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| Lawrence family shows off their narrowboat home |
(Scroll down for video) A new trend seems to be emerging where people live in narrowboats instead of in a grounded home.
One family shared their story about living their life on a boat.
The family was hit by the latest recession and had to make the difficult decision of selling their home in order to make ends meet.
After they could not afford the cost of living, Duncan and Debra Lawrence of Quinton, West Midlands, United Kingdom, sold their four-bedroom home and decided to live a simple life on a narrowboat. The narrowboat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of Great Britain.
The couple moved into a 65-foot boat, which is worth over $100,000 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom.
Now, Lawrence is saving about $12,000 a year on household bills. The couple has two children, Jake, 7, and Phoebe, 12, who attend local schools.
"I did not want the mortgage, it was a huge weight off our shoulders. The boat was our ticket to freedom," Lawrence said. After cutting their bills drastically, Lawrence, 41, was able to give up his job as a cab driver to spend more time with his family. His wife took a part-time job at a cafe.
Lawrence said: "I was spending up to 60 hours a week on the road and never got to spend much time with my wife and my children.
Not only that, but at the end of the month, when all the bills were paid, we were left with no money.”
Mrs. Lawrence admits that living on a narrowboat is not for everyone. "It gets cold in the winter, and there is not always hot water,” she said. The family had to cut down on their belongings because there is no room for extras on the boat.
The couple said that life on the boat has made their family stronger.