A young couple have quit their day jobs to live in a caravan, and now spend just £8.87 a day.
Libby Ramsden, 25, and Ollie Blackwell, 26, made the switch to live off-grid back in September 2023.
They have no TV or WiFi, collect rain water, and power their home with a tractor-driven generator.
In total, the pair, who lives in Silsden, Yorskhire, say they spend just £269 a month on running their home.
Libby says: ‘The best part is not relying on anybody at all.
‘Nobody dictates to us what our electric bills are, we are not tied to any contracts in any way.
‘We rely on ourselves. We have the freedom to live how we want to live.’
Before moving into their caravan, Libby and Ollie each lived in their parents’ homes, where they paid rent.
They also had nine to five jobs: Libby worked as a laboratory assistant earning £24k, while Ollie was a farmer and tractor mechanic, making £20k a year.
But the pair were also running a side-hustle, Herd and Hive, selling goat milk soap and honey. With their products beginning to sell out, they wanted to work on the business full time, but were unable to afford to do so.
That is, until Ollie’s farmer dad, Terry, 60, offered to rent them a piece of land where they could set up a static caravan, and live frugaly off-grid.
They forked out £11,000 to buy their new home-on-wheels, and haven’t looked back since.
Libby says: ‘It was a no brainer if we wanted to quit our jobs.
‘Before we moved, we looked at renting, or getting a mortgage, and you’re looking at spending around £1,000 a month.’
Win £1,000 to transform your space with this home brand
Metro has teamed up with ufurnish.com and Blinds 2go – proud sponsor of the Best Bedroom category in the Ufurnish.com Home Awards – to give one lucky winner the chance to win £1,000 to spend on Blinds 2go’s stunning collection of made-to-measure blinds and curtains and give your windows the ultimate glow up.
Enter your details below and turn your windows into the best-dressed feature in your home. You have until midnight on 19 August to enter. Good luck!
Form not loading? Enter here.
* Open to GB residents (excluding Northern Ireland) aged 18+. Entrants must be 18 years or over at the time of entry. Promotion opens at 17:01 on 29/7/25 and closes at 23:59 on 19/8/25. Entrant must submit their first and last name, email address, telephone number, date of birth and postcode when prompted via the entry form available on Metro.co.uk (available here). 1 prize available of £1,000 to spend on Blinds 2go’s or Curtains 2go’s collection of made-to-measure blinds and/or curtains. The Prize is subject to the Promoter’s standard terms and conditions available here. Maximum 1 entry per person. Full T&Cs apply, see here.
Cost breakdown
Libby and Ollie’s monthly outgoings off-grid:
- Land rent: £166
- Council tax: £83
- Tractor fuel: £20
- Logs: £0
- Rainwater: £0
Total: £269
Average costs for ‘regular’ living in the area:
- Rent: £755
- Bills: £200
- Council tax: £83
Total: £1,083
Despite life being a little more rustic than in a standard house, the pair say they’re not roughing it.
They collect rainwater from a barn roof, filter it for the caravan and their animals, and run a tractor-powered generator for an hour each night to cook, shower and charge phones.
Heating and cooking is done on a log burner. The couple are soon hoping to install solar panels, to reduce costs further.
As they pay council tax, they get regular bin collections – and Ollie dug a septic tank so the couple have a flushing toilet.
In total, the running costs of their home are just £8.87 a day, working out at £270 a month.
Libby said: ‘People think that because we live off-grid we are not connected to the world in any way or we live uncomfortably.
‘People think that we go to the toilet in a bucket and carry it out.’
Their day starts at 5.30am milking goats, feeding sheep, and caring for five rehomed donkeys before heading to their unit to make soap, jar honey and tend to bees.
In the evening, they return to feed the animals again, light the fire, and run the generator for an hour before switching it off for the night.
And, the pair say their new way of life has made their relationship stronger.
Libby said: ‘Most people in the evening will sit down and watch TV, we’re not in that routine, so we feel a little bit more connected to each other.
‘We don’t have a TV so we generally read or keep each other company talking.
‘We have a better relationship because we actually sit and talk in the evening.
‘It’s definitely improved our relationship, we feel more connected to each other than if we had a lot more distractions in our life.’
But sometimes the couple do miss the ease of modern life.
Libby said: ‘Sometimes I miss the ease of being able to flip a light switch on or plug your phone into charge, that type of thing. Just the ease of things.
Winter is the toughest time – the caravan is on top of a windy hill and keeping warm is a challenge – but the couple want to stay off-grid for good, eventually upgrading to a wooden chalet.
‘We do see ourselves living off grid forever,’ Libby said.
‘We don’t want to go back to living in a house and having bills to pay.’
You can follow their off-grid journey on TikTok @herdandhive.
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
