What It’s Like to Live on a Boat

April 27, 2012

I was talking to one of our other financial planners, Erik Carter, a few days ago about his Extreme Early Retirement blog posts, and he pointed out something that I hadn’t noticed myself. I live a lifestyle that some would consider unconventional and might very well fall into the Extreme Early Retirement category. So, for those of you who are brave enough (my friends would say crazy enough…) to try something like this, here’s what I’ve done.

The backstory

First, a little bit of the back-story. I am, hopefully, at the tail end of a 4 ½ year long divorce process. A big portion of my income goes to my soon-to-be-ex-wife in the form of alimony & child support, so I have had to learn to live on less money…a lot less money. But one thing that I don’t want to allow to happen is for me to lose sight of my longer term goals and my retirement picture. It’s now a different picture than it was 5 years ago, but I still plan to retire at a relatively early age. This means saving aggressively and living on a pretty tight budget today.

Cutting the biggest cost

During my marriage, our single biggest cost was housing. I decided that I couldn’t continue to pay such a large amount in housing on my own and still reach my goals, so I considered a lot of alternatives before I made my final choice. I went to Google and typed in “low cost housing,” “how to live inexpensively,” and a bunch of other similar search terms.

Exploring the options

I looked at living on a farm with a whole bunch of other people sharing a house. I looked at buying a small RV and driving my “home” from place to place when I needed a change of scenery. I looked at renting a room in someone’s house. The only issue with a lot of the things I looked at is that I have 3 kids, and they are my first priority so whatever I decided had to be kid-friendly. As luck would have it, I had a client meeting with someone one night and he shared with me that while his wife and kids were going to be joining him in Baltimore, where he recently moved to run a government agency, he was temporarily living on his boat. Immediately I was intrigued…

Living on a boat

After the meeting, he took me on a tour of it. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t what I saw. I guess I expected to see a rickety old boat that would be sort of cozy if you had to spend maybe one night on it in the Chesapeake Bay. What I saw was more like a really nice condo that happens to float on the water. He had 4 bedrooms (officially called staterooms on a boat, but I digress), 2 bathrooms, a fully functioning kitchen that was nicer than the one in my house, a huge flat screen TV in a well appointed living room (salon), and the best view of the sunset I had seen in a very long time!

I was blown away. We started talking about costs and I was even more blown away! There were several “high end” marinas in Baltimore that would allow liveaboards (the term for people living on their boats, who knew?) and they ranged in price from $2,500 to $4,500. Per Year!!!! Included with that cost were usually a basic cable TV service, a gym, a pool, and some other amenities depending on the location. I was sold.

The only problem? I didn’t own a boat! But that was quickly rectified. I looked at a lot of boats, some more suitable to long-term cruising out on the water, some more suited to staying tied to the slip at the marina. I chose an old ugly houseboat that was incredibly functional for my needs. It was a floating 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo with the best views in Baltimore. I could wake up and look out my bedroom window at the flag at Fort McHenry.

After a little bit of time, my kids, who needed to wrap their heads around the idea, learned to love it. Where else could they do homework, eat pizza and go fishing all at the same time? They even became very interested in the “clean water” cause and could identify every duck family in the area. I bought the boat for less than it would cost me to rent an apartment for 2 years, and if I can eventually sell it for half of what I paid for it, it will have paid for itself many times over.

The cost (really, savings)

Including utilities and insurance, my “all in” cost to live there was under $500/month. If you try to find a place to live in Baltimore for $500/month, chances are it will be in a neighborhood that you might have seen if you watched “The Wire” or “Homicide: Life on the Streets.” Instead, I’m in one of the most desirable downtown communities with wonderful amenities and the best sunsets ever. All for under $500/month.

The downside? Winter is tough! There are 6 beautiful months where it’s an amazing place to live. There are 2 months on either side of those 6 where it’s a nice place to live. But, there is also a 60-90 day “survival contest” during winter. For me though, this just makes spring that much more enjoyable by comparison.

Is this a lifestyle that’s right for everyone? Not at all. But, if you like living near (or on) the water, you like a serene environment, you are OK with doing routine maintenance work, and you’re looking for a low cost way to live so that you can really save…check out your local marinas and boat dealers. You just have to deal with your friends who call you Gilligan, Sleepless in Seattle, or Sonny Crockett. I think that’s a trade-off that makes sense in my life.

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