Leo Vincent Flores
How should seafarers budget their money?
One of the most joyful moments of a seafarer’s life are the ones right before their disembarkation. After a long contract battling the sea, homesickness and tough jobs, finally, the worker has become a traveler. Plane ticket, pocket money, bags, travelling outfit and pasalubong are ready. Smiling faces, emotions high, excitement builds up, just a very Christmassy feeling to sum it all up.
However, due to this hype and excitement, one important thing is overlooked — budgeting. This is very important to us seafarers since our jobs are on contractual basis. Our next employment is always hanging in the balance and at the mercy of our shipping agency. That is why you need to inform your crewing manager about your plans and how many months you intend to stay for vacation. It does not always happen that your plans will coincide to theirs, but at least they know your intention.
Confirm with them the next possible line up for your next deployment or if your intention is to jump ship and apply for another shipping agency, make an estimate on how many months will it take to transfer to another agency. Hence, budgeting is of vital importance to make sure we, and our family can survive during this uncertain number of days without income. To make sure you can budget well, here are the things to do.
Set an estimated time of embarkation
This will be the basis of your budget on how many months your vacation will be. It’s like your target date and you should end your budget there. Obviously, this is sometimes beyond our control. Just be thankful enough if you can get onboard before your target date and pray more if your expected date of joining did not push through. Always coordinate with the crewing manager. Call or email them to inquire for some updates and developments.
Discuss the budget matter with your partner or parents
Sometime after your homecoming, make sure to find the time to discuss budgeting matters with your partner or in case you are single, your parents. It is important for them to understand that you intend to budget your money properly during your stay. The ones depending on you are the ones that will be directly affected by your intention. Explain and make things clear to them about how you budget your hard-earned money.
List down all possible expenses and cover it with a budget
List down all bill payments, training fees, travel, home and living expenses etc. and make a budget for each one. Needs and wants are important. Define them in your terms for you yourself know what you need (food, home, water) and wants (new gadget, new car). It is also important that you see your future a little bit here. Go through some special dates that might require you to spend money like fiesta or social events.
Make a realistic budget
Now that you have list down all the known expenses during your stay, make a realistic budget. Budget that is applicable to you. For example, during your training (5 days), you set a budget per day of P150. So P150 x 5 days is only P750. That includes meal, transportation, snacks, etc. P750 is all you need to complete that 5 days training. Seems achievable, right?
Track your expenses if you are still on budget
Tracking your expenses is very important so that you have an idea on the status of your budget. Track every peso that goes out to your pocket. You shed sweat and blood for it, so it’s a must that you know where your money goes. I recommend that you use an app in your smartphones to track your expenses. It is much easier and more convenient that way.
Review regularly and adjust your budget if needed
By the result of tracking your expenses, you can conclude if you are on pace to exceed your budget or not. Do not be afraid to adjust your budget. If you noticed that some other budget is way too much for a given expense, transfer some of it to other budget that you might need.
Strictly, diligently and religiously stick and commit to your budget
The most important factor in every budget is sticking into it. This is the golden rule in every budget that you created. Since you’re tracking every expense you make, you can tell right away if you’re on pace or not. Do not jeopardize another budget you have by exceeding to the created budget.
Once you have budgeted your money, trust me, you will have a feeling that you have much money you need. You now have the peace of mind on how much time you can stay on vacation. You now know the things to spend on in detail. It’s like your money is your employees and you tell them where and when to go. The way you spent, the way you travel, the way you go shopping, the way you eat dinner at a fancy restaurant, everything you do, has to be choreographed by a budget. That way, you will know your limits in spending. Simple, if your budget tells you do not spend, then do not.
Take good care of your hard-earned money. You must have the absolute control on how to use it and if ever you have not embarked on your target date, please check my other [blog] about surviving an unexpected long vacation. Remember, do not let it dictate you or control you. Now that you’ve read this, you have the power to control them! Go ahead and budget your money now, mate!
