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MONTHLY EXPENSES ON AMERICA’S GREAT LOOP – NOVEMBER 2022
The Great Loop is a beautiful adventure full of challenges. One of the challenges that we’re constantly faced with is work-life-loop balance while on a budget. In November, we decided to spend two weeks staying put in Chattanooga. A walkable, convenient, fun city where we could focus on working, visiting with friends and family, and not looping! We knew budgeting for our Great Loop would ebb and flow depending on the season and our location. I’m not sure we considered needing time to just stay still on a trip that requires to you keep moving and traveling at a certain pace. This month was not as focused on keeping under budget for marinas as we splurged and took the time to relish stillness.
TRAVEL SUMMARY – NOVEMBER 2022
Before I dive into our November expenses, it’s important to understand where we traveled, how far we cruised, and some specifics in our particular loop experience. We began our travels on Lake Barkley, Kentucky and cruised down the Tennessee River to Goosepond Colony Marina, Alabama after having stayed two weeks enjoying Chattanooga, Tennessee. We enjoyed eating the infamous Mile High Merengue Pie, gorgeous fall foliage along the Tennessee River, and two amazing weeks in Chattanooga, TN. Here is our Nebo travel summary:
Nights at a marina dock: 22
Nights on a marina mooring ball: 0
Nights on a free dock: 5
Nights on a paid dock: 0
Nights on a free lock wall: 0
Nights on a paid lock wall: 0
Nights at anchor: 3
We spent most nights at a marina this month since we stayed two weeks just in Chattanooga. This is definitely not our normal, but after feeling a bit of looper exhaustion from constantly moving, working and running businesses while looping, and wanting to see friends and family, we decided the best thing for us was to stay in one place for an extended period of time.
We created a course, How to Anchor and Love It which includes 2 hours of video content over 15 modules, a 16-page workbook, and our Great Loop Anchorages and Free Docks spreadsheet to help you anchor with confidence.
Read next: 15 Tips for Boating on a Budget!
GREAT LOOP MONTHLY EXPENSES – NOVEMBER 2022
We spent a total of $3,880.38 on our Great Loop expenses for November 2022. This list does not include our healthcare, phone bills, personal subscriptions, and business expenses as those all vary from one person to another. All expenses are in USD.
Our greatest expense this month was groceries for a total of $1,157.46. Most of the meals we eat are cooked on our boat, making this a reoccurring high category for us.
Our second greatest expense was fuel for a total of $903.78. We fueled up once at Goosepond Colony Marina, which had a great price for diesel at $5.29/gallon.
Our third greatest expense was marinas or dockage for $670.08. As we made the conscious decision to linger longer in the Midwest rivers for the fall, we’ve gotten the opportunity to take advantage of winter rates at the marinas. Transient marina rates are discounted since the competition for dockage is relatively low. This month, we spent 22 nights at marinas, and 14 of those nights were spent in Chattanooga.
A few of the remaining categories were also higher than we would have liked. We would like to have had lower expenditures in restaurants, attraction/tour, and boat projects. Unfortunately, boat projects are not dictated by our budget and instead happen as they happen. It’s all part of being flexible. Our budget wasn’t clear-cut but merely a set of guidelines for us to stay within our financial means and goals.
OUR GREAT LOOP BUDGET RESOURCES
If you’re interested in our Great Loop Budget Calculator, check it out here!
We hope this post provided you with some insightful information on how much it costs to do the loop on a budget. Share this post with a friend if you think someone else might find this information useful. If there is something you would like us to include in our December Great Loop Expenses that we missed this month, let us know in the comments below!
The ups, downs, and everything in between, we share it all. If you like what you see, there are lots of ways to show your support and say thanks! The easiest way to support our work is by commenting on this post, liking and sharing our content on Facebook, and pinning our content on Pinterest. It’s a small way to say thank you that goes a long way!
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15 responses to “MONTHLY EXPENSES ON AMERICA’S GREAT LOOP – NOVEMBER 2022”
Thank you so much for your information. We follow your adventure everyday with the thought that we might follow your wake in some fashion. Your information is very helpful and well documented. Thanks again! Big Fans!!!
Thanks for following along on our journey, Brian! We really appreciate it. Best of luck preparing and starting your own Great Loop journey 😊
Glad to see your boat at the Guntersville City Harbor today. Grandchildren birthday prevented stopping by to say Hi.
I’m sorry we missed you!
Hi you To,
Happy Birthday Jen!! and many more.
That monthly expense report is the real deal.
It’s not cheap to do the loop, you cannot put a price tag on all the experience.
You gotta do it while you can.Hi Larry! Thanks for the birthday wishes 😊 It is not cheap to do the loop, but it also doesn’t have to cost a fortune. We’re glad you like the expense report!
Thanks Jen! We just watched your entrance to Canada. Enjoy!!!!
Hi Jen & Elliot,
Just started watching your early videos after your trip from Colombia and have really enjoyed watching and learning from all your experiences as you motor The Great Loop! My husband and I plan to sail TGL next year.
Regarding the nasty noseums I read they’re worse than mosquito bites…eek! And they hate mint, menthol, lemon or citronella. I’ll be prepared & stocked with these! Oh and I found out the best thing to use that alleviates & stops the itching is to make a paste with baking soda & water and slather it on the bites! It works!!
Just wanted to let you know that we are big fans and watch your videos religiously!!
Adios!
John & Liz/Texas FansHi John and Liz! Thanks for watching our videos and following along on our adventure. We appreciate it 😊 That’s awesome you guys are going to sail the Great Loop next year. Best of luck planning and starting your loop until then. Thanks for the tips on the noseeums. We’ll give your recommendations a try when we return to noseeum territory.
Just found you on youtube. Its been fun watching and learning. I live near Norfolk and hope to run the east coast leg south in the next few years. Thanks.
So glad you found us! Best of luck with the eastern part of the Loop. Let us know if you have any questions. We’re happy to help!
It is just great to ride aboard you adventures via YouTube. Excited to see what else you have in store.
Thanks for following along, Bruce!
Are y’all planning to go around the loop a second time? If so what will you do differently?
We won’t attempt another Loop right away, so it’s hard to answer this question. As far as routes go, we’d love to transit the Western Erie and the Rideau Canal and we’d probably go inside for our Atlantic Crossing. We’d stop in new places and some of our favorites while perhaps spending more time in the Georgian Bay and North Channel. It all depends on that Loop and our boat. Cheers!
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