I ditched tiny city flat for ‘UK's Costa Del Sol'…I live on £10 a day – you don't have to go abroad for dream beach life

The Sun

a day ago

LIVING in a cramped city flat, care worker Erin Temple struggled to get by - often relying on food banks when her salary would barely cover her rent.
But now she owns her own home with picture-perfect sea views - and has slashed her monthly living expenses by a staggering 90 per cent.
14
14
14
And she didn't need to flee the country to beat the cost of living crisis. She simply bought a van for £650 and parked it on the Cornish coast.
Erin, 25, tells The Sun: 'I swapped a tiny flat for an off-grid home on wheels. The savings are gobsmacking.
"I'm proof you don't have to move abroad to live affordably near world class beaches."
Fed up with working gruelling shifts as a dementia and end-of-life carer for a salary that barely covered the rent on her Tyne and Wear one-bedroom flat, Erin upped sticks and moved to Cornwall with just £1,000 to her name.
She arrived in Truro with her two dogs, Rooster and Rebel, a backpack, and a tent - and was soon tipped off by a local at a camping site about an elderly couple who wanted to sell their van.
Erin snapped up the 20-year-old green LDV Convoy, affectionately nicknamed Betsy, and secured a long term camping spot on a private airfield near Perranporth, North Cornwall surrounded by forest and with spectacular views over the Atlantic coast.
She says: 'It's a beautiful life on a budget.'
Betsy's interior includes a double cabin style bed, built-in stove, sink and solar powered electrics which keep her energy costs down.
The van is also fitted with a portable camping toilet and shower, though the campsite where Erin pays £300 a month to park offers full facilities.
Her only other major costs are £100 for diesel and insurance, and around £20 a week for groceries, meaning her monthly outgoings total just £460.
She keeps costs low by shopping for yellow label supermarket bargains, buying from local farmers and finding free firewood for Betsy's log burner, which heats her home.
She adds: 'I've even started growing vegetables in buckets outside the van.
"I used to pay nearly £1,200 a month in rent and bills.
'Now I live on around tenner a day, including food and accommodation. And I own my home."
I was broken by low wages, high rents, and exhausting and often dangerous work.
Erin Temple
It's a far cry from Erin's previous life in the north east town where she would work 50 hours a week but still struggle to pay her bills.
She says: "I was broken by low wages, high rents, and exhausting and often dangerous work.
"It got so bad that, on occasion, I used food banks despite working 12 hour shifts.
'Carers are the hidden workers who are chronically underpaid and caught in a constant cost of living crisis.
Getting a foot on the property ladder seemed like an impossible dream. She admits: "Even with double shifts, I couldn't get ahead.'
Turning point
14
Her turning point came after being pushed by a dementia patient during a 24-hour shift.
She recalls: "I was exhausted. My knees were bleeding and my arms bruised.
'Other staff were meant to meet me at a local pub for an after work drink but didn't show.
'I looked around and realised I was standing there in the middle of the day surrounded by two old alcoholics.
'I knew then if I did not change my life I'd end up a boozing mess, with no savings and no hope. That moment changed everything."
'Make or break'
Erin gave notice on her flat, sold most of her belongings, and headed south.
"I'd heard it was quieter, cheaper and the weather was tropical compared to up north," she recalls.
"People said I was mad. Friends told me to take a holiday. But I knew it had to be make or break."
Now Erin is living the dream in Cornwall - which since the pandemic has overtaken London as the most-searched-for location for property in the UK according to Rightmove.
Perranporth Beach, renowned as one of the most beautiful surfing spots in Europe and dubbed 'Costa Del Perran' - after Spain 's Costa Del Sol - by locals is on her doorstep.
She says: 'I've never been happier. The weather's great, the people are kind, and the view is incredible.
'An elderly neighbour even brought me homegrown veg to welcome me when I first arrived. That never happened in the city."
Saving thousands
14
14
14
Determined that Betsy will be her home for years to come, Erin is currently building storage, redecorating and expanding her bucket garden.
She says: "My dogs love it here. I am planning on studying psychology and counselling at a local college next year and finally have a life I love.
'I'm saving money, making plans and my mental health has never been better.'
Erin adds that she's happily single at the moment - which she's thankful for as a bloke might be a bit of a squeeze with her and the two dogs.
She chuckles: 'Living in a van, you downsize and de-clutter. I might find myself a nice Cornish lad and we'll just have to make sure he can fit in somehow!'
I'm saving money, making plans and my mental health has never been better
Erin Temple
Erin is one of many embracing the van life movement.
Since 2019, the number of Brits living in vans, buses or converted vehicles has exploded by 2,280 per cent, from 21,000 to over half a million.
Cornwall is a hotspot for digital nomads even in the off season, with van lifers lured by the mild winters, coastal beauty and affordability.
Farmers are renting out fields and people in local towns rent out their driveways to meet demand.
While Cornwall is known for its luxurious seaside mansions and celebrity residents, including Cate Blanchett, Gordon Ramsay and Dawn French, costs can be surprisingly low.
A cappuccino in Cornwall costs an average of £2.80, a third cheaper than £4.05 in London.
A pint of lager averages £4.79, compared to £5.99 in the capital, and a loaf of bread is 92p compared to £1.64.
For Erin, it's the perfect balance of quality of life on a budget.
She says: 'We're Gen Z - we don't want to work just to pay bills. We want purpose, nature, creativity, community. Cornwall gives us that.
"I'm healthier, happier, and finally hopeful. I've swapped a high rise flat for a van on the Cornish coast, and I wouldn't change a thing.'
14
14
14