Couple decide to sell home and live on cruise ship as it makes more ‘financial sense’ than a mortgage

Spending time on cruise, visiting exotic locations and meeting interesting people sounds like a rich man's dream, but is it? With the skyrocketing real estate costs, many are moving to ships which, they claim, is surprisingly cheaper and also helping them save. What once used to be a luxurious vacation for many is now a lifetsyle hack for some to save money on rent and mortgage.

Angelyn Burk and her husband Richard, residents of Washington D.C, are currently living on cruise ships because they believe it's cheaper than living on land. The couple, in their 50s, began planning their retirement in 2021.

"Our original plan was to stay in different countries for a month at a time and eventually retire to cruise ships as we got older," Angelyn Burk, an accountant, tells 7Life. Burk started looking for ways in which both of them could afford to live permanently at sea. Soon she learned that they could easily retire and live aboard a cruise ship for as little as $43 a day.

They decided to sell their home in Seattle, quit their jobs and start living on cruise ships. Over the past two years, they have used loyalty points to maintain their life at sea.

So far, the couple has toured Europe while on a 50-day cruise around the Adriatic Sea and also gone on a 51-day trip from Seattle to Sydney. During the journey, they have paid for accomodation, food, drinks as well as other expenses, which totalled to just $43 per person a day.

According to Burk, all it takes is a little planning to ensure that they can live at sea and that their schedules don't clash. 

"We really enjoy cruising and being able to visit different parts of the world without hopping on an airplane," Burk tells the publication.

"I believe this is achievable for the everyday cruiser, but it does take effort," Burk says. "It is leisurely travel without the complications of booking hotels, restaurants and transportation, while staying within our budget."

The couple will continue to travel and see every part of the world. They don't have any plans to return to land anytime soon. 

The couple's math makes sense as the average price of a home in Washington is around $607,000. "We have been frugal all our lives to save and invest in order to achieve our goal," she says. "We are not into materialistic things but experiences."

On top this, the couple also likes the fact that they do not have to worry about groceries. They travel light carrying just two suitcases. They say that no matter where they are Italy, Cana, Iceland and the Bahamas will remain their favourites. They also like spending time in Singapore, which is their ultimate favourite place to visit.

“We love to travel and we were searching for a way to continuously travel in our retirement that made financial sense," she tells 7News.