I am fascinated by the small house life style. As an energy management consultant and closet environmentalist, the idea of keeping my footprint small by only owning what I need and reducing my energy use with a small home sounds great. I’m finding out what this really means by living in an RV. Some hints:
- The cardinal rule is a place for everything and everything in its place. Once you find a spot for an item, keep storing it there so you don't have to search for it later.
- Question whether you need every item. There are a lot of things sold for RV’s that you really don’t need. Plus, while getting the 8 pack of paper towels is OK for a larger space, it doesn’t work in an RV. You can always go to the store later.
- In most cases, if you buy something it means you need to get rid of something else. For instance, John got a new skillet from Santa so the old one was trashed.
- Hooks, lots of hooks for hanging things. It keeps things handy and makes for more room in drawers.
- Buy small or things that fold up. That includes things like the coffee machine, small folding tables, and camp chairs. Bigger isn’t better in a small RV.
- Get rid of packaging. It’s the first thing we do after coming back from shopping.
- Learn every nook and cranny and use them. We have things stored under the bed, inside walls, and under seats. The other point, though, is not to forget where you hide items!
- Layer clothes. I have mostly short sleeve shirts then I add a jacket or long sleeve shirt instead of having a summer and a winter set of clothes.
Even though we cut back to 'essentials', after a few months of full-timing we plan to go back to our storage unit in Arkansas to store things we brought that we found out we don’t really need. We’re still learning on all this.
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