Diesel - The american view

mainshiptom

mainshiptom

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This is from an American site, Remember Diesel and the flammable stuff about the same price:


If you like the safety factor of diesels, if you like the economy of diesels,
If you like the long life of diesels, if you like the reliability of diesels,
If you can afford diesels.... Put the damm things in there, they're the
Best!!!!


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Acshully, marine diesel is about 25-30% cheaper than petrol, so there's another reason. I'll stick to my 2X7.4L petrols, however.

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That's right, Dave, but it still hurts when I pay $275 for about 160 gal(US) as I did a couple of days ago and will have to do it again, only more so, next week after a 120nm trip to Useppa Is. and back. But life's too short to worry about it/forums/images/icons/smile.gif.

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Out of interest Arthur, how much does it cost to berth and insure your boat, and how much is your health insurance.

I visit the States a couple of times a year to visit boat shows, meet up with friends etc and I'm always amazed at the low cost of living, houses, cars etc.

I just wondered what costs more over there?

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Most things are less expensive over here than they are in the UK. As for berthing, we own our boat slip (45ft) which cost $81K about 4 yr ago and is now worth over $150K. We pay about $2k/yr property tax on that and about $1200/yr marina maintenance fees. Electricity costs about $20/mo to run the AC and stuff. The marina is a condominium, if you are familiar with the legal aspects of them.
Typical berthing fees are $1/ft for a so-so place to $2.25 for your lux hotel/marina combos. Our marina charges about $16/ft/mo. for extended stays.
Our insurance is about $1300/yr with a $500 deductible. Towing insurance is $97/yr for unlimited tows
I have retiree health insurance through my prev employer and this has just gone up from $278/mo to $345/mo for the two of us. If I had to do this as an individual it would be at least double.
We each have to pay the first $1500 of annual med claims but after that most is paid for. Prescription charges range from $15 for generic to $30 for branded. Most people, esp retirees, have to pay the actual cost of prescriptions which can be a lot.
In short, medical care is much more expensive here, but you get the best and it's immediate, even if it does seem to be a bit 'over the top' at times, with valet parking, garment bags for your clothes, local anaesthetic before an injection (yes, really). Our insurance allows us to go anywhere for the best treatment we can find, as we did when my wife had an episode with breast cancer 10 yr ago.
Wine is more expensive in shops here, but the hard stuff isn't.
Income taxes are much lower. In fact, I some time ago in the Economist, I think, that although wages in Germany, Switzerland etc may be higher than in the US, disposable income here is the highest anywhere.
As you mention, housing is cheaper her than in the UK. We chose to retire to one of the more expensive places in the US (we'll have to die at 70 or our money will run out/forums/images/icons/smile.gif), and houses here range from $13million to $0.5million. Ours is at the lower end, but even that is worth about the same as the much smaller place we have in Brighton.
Anyway, what was your question/forums/images/icons/smile.gif?
BTW, we are in the midst of a violent thunderstorm, so no boating today

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US vs UK in my experience

Arthur (who may remember meeting me at UYC when he lived in Atlanta) has given you a view of south FL. My perspective as a native yank is a little different.

I found when I spent 3 weeks with friends in the UK a few years ago that when it comes to things like food, clothing etc, a pound buys close to what a USD buys...so at todays rate of exchange, they cost you about twice as much. Some things are much higher--film for my camera, for instance, was about twice as much as it costs here. You pay about as much for a litre of petrol as we pay for a US gallon. (Yesterday I paid U$D 1.59/gallon to fill up my car). Diesel is a little higher, but only a few cents. The markup at marinas in most places is only about 10-15%.

Otoh, you have national health, I pay about $300/month for health insurance

Housing prices vary considerably, depending on location. In coastal cities, a waterfront home can be 3-5x as much as the identical property a few blocks off the water. And it varies from city to city...even suburb to suburb in the same city. A house here in suburban Little Rock (waaaay inland) comparable the 3000 sq ft home I owned in suburban Atlanta is about 25% less. Property taxes also vary wildly, even in the same metro area...I paid about $3600/yr for a valuation of $400k in DeKalb County GA...the same property, had it been in Fulton County, would be twice that....in my case, literally across the road from my subdivision, because the road in that part of town (Dunwoody Club Drive at Spalding, Arthur) is the county line.

Boat dockage varies wildly, depending on location. A slip in a luxury neighborhood in south FL year round can cost twice as much as a slip plus dry winter storage in northern states where boats are only in the water from about May-Oct.

American goods not only cost more because of the rate of exhange, but also due to higher freight costs to get it there. For instance, a Jabsco manual toilet (the cheapest here) can often be found on sale for $99...approx. 55 pounds. The cheapest marine toilet I've found from any UK sources is about 100 pounds.

So all in all, I would estimate that the cost of living in the UK vs the US averages out to about 1 USD vs 1 British pound...which, at today's rate of exchange of $1.80/1 pound means that your cost of living is about 80% higher than ours. No wonder Arthur decided to retire here!

<hr width=100% size=1>Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
 
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