A WOMAN has revealed how she cut her bills in half by ditching her rental property for a 100-year old narrowboat.
Elizabeth Earle, 34, has lived on the antique vessel, named ‘Maggie’ for a year now and says she saves £7,500 through not having to pay rent and a minimalist lifestyle.
Elizabeth now moves around from place to place and, because the boat is so old, lives like it’s the early 1900s – including taking just two showers a week.
She said: “As ‘Maggie’ is a 1920s boat, there isn’t much new technology, so I don’t have the usual bulk of bills your average homeowner would have.
“I’ve gone from paying more than £1,200 a month on rent and bills to around £575, basically cutting my outgoings in half.”;;
The boat is heated by a coal fire, with a £16 bag of coal lasting about two weeks, and powered by a diesel engine that costs about £60 a month.
Elizabeth also buys about £25 worth of gas bottles per month to heat water so she can have a warm shower, while the water supply is free.
To be able to use the boat, she pays £130 a month for her Canal and River Trust license fee and just £10 a month for insurance.
Other than that, her only major expense is paying back the loan on the boat itself.
She explained that she bought ‘Maggie’ for £30,000 from a close friend, who is letting her pay them back in installments.
Elizabeth added: “I grew up reading Lord of the Rings, and the Chronicles of Narnia, and grew up in a village, so I always had a fascination for that fantastical life.
“I’d always loved the idea of living on a boat since I was a child, travelling to different places, meeting new people, and taking your home with you.”;;
However, as the cost of living crisis bites ever harder, she does have to make some sacrifices to keep costs down.
She explained: “I don’t want to keep the fire running over night, I go to bed with a hot water bottle to try to combat the cold being in a long metal tin in winter tends to bring.
“I’ve started to limit showers in order to save on gas, and now I only shower about twice a week if I can, as gas prices just keep rising.
“It really feels as though, by living on this 1920s boat, in the midst of a global recession and right after a pandemic, that I’m visiting the 1920s myself!”;;
Though Elizabeth admitted that the old-school life is hard sometimes, she insisted that she’s “free and happy”;;, even when she’s covered in coal and mud.
She publishes a YouTube series explaining life on the water and is hoping to tour the UK in the new year to research the history of women in narrowboats.
