardless, your account is straightforward and tells the true story - the boat itself takes the lion share! Keep sailing!