A couple who own their own home are converting a van to live in because it's cheaper to heat than their house. Sophie Elgar, 32, and 42-year-old Andy Rice, both work from home so have a lot of freedom and don't need to be tied to any one location.
Sophie, a customer service worker from Basingstoke, Hampshire, said she wanted to lead a lifestyle that was more down to earth and off-grid, so together with IT worker Andy she began converting a 2016 Mercedes Sprinter.
So far they're making good progress and have invested in insulation for their new mobile home - and said that when it's done it'll be much cheaper to live in than a brick-and-mortar home.
What do you think about Sophie's plan? Let us know in the comments...
Sophie, who documents her journey on Instagram as @lifeadventureprojects, said: "Living off-grid is the goal.
"The costs in our house of bills have gone up massively, and it definitely is a lot cheaper to live in the van - what we want to do is sell the house and live in the van. The cost of living will be so much less than it is now.
"Being able to travel while working in some kind of job and save money for whatever we want to do is part of it as well.
"We do own a house, but really we both knew we wanted to do something different - we both have corporate jobs but we want a different way of living. We have no children, so we don't need to be stuck in one place."
So far Sophie and Tim have been converting the van for around six months and they're making good progress.
Sophie continued: "We've been doing it for about six months, we're not sure if we'll live in it full time but we may potentially.
"We've learnt everything from YouTube videos and vlogs, that kind of thing. It's starting to take shape, until now it's been rustproofing and insulating, that kind of thing - now it's the fun stuff.
"We're looking for new ways to find adventures in life and we're planning on travelling for a few months later this year, and we'll hopefully go on to buy some land and live in the van for a bit or start a homestead.
"Especially with the options for remote working now, it makes sense to do something. The plan is to sell the house and see what happens from there.
"I work in customer service and Andy works in IT, so we both work from home pretty much all the time.
"With the way the world is at the minute, we're very lucky.
"First we'll be doing around the UK - probably up to Scotland then Ireland and do the coast there.
"Hopefully next year we'll go into Europe and see where we end up, probably start in France as that's where you come off the ferry - I'd love to do Norway at some point as well."
If you are struggling with the rising cost of living, here are five ways to keep your home warm for free or less than £10 - and lower your energy bill.
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