We did notice that the cost of household items and groceries appeared to work out cheaper in the UK, even more so when the exchange rate is so favourable for us at the moment. At first glance it would seem like a lot of money to pay $700 to ship a few boxes over.
Well, I had a browse through the Asda online store to see what it would cost us to buy the things we'd need.
BEDDING :
Duvet £20
Duvet set x 2 £25
Sheets & pillowcases x 2 £35
Pillows x 4 £20
£100 for the minimum both in quality and quantity of bedding. This doesn't allow for a guest or particularly cold weather.
Allow another £100 for cooking and dining equipment and maybe £50 for towels, bathmats etc. Now we're up to £250 and we have the barest essentials only. That is already $450 AU and leaves just $250 or £150 or so to spend on tools to match the shipping cost.
I want to have my sewing to do while we cruise (a 10 year patchwork project), we could wrap things in old towels/sheets that would then be useful for cleaning or drying rags, we have a spare mini dvd player that is region free so would be perfect on the boat. The bedding, towels, and some cookware we have an entire spare set that would likely go to a charity shop rather than in storage - we might as well take them and use them and leave them at a charity shop in the UK when we're finished. Mick has multiples of a lot of his tools so he can choose those he's happy to leave behind.
We've weighed up the pros and cons and decided that for us the best option is to ship our own belongings over. It would be different if we would need to bring these things back again or if we would need to replace them if we left them behind. We need to make this decision now as we've started packing up our house in preparation for moving later in the year. We will only take the essentials to the new house because we'll hopefully be renting out within a year or two after to start out narrowboat trip.
We are two Australians who lived the dream and spent 20 months as liveaboards on narrowboat Parisien Star. Life before.... during.... and after.
3 comments:
I'm glad you found the Asda prices useful in your planning. They are probably the cheapest outlet here where you could walk in and obtain everything you needed all in one go, so you have now been able to do a balanced calculation to see which solution is best for you. On now to the next planning stage, - it must be very exiting, bet you can't wait.
Hi Elle & Mick,
We will be interested to read how your planning goes.
Our boat is currently being built (www.narrowboat-waiouru.co.uk)and we have been going through a similar planning process. In the end we decided to only take our 23kg each of checked luggage and buy the everything else when we arrive in the UK.
Regards
Tom & Jan
Adelaide SA
Hi Tom and Jan,
We do keep up with your blog. You post some great photos of the detail of the shell. Will look forward to seeing it reach completion.
Elly and Mick
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