Time to Face The Music

warby68

£383 doesn't sound too bad in the context of how much you've been throwing at debts recently. Slightly more scenic route overall but sounds like you've got the motivation to keep everything under control these days.

I hope the van is the one but even if it isn't other ones seem to be popping up.

I guess it would be interesting to cost out the van versus the boat to see what the actual uplift is in your spending. If I'm right the boat had a lot of standing and maintenance costs even though it was paid for and the van is quite cheap to run apart from the finance. NO doubt you've done this already when I think about it

RelievedSheff

warby68 said:

£383 doesn't sound too bad in the context of how much you've been throwing at debts recently. Slightly more scenic route overall but sounds like you've got the motivation to keep everything under control these days.

I hope the van is the one but even if it isn't other ones seem to be popping up.

I guess it would be interesting to cost out the van versus the boat to see what the actual uplift is in your spending. If I'm right the boat had a lot of standing and maintenance costs even though it was paid for and the van is quite cheap to run apart from the finance. NO doubt you've done this already when I think about it

Even with the boat paid for, the running costs and maintenance costs were about £600 a month. When we had finance on the boat the costs were about £1100 a month. 

The costs to run my car per month are minimal. £20 in tax and the insurance would work out at £25 per month. This has been owned outright for many years now.

So total cost per month for my car and the boat (excluding fuel) was in the region of £645. Fuel probably added another £100 per month to this. It was not economical to run!

My car will be going when we get the van and the tax and insurance for the van isn't far off being the same. £22 for the tax per month and £32 per month for the insurance. The finance cost is £383. We don't know what the maintenance costs will be for the van until we run it for a while but are going to allow £100 per month.

Monthly cost for the van excluding fuel £537.

We are expecting to get somewhere between 25-30mpg out of the van so while it won't be economical it will be a damn sight more economical than the boat at about 4-6mpg.

It doesn't sound like a huge saving per month to get the van over the boat but we had that boat for a long time and we knew that it was getting ready for some big bills cropping up in the not too distant future if we carried in using it as we were, which would have been bills in the tens of thousands to fix rather then the thousands. We suspect it will almost go into retirement with the new owners so those bills will be a long way down the line for them.

Having the van sat on the drive will also have other advantages for us. We can do the maintenance and cleaning etc. before we load it up to go away. With the boat we had to drive there, do the jobs, then load it up to go away. It made maintenance always feel like a chore. With the van at home we can do the jobs as and when at our leisure. We certainly won't miss having to haul the boat out of the water to service the stern drive, polish the hull and paint the bottom. 

alt80

Need to get off my phone but 4-6mpg I love it lol had it got a massive V8 or 2? Always wanted a riva aquarama but that’s dreaming level 100% lol. Really do need to stop being jealous about a boat you haven’t even got anymore had plenty of thoughts about buying one just to put on here I bought a boat. 😆

Your OH burgers sound good too.

RelievedSheff

alt80 said:

Need to get off my phone but 4-6mpg I love it lol had it got a massive V8 or 2? Always wanted a riva aquarama but that’s dreaming level 100% lol. Really do need to stop being jealous about a boat you haven’t even got anymore had plenty of thoughts about buying one just to put on here I bought a boat. 😆

Your OH burgers sound good too.

It had a 2.4 litre supercharged and turbocharged diesel. (Volvo Penta KAD32)

It was a quick little boat but it could drink fuel at an alarming rate!

The fuel tank capacity was 225 litres. We have filled it at Hull and four hours later we were running on vapours entering Lowestoft.

It liked a good drink, more so than me   

RelievedSheff

The other half has remembered that we have a voucher to spend that I got with my Christmas hamper at work, I must admit I had completely forgotten about it. So he has taken himself off to Go Outdoors to buy a few bits that we will need for the van with it.

I have given him strict instructions not to go mad and buy everything in the shop   

Pretty sure he won't!

Sun_Addict

That was a very timely find. 

RelievedSheff

Sun_Addict said:

That was a very timely find. 

I had completely forgotten about it.

He has just rung up very pleased with his haul. He has got a fold flat table for outside dining, a set of levelling ramps, an adapter to plug the van into a 3 pin plug socket, 2x2 litres green toilet chemicals and 2x2 litres pink toilet chemicals.

He spent £4.80 over the voucher amount

He is on his way back now.

Four_Seasons

Thats great, its so exciting, all those lovely holidays on the horizon x

RelievedSheff

Four_Seasons said:

Thats great, its so exciting, all those lovely holidays on the horizon x

We have all this kit. Not got a van yet   

Fingers crossed that changes tomorrow.

joedenise

You might not need the pink stuff - most van's cassettes flush from the fresh water tank!  It's mainly English built ones that you use pink with or caravans.  Keep the receipt so you can get a refund if not needed.

I wouldn't buy too much stuff before you get the van otherwise you'll end up with stuff you don't actually need! You can just use stuff from home (or whatever you used when you had the boat).

Hope the viewing goes well tomorrow.