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From: Rosalie B. (no email)
Date: Fri Jun 09 2006 - 18:20:37 EDT
We have not cruised out of the US except to the Bahamas, although we
have been away from our home port for 6 or 7 months at a time each
winter since 2000-2001.
What we do may not be completely relevant to extended world cruising -
but...
FWIW, here is what we do.
As much as possible, we have our retirement pay etc. automatically
deposited. We have two major bank accounts - one in our home town
which has the boat loan (secured on the house) which is automatically
deducted from that account each month.
We carry one VISA card which has no penalty for use in non-home
currencies other than the exchange fee**. (It is the other account
which is Navy Federal Credit Union.) We charge everything that is
possible to be charged. It is a credit card, not a debit card or a
check card.
We pay off the balance every month and it is done automatically from
the checking account at that bank. Bob draws some cash before we
start, which he puts on the boat in some relatively inaccessible
place. When he starts to run low (every month or so), he visits a
military base and cashes a check at the NEXchange. We don't take cash
advances on the card because that causes interest to be charged from
when the advance was made. I do have an ATM card but have never used
it except to see if it worked once.
We do sometimes carry Travelers Checks, but they aren't really used
that much anymore, and normally you have to visit a bank to get them
changed if you are someplace like the Bahamas or Costa Rica.
We do still have a house, which we do not intend to sell and we paid
the last of the 30 year mortgage about 3 years ago. We have about 10
cars, but they are all old and we have no car loans.
I do all the banking (that I can) on line with my own laptop, and pay
bills that way. As much as possible, I set up automatic billing - I
have the electric and oil bills and also the ISPs paid automatically,
either through level payment each month or taken out of the VISA. We
can call both banks and speak to someone or get our balances on line
if we want to, but often the WWW is cheaper than the phone IF and ONLY
IF you have a secure connection and an encrypted browser which you
won't find in internet cafes for the most part.
My mail is all forwarded to one of my daughters who opens it, and if
necessary goes into my checking account and pays it on line (I've
given her the access passwords), and emails us a very short text email
with the major information in the Subject line. ("Bank statement
4/5/01 balance $2,540.00" for instance) I then call her and we talk
and she forwards such items as we want to get. I leave her $100 for
her expenses in doing that. You can use a professional service for
that if you don't have appropriate children (I would not have 2 of my
children do this as they aren't organized enough, but the other two it
works fine for them to do it.)
The PO will forward mail for free more or less indefinitely as long as
you still have an address. My local post-lady used to do it once a
week in a priority box which was handy, but they charge $10/week for
that now.
I have an analog bag phone (Verizon) on which I get pocketmail if I am
out of reach of the US or anchored out. I have a regular old digital
cell phone which until last year was AT&T, but I can't do pocketmail
on that. Both bills can be paid on-line by either me or my daughter.
I have my email forwarded to pocketmail or rather I have pocketmail
pick up my email which means it goes through the spam filters first.
I have the stuff to access the internet through the cell phone, but
have never had to do that.
I try to leave a clean slate, but I do have some bills each winter -
last winter it was a dental bill, but there is also a safe deposit box
that comes due in January, taxes on some property which come due in
February, and of course we have to file income tax.
** Be aware that some or most credit cards have an additional fee for
transitioning between currencies, even between (for instance) Bahamas
dollars and US dollars where the two currencies are on a par, and no
math is necessary. It won't be obvious unless you are keeping really
good track of the costs - it's going to be kind of hidden along with
the exchange fee.
grandma Rosalie
S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156
http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id1.html
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