If you ask the cruise dreamers what the No 1 thing keeping them from turning the cruise dream into reality, most would say money. While it's true that even cheap cruising costs money and boats are not free, we managed to cruise quite comfortably on an average of $1,435 per month for a yearly total of $17,225. The US Poverty level for a family of four is $22,314, so I guess we are officially living in poverty according to the Government statistics.

You can review the details at the Link to the 2011 Cost of Cruising Summary.

Looking over the numbers and their percentage breakdown, it's easy to see where the money goes: Tacos and Gas for 34%! Food, in the form of groceries and restaurants, account for 24% of our spending with fuel (propane, diesel, and gas) making up 10%. The other large category was routine and unexpected boat maintenance at 30%. 60% of our spending was on the boat or on food.