I don't know how I coped

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I'm bloody rubbish at life. Things like bills, taxes etc. I just can't keep up with them and end up in trouble. People can't understand why I'm so crap with things they find simple, and I can't even explain myself. Living on my own for six years, I just felt more and more inadequate and useless, until I reached a stage where I felt that I didn't even deserve to be alive.

A year ago, I bought a boat and moved onto it. I now have no bills. No council tax. No bloody TV license! Nothing except the boat license, which is less money a year than I used to pay a month for my rent alone. People have said they think I'm really brave for getting shot of the flat and moving onto a boat. It makes me laugh, because to me, living in bricks and mortar requires immense bravery. I don't know how I coped with it. I really don't. I'd rather shoot myself than ever go back to all that crap.

There's a lifestyle for everyone, and thank God, I've found the right one for me. If I hadn't when I did, I honestly don't think I'd have made it through the last year. Looking back, I don't know how I managed to get through the previous six years. This last year has been the best of my life, and for the first time, I don't feel like an alien trying to live in a world he wasn't designed for.

You coped....because you HAD to cope.

Congrats on the move to the boat. Batten down the hatches when there's a North Sea Storm!

Cheers!

I think I'm safe from sea storms on the Grand Union Canal though!

And look out for freshwater barnacles.

It should be noted that Charles Darwin was obsessed with barnacles when he was younger,

I envy you! I'm in the same stressful position you used to be in, and have been for 24 years living alone renting, with all the stressful bureaucracy it entails.

I'm wondering if I recently missed an enormous opportunity to have what you have. This year the relative of a friend of mine died. He lived on a boat with a surprisingly cheap mooring fee on a London canal. It was his own boat so the mooring fees were all he had to pay.

His general living expenses were so low that for most of his working life he could afford to work for a while, save like crazy, then just take a while off. He never even needed any types of welfare benefits. He was independent because of his low expenses.

When he died, his boat was up for grabs. At first a cousin in the family said she wanted it, and even arranged to tow it away. My friend said he didn't even want to ask a high asking price. In the end he sold it to a stranger for £200.

I now wish I'd made a serious bid for it, told my friend more seriously that I would be interested. I said a few things to that effect, and my friend discouraged me, saying what bad repair the boat was in, and that I wouldn't want it if I knew.

Trouble is I'm DESPERATE to get away from the flat I live in. It's a long story but it's my personal nightmare. That boat, available so cheaply from someone's who's a friend, could have changed my life, I'm starting to feel like.

These days, now that it's gone, I've said that more openly to my friend but he still doesn't really get it.

Your post makes me wonder even more.

I can't afford the normal price of a decent boat, so I've missed this chance; this was a golden opportunity via a friend who didn't even care what price he got for it, he just wanted to get rid of it.

£200? Even if it did need work, you can't go far wrong with that. I'd love a project boat.

Don't give up, BirdInFlight. I'd wanted a boat for years before the opportunity came, and I've never been in the position to pay much for one. Prices tend to be a bit ridiculous in London because of the lack of affordable homes, but you don't have to look too far afield to find some good bargains.

I'll keep my ear to the ground and let you know if I hear of anything.

Do you want city amenities nearby, Bird in Flight?

I know you want parks.

Probably, if you're in some rural area in the North, bargains could be had.

That's inspiring. I'm glad you found a place where you belong. I've always wanted to move out to cottage country, but it gets so cold in the winter.

That is incredible sir...I envy you

I do live with bills, shopping etc and it's a struggle. The anxiety I feel when i have to deal with stuff like that just makes me stop doing it and it gets out of control.

I'm not googling - living on a boat

What kind of boat did you buy? I'm looking at bail boats...guess they wouldn't be suitable...

would love to live in a barge boat but my partner loves his city house and the noisy and annoying neighbors that accompany that.

$%^&*&* hell!! !

60ft Trad Stern Narrowboat by Braidbar

It's a little (25ft) narrowboat, and it's the best thing I ever bought, no doubt about it.

Maybe one day I'll move onto something bigger, but this will do me for as long as I need it to.

I would probably find things to be a lot more affordable in the North, yes.

However, I would need to stay as near to my current area as I possibly could, as the specific colony of birds I visit are my ongoing project (I monitor their lives and offspring, etc) plus I dearly love them and would miss those specific birds, it would be like giving up a pet and just getting another! That mooring of my friend's relative would have kept me in proximity, alas.

I have greatly simplified my life over the last two years, moved into a modest apartment, put my bills on auto pay and got rid of a lot of junk I accumulated over the years. I am definitely happier. There is a lot to be said for the simple life.