Elizabeth Earle bought the Maggie boat in 2022 and lived on it for almost a year – Photo: Insider
Living on a boat is both a hobby but also due to the pressures of life.
In the beginning, living on a boat was a passing pleasure. Although originally fond of boats, but Elizabeth Earle (34 years old, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England) only started thinking about living on it after a “trip” on the river.
In 2017, Elizabeth Earle came in contact with two Americans who have been sailing around the world for the past 10 years. Occasionally, they looked for a companion and asked her if she wanted to come along. Elizabeth Earle agreed, and then embarked on a life of adventure.
She then bought a sailboat that was destroyed by the storm, emptied out what she had. The purchase was about £8,000, but Elizabeth Earle had only half of it. So she had to sell everything she owned, buy a boat, renovate, and adopt a dog that hates rivers.
For the dog, Elizabeth Earle sold the boat, returned to the surface. But life on the river haunts, she bought a boat with nothing but shell for £ 3,800, also emptied what she had. After living for a year, she sold the boat again for $22,500.
Elizabeth Earle with the boat in front of Maggie, Leviathan – Photo: The Sun
At first glance it seems that Elizabeth Earle has made a decent amount of money. However, it took her 2 years to renovate the boat (plus 1 year of living on it, which she owned for 3 years), spending a lot of money on repairs (12,000 pounds), including wasteful expenses. It costs money to make a few mistakes along the way.
Of course, Elizabeth Earle still made some profit from selling the boat. But unable to return to life on land, Earle bought a boat again. It is a 1970s boat more than 21m long, priced at 35,000 pounds.
Why would you rather live on a boat than buy a mortgage?
With the above sales and acquisitions, Elizabeth Earle can completely live more stably by buying a mortgaged house. But she realized that she was not suitable for this way of buying a house.
According to her, this method is only suitable for those who have a stable job, a guaranteed salary and, preferably, are married. Elizabeth Earle, on the other hand, works as a freelancer, has a precarious income, and lives alone with a pet.
Due to work, Elizabeth Earle cannot buy a house with a bank mortgage – Photo: The Sun
Basically, if you want to buy a mortgage home, you must have proof of a stable income, then you have to save an amount equivalent to 10-20% of the house price to apply.
With UK house prices, that means Earle must have £20,000 on hand. Impossible!
“So more and more young people are finding other ways of living, like in boats or cars,” writes Elizabeth Earle. And she chose to live on the river.
Living on a boat does not have to be borrowed, but still has many expenses
Of course, life on a boat isn’t free either. First, you must find a place to anchor the boat. That caused Earle to pay “temporary” money for the “land” on the water she chose. That’s around £650 for 6 months.
In addition, Elizabeth Earle loses £350 per quarter to run the boat. Then a bag of burning coal cost about £8 to last over 2 days, £100 a year for boat insurance (insurance for a third party in case she bumped into them).
Elizabeth Earle also has to move every two weeks, not being able to stay in one place like real estate.
Thanks to living on a boat, she saved a large amount of money – Photo: The Sun
In return, she pays no rent, and saves more than £10,344 a year. “I went from paying £1,200 a month for rent, gas and electricity to just £254 a month for sailing,” explains Elizabeth Earle.
Life on the boat is very interesting
The constant travel may be inconvenient for many people, but not for Earle. She enjoys sailing with the current, finding a good pub, enjoying wine and interacting with people in the area.
She wasn’t attached to living in a two-bedroom apartment or a three-bedroom townhouse.
Just like an old lover. You broke up with someone and you have to go with someone better. You can’t go with someone worse than your ex.
Funny Earle
“I think the life experience should be like a love story and you always want the better for yourself. Whether it’s at work or at home, I’m always looking for something better. If I find something better than Maggie (name of ship), like a giant pirate ship somewhere or a castle, I’m ready to trade it,” Earle concluded.