I’ve saved £20k living on a BOAT – I have to pee in a potty and it’s freezing but worth it

A lady has revealed how she has managed to save lots of greater than £20,000 on payments and lease since transferring right into a narrowboat.

Elizabeth Earle, 33, first purchased her narrowboat, the Leviathan, for £3,800 in 2019 and has since spent an additional £12,000 on renovations and decor over the previous two years.

Elizabeth and little Leviathan
Elizabeth and little LeviathanCredit score: Mercury

She loves the freedom and the savings but sometimes misses hot water
She loves the liberty and the financial savings however typically misses sizzling waterCredit score: Mercury

The writer and illustrator, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, swapped her one-bed attic flat for her 32ft canal boat to dwell the lifetime of journey and journey she’d solely ever examine in books.

Her frugal residing means she saves £10,344 a yr on payments.

She mentioned: “I grew up studying Lord of the Rings, and the Chronicles of Narnia, and grew up in a village, so I all the time had a fascination for that fantastical life.

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“I’d all the time beloved the thought of residing on a ship since I used to be a toddler, travelling to completely different locations, assembly new folks and taking your own home with you. It felt like utter freedom. Not tied to paying lease or working for an ungrateful boss.”

“My payments are extraordinarily minimal, I’ve gone from paying £1200 a month with lease, gasoline and electrical to only £254 a month on the boat.

“The lease for my marina spot at Mancetter is £120 a month, but it surely permits me to make use of the amenities, in order that’s been fairly good throughout the winter as I’ve been in a position to get sizzling showers – as I’ve not managed to get the gasoline and sizzling water sorted but.

“I pay £96 a month for my boating licence, boat insurance coverage is £10 a month and the Canal and River Belief tax is £100.

“I prepare dinner off a camp range and depend on my log burner to maintain me heat.

“You positively should make large compromises like emptying a porta-potty and battling with condensation but it surely’s all price it whenever you get up within the morning to the gorgeous countryside.

“It’s unbelievable simply how a lot cash it can save you whenever you’re not paying lease or a mortgage. That cash goes again into my very own life, my very own property and future.”

After hiring workmen to put in the boat's inside, Elizabeth has since added her personal private touches.

She mentioned: “I need the boat to have that Edwardian cooky really feel, it simply looks as if such a cushty theme.

I spent six months travelling across the South Atlantic, swimming with sharks, visiting shipwrecks, and scuba diving."

She mentioned: “Leviathan is barely 32ft, however I couldn’t bear to go away my books behind. I’m surrounded by the novels that impressed me to go for this approach to life and it’s a fantastic consolation to see them on a regular basis as I sit again with a cup of tea in entrance of the hearth.

“My household are supportive, though I believe they want I’d do one thing a bit extra ‘regular’ and quiet down. I believe they dread to assume what venture I’ll do after this!”

“My favorite a part of the boat might be my Nineteen Twenties bookcase which I reclaimed and is now piled from prime to backside in books – a lot in order that Leviathan is a bit heavy on one aspect.

“I additionally love my wooden burner, it makes the boat so cosy on chilly nights. It’s the guts of the house.”

“After my Granddad handed, we discovered some vintage hearth backings he had collected. My dad added it to the hearth, so now it’s much more particular.

“It’s good to know that a bit a part of my boat was created by my household.

Elizabeth has all the time loved spontaneity in her life and claims her ardour for journey and journey is what led her to purchase a narrowboat to set sail across the nation.

She mentioned: “In 2017, I moved to Australia, however didn’t wish to be caught in a single place and ended up changing into actually inquisitive about crusing and ended up shopping for a one-way ticket to South Africa to affix a sailboat crew.

“I spent six months travelling across the South Atlantic, swimming with sharks, visiting shipwrecks, and scuba diving.

“We even visited an island the place a person had lived alone for 20 years with simply penguins.

“I ultimately purchased my very own sailboat and did it up, in addition to adopting a canine, Leela, a four-month-old German Shepherd combine.

“I actually needed to journey throughout the Pacific after renovating my boat however realised Leela hated crusing. Leela ended up taking precedence, so I compromised, bought up my sailboat and acquired my narrowboat in 2019.

I’d all the time beloved the thought of residing on a ship since I used to be a toddler, travelling to completely different locations, assembly new folks and taking your own home with you. It felt like utter freedom. Not tied to paying lease or working for an ungrateful boss."

“Leviathan, my narrowboat, ended up changing into a lockdown venture, alongside my illustrating enterprise.

“She’s not completed but, and there are nonetheless a couple of issues I’m paying off, however she’s homely.

“I’m hoping to have Leviathan accomplished by the Spring, and Stratford Upon Avon would be the first place I am going- I’m an absolute sucker for Shakespeare and historical past.

“There are such a lot of adventures ready for me and Leela to observe. I don’t wish to take our time without any consideration, which is why I’m doing all of it whereas I can. Life is sort of a e book. It’s as much as you to resolve what's written inside.

Elizabeth joined a sailboat crew in South Africa and spent six months travelling around the South Atlantic
Elizabeth joined a sailboat crew in South Africa and spent six months travelling across the South AtlanticCredit score: Mercury

Her beloved dog, Leela, was not a fan of sailing so she sold her sailboat to buy her narrowboat
Her beloved canine, Leela, was not a fan of crusing so she bought her sailboat to purchase her narrowboatCredit score: Mercury

She hired workmen to install the boat's interior but has since added her own personal touches
She employed workmen to put in the boat's inside however has since added her personal private touchesCredit score: Mercury

The antique fireplace backings came from her grandad
The vintage hearth backings got here from her grandadCredit score: Mercury

Elizabeth's 1920s bookcase is so heavy that Leviathan is a little lopsided
Elizabeth's Nineteen Twenties bookcase is so heavy that Leviathan is a bit lopsidedCredit score: Mercury

She was gobsmacked by how much money she saved and puts it back into her life, property and future.
She was gobsmacked by how a lot cash she saved and places it again into her life, property and future.Credit score: Mercury

Elizabeth loves the freedom her boat allows her
Elizabeth loves the liberty her boat permits herCredit score: Mercury

For extra actual life tales, take a look at I’m a ‘glam’ plasterer and put on my pretend nails on the job – blokes troll me, they only can’t deal with I’m nice at my job

Plus, I used to be so skint after I began my health club firm I couldn’t afford the bus – now I’m raking it in

In the meantime, I couldn’t afford a home so purchased a ship – it’s so low cost I’ve been in a position to give up my job & I’ve nonetheless saved £8k a yr

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