So I promised I would post my real numbers in a way that planners could use to decide on what THEY should use for their own plan. .......
That's exactly how I used it when I found it on CF a few years ago. It was tremendously helpful. Few people post their costs, few who do track their longterm costs. Not just maintenance, but the episodic costs such as replacements, upgrades, and unexpected repairs.
those expensive "not counting X" things happen regularly and just skip around in categories. My expenses are not high due to dining and drinking out, for us it is the "X"................and "the boat".
Yea, the "It depends" answer is frustrating. Of course it depends. Duh... A 25-word preamble of assumptions should cover it for anyone with knowledge and a willingness to try. For example, before you joined TF, I used your example a few times when folks would ask "how much does living aboard cost?" In the fog of
"it depends" or
"as much as you have," I'd say
"here's a guy who seems to live a middling life full time aboard his sailboat. Some marina, some anchor, some travel, Bahamas/Florida. He's spending around $4k/mo. YMMV." (Okay, maybe a bit more than 25-words, but you get the idea).
BTW you know what you have not seen on this thread?
Someone post their own numbers in similar way.
This is where you lose me. I will never have these numbers because I don't track expenses. I stopped around 6-months into my refit to preserve my sanity. As I've said a million times now on both TF and CF, many thanks for collecting and sharing this data. A better question is one never asked: is the information useful? How is it being received? But no, you're a bit defensive about lack of reciprocity. Or how so few have asked for your spreadsheet.
You know what's missing from this thread? What you see on CF but not here? No one is saying your numbers are bogus or that they can do it for a less (well, I guess Simi60 did, but he did so respectfully). No one has insinuated you spend too much. At worst, many reminders that your numbers are your numbers ---- YMMV.
Don, I can't tell if you're just a bit prickly by nature or if your CF experiences have left you a bit jaded and cynical. But I think you're trying to pick a scab where there is none.
Peter