Ready to live in an RV? Best tips for downsizing

Where to begin?

Downsizing can be downright hard & intimidating. BUT, it’s also incredibly rewarding. If you do it right, you’ll likely come out with a feeling of accomplishment, a sense of calm and more time to focus on what really matters in your life. We’ll cover everything from how to downsize your belongings to how to fit what you need into your RV and how to maintain a life of simplicity. Let’s get started!

The minimalist lifestyle is rewarding, so don’t let uncertainty or fear hold you back.

Minimalism is a lifestyle choice. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re ready to downsize and simplify your life, it can be an amazing experience.

It all starts with the idea that everything we own has value—even stuff like books or clothes that are only useful once in a blue moon. And while they may have a monetary value, that doesn’t mean they add value to our lives. The truth is, if there is an item we don’t need, don’t want, don’t like or don’t use, it probably isn’t adding any value to our life. It’s actually holding us back! It’s taking up valuable space in our homes, money to store it, time to maintain it or mental clarity by cluttering our visual fields. Often times, less is more.

As long as you keep this in mind, minimalism becomes much easier to achieve over time because there are fewer decisions to make when choosing what items should stay or go. You’ll find yourself focusing on what matters most and living lightly with less so you can save money, enjoy freedom and regain valuable time.

Pursue a “travel light” mentality.

One way to make sure that you have the things you need is by taking only what you love, need and use. For example, maybe you have 5 different winter coats that all have similar features and serve a similar purpose. In a traditional home, keeping all 5 probably isn’t a problem because you likely have extra space. But that isn’t the case in an RV or smaller space. Bring the coat you like and use the most with you and donate the rest to a local shelter. You can easily apply this principal to almost any duplicate items you have.

This is also a great opportunity to practice quality over quantity. You’ll likely be better served for a longer time by investing in a few higher quality pieces (clothing, linens, kitchen supplies) that will stand the test of time. Cheaper isn’t always better!

Take note of the things you use all the time, and find homes for them in your RV.

It isn’t reasonable to think you will be able to move everything from your house into your RV. However, there are certainly some items you use every day that you just can’t live without. Identify these items early on and find a home for them in your RV first. This will ensure there is room for them in your new space and will make it easier to cut out other, less important items later.

If something doesn’t serve a purpose anymore (and it won’t if it’s been sitting in storage), then get rid of it immediately—we know how tempting these things can be when we’re packing up our lives. But if something could still come in handy at some point down the road, think about keeping it for now until we need it later on down the line because otherwise what happens when we have guests over? We’ll have no chairs left over from those fancy dinners where everyone was looking at their phones during dinner!

Get rid of paper clutter.

Once you have your home in order, it’s time to get rid of paper clutter. Paper is a major cause of clutter. You’ll want to get rid of old bills and junk mail. If you have magazines, catalogs or newspapers you haven’t read in a while, they should go as well. Don’t save paper receipts unless there is a good reason to do so such as for tax purposes or if you may need to return an item. Digitizing your receipts is a much better way to save and keep track of them.

Minimize & digitize memories.

You can use a scanner to digitize your photos and documents. For example, if you have a favorite family photo album, scan it so that you can access the images from anywhere. If you have important documents that need to be kept safe (like tax returns), scan them and store them safely in the cloud.

You may also want to back up files on hard drives or external hard drives before downsizing so that nothing gets lost during the move!

Leave the hard stuff for last.

You will have more energy to tackle it when you have had small successes with the easier tasks first, so don’t start with the hard stuff.

If you are feeling overwhelmed or frustrated by something that needs to be done, take a break. Letting go of some things for now will make you feel better about tackling others later on.

Optimize storage solutions.

RV storage space is limited so try to make sure every inch of space is well utilized. Before living in an RV, I thought purchasing bins, containers and storage solutions was unnecessary. Now, I can’t live without them.

Think about where items are needed and try to create storage solutions in the places they belong. Use vertical spaces, bins, drawers, under-bed storage, the backs of doors, backs of cabinets, any little nook or cranny you can find! 

Downsizing can be hard, but it’s worth it in the end

We tend to think about what we’re losing or giving up. This is probably because most of us have been brought up to believe it’s desirable to continue to acquire more “stuff.” In reality, this “stuff” that is supposed to make us happy, in fact, does not. And even worse, it can hold us back from what really matters- spending time with our families, having the freedom to travel, becoming financially independent, trying new experiences and gaining mental clarity. Once you feel the energy that comes with minimizing, you’ll be emboldened to continue a life of simplicity and embrace the positive changes it can bring to your life.

In the end…

We hope these tips empower you to tackle your downsizing project! Whether it’s decluttering your life or moving into an RV full time, remember, sometimes less is more.