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Daily Mail
12-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- Daily Mail
I ditched my £1,000-per-month flat to live in a caravan in a holiday park for half the price - the bills are unbelievably cheap
A woman has revealed why she chose to ditch her comfortable home to live in a caravan in a holiday park. Katrina, 31, who lives in the south of England, decided to uproot her life in her £1,000 per month flat in March this year, and moved into a two-bedroom caravan. The business owner purchased her 'mint condition' 2019 Willerby Skye static caravan outright for £26,000 and has a guaranteed pitch in a holiday park for nine years, paying ground rent quarterly. Katrina now says it's the 'best thing she's ever done' and says she's now paying half of what she was before, and that her disposable income has now doubled. She now pays £3,500 a year for her ground rent, which includes her pitch, access to a swimming pool, sauna and hot tub. The fee also covers water, waste and rubbish. Speaking in a video on her TikTok account, Katrina said: 'It cost half of what my old flat did and my life quality is way better now. I can do these things I could never have afforded before. 'I like being different, I like being alternative, I don't want to follow what the societal norm is. I'm happy to break it and have people question me. 'I get that it's not for everyone, but living this way really is for me.' Due to being self-employed, Katrina said getting a regular mortgage in bricks and mortar 'wasn't an option' for her. And she understands the value of her caravan, like a car, will depreciate over time and thinks she'll only be able to sell it for £3,000 when it comes to the end of the nine year tenancy. However, with the money she's saving compared to renting her old flat, Katrina estimates she'll have more than enough to buy a brand-new caravan when the time comes. Her pitch fee only covers 11 months of the year, as she's chosen to live in a holiday park rather than a residential one. For her one month off, she'll either stay in a residential habit or go travelling - as she's self-employed and can take her laptop with her. Katrina said: 'I really like it this way. I don't have all the junk around me and life just feels so much more simple now. 'After living in houses and flats all my life, it's a shock to the system to actually have some disposable income and not have to work seven days a week just to get by. 'I can't believe how much my quality of life has changed since moving into the caravan. Everything was cheaper than I thought it would be and I don't have to work seven days a week anymore. 'I keep on joking I'm semi-retired now because that's what it feels like. 'I think moving into a caravan is the best thing I've ever done. I'm not paying someone else's mortgage anymore.' Recently, Katrina revealed how much she might spend in a typical month. As well as her pitch costs, which include council tax, she bought two bottles of gas for £230, contents insurance for £200 and Wi-fi for £70 a month. That same month, she spent £230 on food, £204 on DIY, £70 on her garden and £80 on petrol. Her caravan has two bedrooms, an office, a kitchen and living space and a bathroom, and she hopes living alone there will help her to achieve a more 'minimalist and simplistic life'. Rushing to the comments, people were inspired by Katrina's story and hoped to do the same in the future. One person said: 'You do you, I think the social norm is changing and that's only a good thing. I don't know how the younger generation are going to be able to buy a 'normal house' soon!' Another wrote: 'Best life... Feels free. No bricks or mortar!!' A third said: 'You are going to love it-just like being on holiday every day. Trust me I know!' However, others were more sceptical, as people said she would have: 'No investment for retirement. Site fees cost a fortune. You'll be spending just as much on ground rent and caravan finance'; 'You could have bought a tent for £495 and saved even more money! These caravans are brutally cold in the winter, plus living in them permanently will eventually drive you mad'; 'Your deluded. Total waste of money.' However, Katrina says her quality of life is 'way better now' and says living in a holiday park 'comes with so many perks', such as using the swimming pool and sauna whenever she likes. She says there's a 'really sweet' community in the caravan park and has become friends with her neighbours, though admits she can't do 'anything mischievous' without them noticing. In one recent video, her new lifestyle meant she could spontaneously have a day off work to go paddleboarding. For those thinking about making the move themselves, Katrina says to first think about what area you would like to live in and then to decide between residential and holiday parks. Next, she advises anyone who's interested to call every site about the rules, ask for site fees and what's included and an estimation for what it will be over the next five years. Previously, a British couple revealed how they ditched living in the UK full-time to move to sunny Benidorm in a caravan. Gemma and Nicky purchased an old caravan for €3,000 - or £2,500 - and have since transformed it into their 'home from home' in Alicante's Villamar camping site. The couple have raved about the benefits of uprooting to the coastal city on their TikTok account @ including 'cheaper living' with 'no council tax, no energy bills, [and] no TV licence.' Worlds away from rainy England, the couple now spend their time sunbathing in hot temperatures and enjoying the area's dining scene. When they're not relaxing, the duo are putting their DIY skills to use and refurbishing the once-derelict caravan, which was out of use for seven years before they bought it, into their dream holiday home. While they currently use the caravan as a holiday home for up to 90 days within a 180-day period, they hope to obtain a Spanish residency to live there full-time. Before they put their stamp on the home, the caravan featured drab interiors and a dirty exterior. Now, it boasts two modern bedrooms, a kitchen fit with a breakfast bar, a living room with a television, and a toilet.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A woman lives with her husband and ex-husband to save money. It's been surprisingly beneficial for their kids.
Megan Meyer has lived with her husband and ex-husband for nearly a year. They co-parent under one roof, saving them money and time. Meyer, her husband, and her ex plan to live on the same property until her daughter is an adult. In the summer of 2024, Megan Meyer and her ex-husband, Tyler, were stressed. It had been an eventful year for the former spouses. They split in September 2023 after three years of marriage and had to figure out how to co-parent their daughter. A few months after the separation, Meyer reconnected with her high school sweetheart, Michael Flores. Soon, they were expecting a son together. Meyer, 25, Flores, 26, and Tyler, 25, whose last name was omitted to protect his and Meyer's daughter's privacy, all agreed to settle in South Carolina to raise their children. Meyer, a stay-at-home mom and content creator, has family in the state, and Tyler found work as a police officer. Meanwhile, Flores works in the tree industry. When they moved to South Carolina, Tyler lived about 30 minutes away from Flores and Meyer, who eventually wed in June 2024. He saw his daughter often, but the financial and emotional realities of the move were weighing on all three parents. As they adjusted to their new life, Meyer thought of a way to solve their problems: she, her husband, and her ex-husband would live under one roof. The financial strain of moving and the cost of living in a new area led Meyer to consider alternative housing situations for her family. "Every time my ex and I would exchange our daughter, we would just constantly be complaining like, 'Oh, it's so expensive,'" Meyer told Business Insider, pointing to day-to-day costs like gas and rent. Meyer's son was due at the end of the summer in 2024, and she knew life would only get more expensive when he arrived. Meanwhile, Meyer's daughter was struggling with her parents' separation. "The transition was really hard on our daughter," she said. "She had just turned 2, and the back and forth was just so hard for her." As she thought more about their situation — and saw that Flores and Tyler were getting along surprisingly well — Meyer decided to approach Tyler about merging their households. "I finally was just like, 'What if we all got a place together?'" Meyer said. She was worried that the thought of living with her and her new husband might upset Tyler, but to her surprise, he was thinking the same thing. "He was like, 'You know what, I wanted to mention something about this last week, but I was scared that you would get mad,'" Meyer told BI. By July 2024, the three had signed a lease on a three-bedroom, three-bathroom house, which BI was able to review. Nearly a year later, Meyer said living with her ex and her husband has been the best thing for her family. Meyer had some initial anxiety about sharing a home with her ex when they first moved back in together. "I was 8 months pregnant at the time, so I was like, 'Am I going to be emotionally stable enough for this?'" she told BI. "But it actually ended up being so much easier than I had ever imagined." Tyler works a two-days-on, two-days-off schedule, and when he isn't working, the three function like one family unit. Meyer said it's "pretty laid back," and they now "coexist as one big family." "On the days that he's off, we'll all usually eat meals together, and then we'll either all go to the pool together or go on walks together," Meyer said. "Sometimes, my ex will just take my daughter somewhere, and my husband and I will have some time to hang out at the house." Tyler's schedule also ensures Meyer still gets one-on-one time with her new husband, who was a huge source of comfort for her through the transition. "My husband is just like my safe space, so even if my ex did something that ticked me off, my husband would cool me down," she said. It also helps that Flores and Tyler have developed a close relationship. The pair are unlikely friends, as Meyer documents on their shared TikTok account, jokingly called "notbrotherhusbands." Still, Tyler does refer to Flores as his brother, as seen in one video. When it comes to raising their kids, all three parents are hands-on with both children. Tyler doesn't parent Flores and Meyer's son, but he has babysat him several times. Meyer said her daughter is thriving now that she's living with both parents, and having her two children living together has also been a big benefit. "I love seeing our daughter become a big sister, and having her around all the time has been great for my son," Meyer said. "He's starting to play and engage with her more, and it's been really great just seeing that bond." Meyer said the living situation works so well for her, Tyler, and Flores because they all did substantial "personal growth" before moving into the same house. "There was a lot of work that was put into mending our co-parent relationship, healing ourselves of the reasons that we had split in the first place," Meyer said, adding that they addressed any "resentment" and "bitterness" before the move. The three of them hope to continue living on the same property until their daughter is an adult. They plan to stay in their rental home for another year and are saving money to buy a house with land in 2026. They plan to eventually have a family compound, and they envision Tyler living in a tiny home while they build him a full, separate house. "If Tyler were to get a tiny home on the property, our daughter probably wouldn't have a room there, so he could come and go from the 'main house' as often as he wanted," Meyer said. "A family compound is the goal," she added. Read the original article on Business Insider
