The good life! Family living off-grid with hardly a bill

Barny Maurice, 42, and Katus Young, 43, live in a home consisting of gipsy wagons, a wooden cabin and an outdoor compost toilet, with their two young children Madog, seven, and Malinki, three. They power their unique living quarters on the outskirts of the Cumbrian village of Gamblesby using electricity from solar panels and harvest water from rain, using a filter to ensure it’s drinkable. There’s no television or games consoles with the youngsters instead making use of a huge outdoor playground or learning to play a piano inside.

The family make a living from renting out gipsy wagons to holidaymakers and Katus’s career as a touring folk singer.

But with their only regular outgoing a council tax bill of £89.70 a month, they have nowhere near the same monthly costs as the average family.

Barny said: “We sacrifice a little bit of hardship on the one hand – but we don’t have to worry about money or time.

“Other parents spend all their time working to earn money. We prefer to do things differently.

“We live in a beautiful place. The kids are free to run about.

“It’s so normal for me. I don’t live in this way in judgment of anyone, but I do think people should live in a more sustainable way.”

The couple both grew up in conventional homes but have not lived in bricks and mortar for “a long time”.

Before embarking on their ultrafrugal adventure, Barny worked with a travelling circus while Katus was a touring musician.

The family bought 3.5 acres of land in 2014 and have been working on creating their home ever since.

Barny built the cabin from scratch, they have a toilet which turns their waste into compost and their shower runs off solar panels on a 12-volt system.

They cook on an open fire and also have a stove, which is powered by gas canisters. During dry months, they take their water from a nearby stream.

The school commute for Madog involves him riding the family’s Shetland pony to the bus stop.

Katus said: “We’ve made a garden and we’re planting stuff and growing more veg and herbs.

“It just concerns me more and more, the amount of packaging on food stuff and everything in supermarkets.”

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