EXPENSES & KITTY
Food and fees costs are
usually shared equally among
both / all those on board.
This is via a "kitty"
system. However when there
are only two of us and if
the other person cannot
afford to cost share, then I
am prepared to subsidise
provided the person can
prove that they really
cannot afford their living
costs. I am not prepared to
subsidise so that someone
else’s savings are increased
at the expense of my savings
being depleted.
A member of crew, rather
than me, usually carries the
thankless responsibility of
being the "keeper of the
kitty".
At supermarkets, etc we pay
direct from the kitty
wallet. At cafe's,
tavernas, etc we settle up
when the bill arrives rather
than expecting one person to
pay for all and for that
person then to have to go to
the unhappy trouble of
keeping a book-keeping tally
of who has paid for what and
who owes what to whom.
WHAT CREW PAY FOR
Except if I were to agree
some other arrangement in
advance, crew pay for: own
fares on joining / leaving,
own toiletries, cosmetics,
clothing, careless breakages
/ losses, shore excursions &
entertainment ashore, own
supply of drinks & between
meal grazing items, visas,
re-imbursement of things
used from ship's medical
stores or first aid kit.
Crew (& owner) contribute to
"kitty" for share of
cruising running expenses,
mainly food & fees.
In the case of a designated
"delivery trip" owner might
pay for some or all of crew
fares on joining and/or
leaving and owner pays for
all food on board.
WHAT OWNER PAYS FOR
Owner meets expense of: boat
upkeep, repairs,
replacements (except for any
careless breakages by crew),
capital expenses,
anti-fouling & lift-outs,
depreciation, boat
insurance, radio license
fees, charts & pilot books,
courtesy flags, diesel fuel
and engine consumables.
WHAT IS COVERED BY THE KITTY
Kitty covers "food & fees"
expenses which are more
"running / operating /
recurrent" cruising &
on-board living &
entertaining expenses; for
example: food, cooking gas,
drinks used in entertaining,
outboard fuel, watermaker
consumables, entry /
clearance fees,
harbour/canal dues, marina /
alongside charges (other
than when needed solely for
repairs), mooring /
anchoring fees, any bought
water, entertaining other
boats, kitchen rolls, toilet
paper & cleaner, washing /
cleaning liquids, etc.
Though I pay for all diesel
fuel used for the boat’s
propulsion engines, the cost
of diesel used for the
generator comes out of the
shared kitty. The
generator’s diesel is in its
own tank which is a
different tank than the two
main fuel tanks.
Note that the kitty does not
cover in-between-meals
grazing items, nor does it
cover drinks (neither
alcoholic nor non-alcoholic)
apart from drinks for
entertaining. However
if by any chance we all
drink about equal quantities
and drink the same or
similar drinks, then I
would have no objection to
it being proposed that we
share drinks costs aboard.
KITTY CALCULATION
Accurate Calculation -
Accurate calculation would
involve too much clerical
effort and, in any case,
would not be 100% accurate.
Estimated Calculation -
Kitchen consumables,
outboard fuel & oil, etc are
bought in advance for ship's
stores and either the actual
cost is used (if known) or an
estimate is used when a
kitty item is taken from
ship's stores and used.
Luck of the Draw - Items
like cooking gas are charged
to the kitty at last actual
cost (or estimated, if
forgotten). The luck of the
draw element lies in that a
new tank of cooking gas is
charged to the kitty when it
is brought into use.
Food and household
consumables have a luck of
the draw element as what is
already aboard when a kitty
period is started goes
‘free’ into the kitty and
what is left on liquidation
of a kitty stays in the
kitty. The alternative of
keeping a running accounting
tally all the time is too
burdensome.
When someone leaves, the
kitty is liquidated by our
spliting the contents of the
kitty purse equally between
us.
