Frugal Retirement…Living Aboard a Sailboat
February 7, 2010 by Gary P Pierce
Filed under Retirement
When you mention frugal living some immediately think of sacrificing and denial…frugal living does not have to be like that at all. Think of life living on a sailboat…that’s fun not sacrifice.
Retirement plans have been shaken recently by the current poor economy. Some are saying, my IRA’s and 401K’s just won’t fund retirement. We open our statements with trembling hands. You are not alone. Just do not totally give up on retirement yet.
Take a look at some retirement lifestyles that are not about sacrifice, they are just cheap ways to retire. We lived on a sailboat for eight years…in the Caribbean…it was fun… it was frugal. In our 35 year of married life it was the most rewarding experience we ever had.
The lifestyle we led on the boat cost about $1,000 a month. We traveled from The Virgin Islands down to Venezuela and Trinidad. We lived very well and wanted for nothing. How much can you spend in a pleasant anchorage?…anchoring is free. Most of our money was spent buying cheap fresh local food which we cooked on the boat.
You will have fun living on a sailboat…no surprise there. We enjoyed each island we came to…usually in the company of fellow boaters. We hiked and explored all of the island. We met locals that were very happy to share their island. We avoided the tourist places and experienced the real Caribbean, all without spending a lot of money.
How much did we know about sailing?…Not much. Please don’t believe you have to be an old salt to live this lifestyle. Once you get to the islands (Windward’s and Leeward’s) your longest journey between islands is 90 miles or 16 to 18 hours. The islands are , save Anguilla and Anegada, very mountainous so you can see where you are going. Your GPS takes care of the tough stuff. What a great invention.
Frugal retirement living…have you considered living on a sailboat. We did for eight years and had the time of our lives. Enjoy.
For more information on living on a sailboat. Gary P Pierce is the editor of frugal retirement living , he has experience in sailing and other enjoyable, frugal ways to retire. Visit the Uber Article Directory to get a totally unique version of this article for reprint.
