what cost

[brickie]

Hi,My wife and i are looking to buy a liveaboard (55-60ft) and become contiuous cruisers,ive done quite a bit of research and believe we can live reasonable well on 10k.a year not a week.this would include general living food etc and the cost of license,blacking,ins and bsc.Is this a realistic figure.

Brickie.

[Starcoaster]

You're going to get similar answers to the ones in your other thread, here: http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=50517&st=0&p=941921entry941921 which looks to me like the same question phrased differently

 

Ie, there is no one right or wrong answer. The only person who can tell you how much you need to live on per year is you.

There's a lot of info in your other thread regarding the cost of living and the associated costs of running a boat, re-reading it and deciding from there is probably the best way to go.

 

I'm pretty sure I just answered this same post on another area of the board!

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=428&pid=972200&st=860entry972200

 

You won't get different answers in different threads, generally speaking.

Edited November 11, 2012 by Starcoaster

[luctor et emergo]

Yes, if you live on a basic boat, pretend to cc, and don't drink or smoke.

 

No, if you want have a permanent mooring, a shiney boat, and the occassional drink.

[boathunter]

Yes, if you live on a basic boat, pretend to cc, and don't drink or smoke.

 

No, if you want have a permanent mooring, a shiney boat, and the occassional drink.

The best answer I've read to this question. Have a greenie.

[bottle]

See post #two.

 

My answer as a CCer, no chance.

 

Costs keep rising, when I first started costing a live aboard, boats cost (new) about £1,000 per foot, they are now at least double that. Diesel was 25p per litre, now in the high 90's domestic and £1.45 propulsion and it will not be long before it is all at the higher rate.

 

Licence is going up with inflation, no doubt insurance will rise.

 

Big question will your income keep up? (rhetorical)

[brian1042]

The problem with most questions and answers about figures, as I see it, is there are no figures in either :>)

 

 

Showing Mean £s pa

 

Mooring* 2,193

CRT Licence 661 (based on 35' length)

Boat & Contents Ins 170

Maintenance / Servicing 300

Safety Certificate 50

Electric and gas 400

Diesel** 150

Boat loan*** 2,400

Council tax 400

 

Total 6,724

 

This is an example of costs associated with living on a boat that are different from the costs of living in a flat (in my case). Each case is different. There is no cost of living included for food, washing clothes, and so on. In this example they are treated as being the same for either type of living.

 

I have no blacking costs, so they are not included. I should have anti-fouling done and have missed that one.

 

I also missed RCR at £200 per annum.

 

* If you are CCing this does not apply.

** My diesel use would be relatively low compared to someone CCing.

*** If you bought your boat for cash, this does not apply, but the opportunity cost does apply. That is, if you paid, say, £50,000 for a boat, and you could get 4% interest per annum had you not used the money for the boat, you have a cost associated with the boat of £2,000 per annum.

 

For me, living on a boat is cheaper than in a flat, but that is because of particular circumstances. I have not shown the comparison, as it is not needed for this purpose. It is not hard to estimate.

 

If you take this example and your food and other living costs amount to around £3,000 per annum, you would be under £10,000 in total. For two of you, I would suggest this would be tough to achieve. Having stated this, I am in favour of making things like soups and stews that are reasonably cheap and also nutritious. If you CC then you could be doing ok.

 

If you produce your spreadsheet with all the relevant cost you think you will have, other people could then look at what you may have missed or what you may have over-estimated. If you are not comfortable with using a spreadsheet (not everyone is), a piece of paper and a pencil would be good enough. If you want to make the best of the answers you would need to indicate the bases of your estimates: X lires of diesel propulsion, Y litres domestic, A units of electricity, B units of gas ... and so on.

 

By the way, the figures were in a lovely neat table at one point ...

Edited December 23, 2012 by brian1042

[dmr]

Last year we spent just over £5,500 on "boat expenses".

We do get about quite a bit so this included over £1000 of diesel. Our licence is very nearly £1000 (70 foot boat), and we had a shot blast/epoxy blacking.

This cost includes No mooring as we CC, and with the exception of the shot blast/epoxy (and a TravelPower rebuild) I do every bit of maintenance/repair myself.

If you plan to live on £10,000 a year this would leave just £4,500 for food and beer etc, thats £85 a week.

I have paid £4 for a pint in one pub (probably worth it) and £3.50 in several so a decent night out for two is over £20.

We are also possibly entering a period of steeply increasing food and fuel prices.

 

I think I would budget for at least £15,000 then if you need a bit of dental treatment or a new pair of shoes, you won't be in trouble.

If you manage to live on £10,000 then you can decide what to do with the other £5000....its better to over budget and get a pleasant surprise!

Don't get a dog!

 

............Dave

[Grace and Favour]

Brickie,

 

I'm sure there are some folks that live on £10k per annum, some in boats, some in houses.

 

However, as has been said earlier - - it all depends upon what you are looking for, and what levels of mechanical comfort & living standards you regard as acceptable.

 

 

£10k leaves you very little (probably insufficient) cover for mechanical breakdown, boat maintenance, personal maintenance.

 

If you've a personal and unexpected maintenance problem - - - - unless you've a savings nest-egg/insurance policy - - that could create real pressure for you

[Alanji]

I am budgeting £4500 per year for the boat, including 4 months winter mooring, excluding batteries, painting (£100 per foot every 6-8 years, maybe) and blacking (some people pay nearly £1000 for this but if you shop around should be much cheaper). As a newbie these are theoretical figures from my research.

There is an excellent book on the subject HERE - well worth buying and he is about to release budgeting software which looks very good if you have difficulty with spreadsheets.