A couple says they have slashed their monthly outgoings in half by swapping their rented Manchester flat for a houseboat. Jack and Gemma Cox, both 29, now live on the waterways between Manchester and the Yorkshire Dales in a two-bed wide beam narrowboat, along with their pet tortoise Teacake.
The couple, who want to be closer to Gemma's family in the dales, decided it was time to start saving for a house. Paying £1,000 for rent and bills, and putting money into a help to buy ISA savings account, the couple realised they were looking at an average house price of £280,000 for a two-bed.
Knowing it would take a long while to achieve their goals, Jack, a secondary school teacher, and paramedic Gemma decided they were going to bin off their ISA and buy a boat instead. In doing so, the couple have managed to cut their outgoings by £500 a month, half of what they were paying before.
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Gemma explained: "We took a loan out to buy the boat, and even still, the boat was way under half the amount of the houses we were looking at. We pay £550 a month paying it [the loan] off each month. That is our only proper outgoing each month, the only other thing is getting the toilets pumped which is £15 once a month too."
Gemma admits that their plan "started off as a bit of a laugh" but it soon became a reality. "We kept thinking about it, and Jack kept saying 'imagine living on that boat'," she said. "When we realised it was only an hour away from us we decided to go and view it. Two weeks later we had put the deposit down on it and were about to move onto it."
She said the couple had to do "a lot of research" before the change, admitting that moving onto a boat takes "a lot of hard work and time". Even after the move, "things did tend to go wrong a lot of the time," she said.
But their new way of life has turned out to be a much cheaper option than their previous home. Gemma said: "We were paying £650 in rent for a two-bed terraced house in Manchester, and then £450 in bills that included our gas, electric, water, council tax and internet.
"We now use solar panels for our energy, and when it starts to run out in the evenings, we use a camping stove and camping gas, so we don't have any bills to pay now. Our phones have unlimited data so we just use the hotspot from our phones too. We live a completely nomadic life, and we're always on the move."
The Canal & River Trust takes a yearly £1,100 fee, which covers being on the water, as well as using water at the canal water stations.
The couple's new pad has been a hit with friends and family, according to Gemma. "Our family and friends love it, we have never been so popular," she said. "Sometimes we have to pinch ourselves as this is our real life, when we are sailing and there are ducklings and forests it is so beautiful, it's good for your soul."
But it wasn't smooth sailing straight away. "When we first moved onto the boat I felt like everyone hated us because we had this huge boat on the water and no idea what we were doing," Gemma said. "We had to do a lot of research beforehand, it takes a lot of hard work and time to actually be able to live on a boat, and things did tend to go wrong a lot of the time."
Despite having "a bit of imposter syndrome" Gemma said she and her partner "have learnt so much now". She said: "We're in this big boating community where it just feels normal to us now, but when we tell people we live on a boat, people are always so intrigued and interested in it, always asking us how the boat is."
Gemma added: "We try and stay in a ten-mile radius, so we can get to work, staying around Manchester and Yorkshire. It isn't as lavish as it is made out though, we have to get our toilet pumped every month. We also have to be really strict with our water usage.
"When we bought it we were told it had a 600L water tank and we thought that was great. When we first moved on, Jack's sister and partner came to stay and we just used water as and when we liked as you normally would. It ran out after two days and we had no idea what to do, so now we are so water savvy."
The couple save the cold water that initially comes out of their shower to fill up their kettle, and mostly shower either at Gemma's mum's house or the gym rather than on the boat. When they do shower, Gemma said it's "a real treat" but it uses a fifth of the boat's water tank.
She said: "When we're at a water pump station and the hose pipe is attached, it's a completely different story as we then have an unlimited supply of water. We call it the spa day. It's so funny because we will literally be in a town centre, having a shower on the middle of the canal."
When it comes to washing up, Gemma said the pair "live like teenagers". She said: "We will just stack it up until the end of the week and wash everything together so we don't waste water washing up."
Overall, their new life on the narrowboat is "perfect", according to Gemma. "It's stunning inside, the only room we had to renovate was one of the bedrooms as it wasn't to our taste but the kitchen and living room we have left as it is."
The couple also made one of the bedrooms on the boat into a gym and a room for Teacake the tortoise. "We moor up in some of the most beautiful places, we're surrounded by the countryside, it's so peaceful," Gemma said.
"We are going to stay on it for at least five years, definitely until the loan is paid off. We just have so much fun on it, especially in the summer."
Breakdown of monthly outgoings
Before:
Rent: £650
Bills: £450 including water, electricity, gas, council tax and internet.
Monthly total: £1100
Now:
Loan repayments monthly: £550
Toilet pump monthly: £15
Diesel: £50
Maintenance: £30
Monthly total: £645
Insurance yearly: £800
Canal river trust: £1100 including water usage and being on the canal
