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The Family Houseboat Economy - any Budget and Money Saving Tips?

by Ian & Manon
(from www.all-about-houseboats.com)

Family Houseboat Money Saving Tips - Do you have any?

Family Houseboat Money Saving Tips - Do you have any?

Let's look at the family houseboat economy, and see if there's any expense, budget, or money saving tips that can help families this boating season.


Houseboats are one of the greatest joys in life for many folks, and even with the sad economic news, it's no reason to give up on the plans.

There is plenty of ways to trim or reduce your houseboating budget, and still get the full enjoyment of it all. My wife and I have already implemented my tips like these below:

* Plan your trips or navigating, on your vacations and the weekends to limit any unnecessary travel. You can organize and combine the different stops to reduce the fuel consumed. It can save you many hours of engine run time which translates into big money savings and engine wear.

* My wife and I do many of our own maintenance and
repair jobs ourselves instead of outsourcing the jobs. Often it is simply a matter of reading up on the project, looking in an owners or repair manual, or speaking with another boater who has experience to break it down into bit sized bits.

* There's also many engine, fuel, and gas consumption tips and tricks that you can do yourself to keep your money in your wallet, instead of pouring your dollars in your fuel tank. Here are some of the best houseboat mileage tips.

* We like to entertain friends and family, and who doesn't, yet it can get very expensive when you prepare and
pay for all the food and drink for everyone.

We realized that by having them bring their favorite dish for supper or BBQ, greatly reduced the yearly entertainment budget. And as a bonus, everybody also has their favorite dish to share with others. Hmmm, great dinner parties :)


As you can see, there is plenty of simple ideas or tips that can have a big difference on your houseboating budget, it's simply a matter of applying them.




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Do you have any Tips or Ideas to Share?

The houseboating community is a great bunch of people, and some of the nicest folks you could meet, and I am sure together, we can put our collaborative thinking caps on, and share some of your own tips or ideas on how to reduce or trim your family houseboating budget.


Lastly, hopefully some of our readers will share and post comments about their family houseboat budget and economy experiences. Feel free to use the "Click here to post comments." link found near the bottom of this page.


Thanks again for sharing, IAN from all-about-houseboats


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Comments for The Family Houseboat Economy - any Budget and Money Saving Tips?

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Click here to add your own comments

Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Cleaning fuel tanks on a houseboat
by: George

How to get sludge out of my 50 gal permanent fuel tanks. I have a 35 ft Nautaline that I just purchased. I would like to have it done without removing tanks. They are not blocked or clogged up, but do need to be cleaned.

First houseboat. Anticipating enjoying Ky Lake.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Houseboat Budget Tips - our way of saving money
by: Miss-B-Haven II

We have our houseboat a 14 x 70 ft Jamestowner on Dale Hollow Lake. We live 5 hours away so we only get to go down at most once a month for as much time as possible usually a week.

We usually take 35 to 40 gallons of gas and haul it down for the houseboat and if need be go to dock and get more. We only use it to charge batteries( to use power inverter) and get to a spot out on the lake and stay there for the whole time.

We use our runabout for traveling around the lake and take all our food and drinks and only eat out a couple times. But at least we are on the lake. It is a lot of work packing and taking everything, but you do what you have to do to get on the lake.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Whatever it takes, to keep Houseboating
by: Bruce & Cindy

We have enjoyed many types and sizes of boats over the years, but are new to Houseboating since buying a 34' Nautaline July 2008.

Since then, our Motorhome hasn't moved, our Motorcycles are only ridden to work & back, and we haven't been out-on-the-town in months.

We both agreed we would rather go without other things we love to do (within reason) to be able to enjoy our time on the houseboat during the summer.

It's a 2 hr. drive from home to the Marina, so a lot of gas is spent just getting there, but it's well worth whatever it takes. We step off the dock onto the Nautaline and nothing else matters.

We've downgraded the Dish TV package, are down to 1 phone, we now take lunch to work rather than buy out, and continue to look for ways to save so we can spend every weekend next summer, as well as 3 weeks vacation, on the Houseboat.


Reply - Answer
Well Bruce & Cindy, welcome to the houseboat forums, and I can now say "Welcome to the Club" as you definitely have the houseboating bug in you.

Don't worry, the bug is not life threatening, as a matter of fact, it kind of gives a new meaning to life :)

Thanks again for sharing your money saving tips ideas with us.

IAN from www.all-about-houseboats.com
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Houseboat gas saving tip
by: Bob Houck

We have a Catamaran Cruiser Special Edition - 35' with a 70hp Nissan outboard. We are on Lake Hickory NC which at its maximum length would be a 22 mile run from one end to the other.

We are very fortunate that we burn only 1 gallon per hour when cruising at 2,000 rpms. So gas economy was an issue when gas was $5.00 a gallon but at $3.00 a gallon it is not as big an issue.

Regardless, I am hesitant, in the interest of our budget, to run 8 hours a day 5 days a week instead of just an hour or two.

Also, going out within one hour of our marina and anchoring brings as much enjoyment as cruising. So our gas saving plan is to anchor more and cruise less.

We stay on our boat 3 nights a week, year round. It is our get-away from the big city. It is our piece of heaven while here on earth.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Gas caddy useful for houseboats
by: mike

I got into houseboating right when gas was hitting the 4 dollar mark and that meant $5 at the marina. I've got 2 V8s big block 454s so that meant cutting way back on movement.

When gas went down under $2, I got a trailer tray and all winter long we use the boat like a floating cabin.

We just do little 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile trips to anchor, and enjoy the rain or the morning mist.

I would take 20 to 30 gallons every time I would go up to the boat. So, we are now have a full tank all the time at land prices. I won't carry gas in the heat of summer however. Maybe a night run or 2.

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