• 5 months ago
A couple converted a double-decker bus into a home for their family-of-six - and have saved £20k since they moved in.

Conrad Kirk, 32, and his partner, Nicole McCarthy, 32, bought their 1978 Rod-Bodied Daimler Fleetline double-decker bus in September 2021 for £2,000.

Originally, the couple converted the bus into a luxury holiday home so they wouldn't need to pay for a hotel whilst they were on family breaks.

But after they completed the renovations, Conrad and Nicole decided to vacate their £1,300 a month three-bedroom rental house in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

They moved into the bus full-time with their four daughters - Luna, six Poppy, eight, Summer, eight and Phoebe, 10.

Since moving in full-time in October 2021, Conrad said the family have saved £20k in total - not having to pay for gas, electric, water and council tax.

The couple use the money for family trips in the bus and has just bought a double-decker coach for £5,000.

It belonged to the band The Darkness and they plan to renovate it and move in for more space.

Conrad, a media business owner, said: "We have saved a lot of money in terms of not having to pay gas, electric, water, council tax and rent.

"We have been saving around £2,000 a month, which has allowed us to improve our family lifestyle and give us financial freedom.

"Since moving onto the bus full time we have saved £20k."

Conrad said living on the bus has allowed him and his family to improve their lifestyle.

Instead of living from paycheck to paycheck, the family have extra money to treat the family.

Conrad said: "We have been able to improve our family lifestyle.

"It has given us financial freedom, I am not having to work a million hours to pay the bills.

"I don't feel like I am working for nothing now."

Conrad says the family's lifestyle has improved since moving onto the double-decker bus.

The family now have a pot of savings which they didn't have when they lived in their three-bedroom rental house.

He said: "I feel healthier, my kids are happier and I am not as stressed as I used to be.

"I don't have to worry about bills. I am self-employed, if I have a bad month I used to worry about bills but now if I have a bad month it doesn't matter.

"We've built up a bank of money now, we have reserves.

"We used to live day to day and now we're not."

Conrad and Nicole have used some of their savings to buy the Darkness bus in July 2024.

The couple hope they will be able to renovate the coach for under £5k and live on it while they are renovating.

Conrad said: "The new coach will be 45ft which is 15ft longer than what we have now.

"We spoke to the girls about how they are finding it and if they want to go back into the house.

"Four girls getting to a certain age - there needs to be more space.

"It's a nice coach but we're going to do it up.

"We think we can do it in a year and we want to get it to a stage where we can live on and convert it whilst we're moving."

Category

😹
Fun
Transcript
00:00So here's a 60 second tour of our double-decker bus. As you walk in you've got your entrance
00:21step and your cab and as you go down you've got the original bus seats and storage, the
00:25double doors that open up, the food area and then our reading area. Overside we've got
00:30our TV and all our electrics, more storage and into the bathroom, sliding door, the toilet,
00:35washbasin and a rainfall shower. It's absolutely powerful as hell, it's absolutely mint. As
00:41we go down as you get to the stairs there's more storage under the stairs and our diesel
00:45heater, into the staircase, a bit more storage and our Mark Myers signed Shrek poster which
00:50is a firm favourite and into the upstairs landing. From here we've got lots of windows so it's nice
00:56and airy, nice and bright and you go around to your left you've got the double bedroom which
01:01is mine and Nicole's, nice and cosy and we've got four adult bunk bed sized beds in the back for
01:06the kids. Skylights all in the roof, lots of ventilation which is great. Got wardrobe there
01:12on the left for storage and into the kitchen, all storage underneath, all the food, gas cooker and
01:17air fryer and our fridges underneath the unit too. As we come back down the stairs we'll see the
01:21storage on the upstairs wall. So yeah, our very simplistic bus life tour in the UK. Have a good one!

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