Time to cough up...

Sunday 1st February 2015

Diane is the one that takes a lot of time in the mornings to read through all of the blogs that have appeared since the last time that she checked, which is usually the previous morning - the pretence of this being that she is holding the bed down; staying out of my way; and making sure that my coffee-making skills are maintained by practice.
She does however direct my attention to blogs where there are items that are of interest to me - sort of my very own editor - how good is that?
She knows that I am interested in facts and figures; history and science; sport and travel - so when blogs started appearing which were detailing the costs that they had during the year, she directed me to them.
It is interesting to see how much others are paying for the same things on their boats and how they compare with our own costs.

Well it is now a chance to return the favour and hopefully with these figures added to those of others, new boaters or contemplating boaters will get an idea of what it will cost to keep and enjoy a boat.

Our costs cover the 12 months expenses for 1/2/14 to 31/1/15 and includes the 3-month period when we were away from the boat.

Diesel                          ₤  852
Maintenance                ₤1420
Boat Equipment          ₤3068
Electricity                    ₤   30
Gas                              ₤   50
Insurance                     ₤ 171  
Licences                      ₤ 835
Mooring                      ₤ 815
Misc.Household          ₤1597
Phone/Internet             ₤  556

Diesel costs include the diesel used in the Refleks stove which is our principal form of heating. Currently when we operate it, and during winter it is on 24/7, it uses about 200ml per hour and with the diesel prices being so low it works out about ₤22-₤24 per week.
Maintenance includes ₤1380 paid to Overwater for work done whilst we were away - the main items in this amount were reblacking of the hull; anode replacement; removal of the pumpout toilet/tank.
Boat Equipment includes new batteries ₤1710; solar panels ₤750; Midland Chandlers ₤298 (new horn, lights, toilet, chains); BSS Cetificate ₤140 - the batteries should last for another 7-8 years; the solar panels have a long life associated with them; the BSS is for 4 years and most of the chandlery items are one-off things or have similarly long lives.
Mooring - most of this was for Overwater Marina for a 3 month period whilst we were away and was budgetted for - it sort of counter-balances the low diesel costs. We will of course use marinas for short term mooring each year when we need to be away from the boat
Misc Household - includes new mattress ₤270; dog-related ₤120; clothes ₤140; and quite an amount for gifts which we took home with us. I cannot see that there is much more to spend here as there is no space to put anything more on the boat, but time will tell.
Phone/Internet - this is what we need to spend to make sure that I have connection for work - it does involve having a (now updated) MiFi as well as three phones as backup - our own personal choice

The only other major expenses were eating out; alcohol/pub; supermarket and these are personal things that are dependent on what you want to do.

The total costs for the year were ₤16000 or about ₤1330 per month - a figure which we are comfortable with and one which we expect to be lower next year as there were quite a number of one-off expenses.