My Simple, Organized Life

The most common question I am asked when I say that I live in an RV and travel fulltime is, "How do you make money?" I mean, isn't that what it boils down to? Of course it is. Understandably. It would be impossible to travel fulltime with no money coming in to pay for everything. We're not rich. We didn't win the lottery. We don't have a ton of cash in our savings account. Even if we did, I wouldn't want to blow through it by funding our travels with it. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of families who ditched "the American dream" to live thier own dream. They are not all retired. Many have small children as well. So, how do we all make money so that we can afford to live this lifestyle? Truth is, for as many families as there are doing this, there are just as many ways to make money. Over on our travel blog, I list out several ways to make money that I've learned about by talking with other fulltime travelers that I

Living in an RV or small space means finding creative ways to store, display, or organize jewelry. I don't have a lot of jewelry, but I do love earrings and necklaces. Storing earrings has been a thorn in my side for years. I have a small box that I've been keeping them in, but they get tangled with other earrings. I had to find another way. A major overlooked space available for organizing is doors. I had plenty of space to hang earrings on the inside of my bathroom pantry door. How to make an easy earring organizer in under 5 minutes for under $10: Step 1: Start with a roll of burlap garland/ribbon . You can find this at any arts and crafts store or by clicking the picture below. There are different sizes, such as 4 inches wide or 5 inches wide, so decide which width you want to use, the length can be determined later. Step 2: Unroll the burlap garland/ribbon to determine the length you will need. With a pair of scissors , cut the length about an inch or two longe

Babies are small and really don’t need much. Sure, our society today will make you believe that you’re not a good parent unless you have a huge nursery with all the best things and decorated like a fantasy land. But, really, all a baby wants is your love and all it needs is a few things – food, clothing, diapers, a place to bathe, a place to sleep, and a place to play. It doesn’t matter how big – or small – those places are, and many spaces can serve multiple purposes. If you live in an RV, like we do, or a small apartment or even a tiny home, you may wonder how in the world a baby can fit in there. Here’s how we do it: In the bedroom and bathroom Yes, our baby sleeps in our bedroom and bathes in our bathroom. We have five children and they have all slept in the bed with us for the first year. Newborn babies don’t move around a lot, so they can sleep right on the bed or in a changing pad covered with a soft king-sized pillowcase like this. Once baby gets older and star

The basement of an RV can vary in size greatly. Ours is a huge pass-through, so we use a number of organizers to keep everything neatly packed and organized. On the side of the basement just outside the front door is where we keep all of our outdoor necessities. In the back, a hard-to-reach area, is where we store Christmas decorations and less used outdoor items such as fishing gear , a hammock , and tarps in large plastic bins . We use plastic crates to store awning lights and sports equipment. Some smaller, stackable plastic containers in the front hold bike safety gear and our outdoor decor like flags and hummingbird feeders . In the middle is where our camping chairs slide easily in and out. We have two zero-gravity chairs , a folding rocking chair to rock the baby, and some folding mesh chairs for the boys. We also have some folding tables . We have a large outdoor mat , but we fold it up and store it in the front storage area under the bulkhead. We also have a portable

How to hang Christmas stockings in an RV (or hang anything from the valances). Those standard RV valances…pieces of plywood covered with hideously patterned fabric and fastened above the windows of your RV windows. Not exactly fashion-forward or even appealing to the eyes. But also not permanent. You can simply remove them and hang a curtain rod . Or, you can cover the fabric with a choice more fitting of your own style and décor theme. You can even use a tension rod to hang curtains underneath the valance . All of these ways will jazz up your RV and make it look more cozy and like home. But how do you hang Christmas stockings in an RV? Some RVs have fireplaces , but hanging stockings in front of the fireplace will cover the fireplace and not allow you to use it during the holidays. So, another option is to hang the stockings on a valance, but how? I happened to have some cubicle hooks like these  or these  left over from when I used to work in cubicle land and, turns out

Living, or even just vacationing, in a small RV with several family members can lead to bad smells quick. The RV itself may emit some foul odors from the toilets or sinks, especially if they don’t seal properly. And staying in an RV for any amount of time encourages more outdoor adventures, which brings back some pretty gnarly smells into the RV, like sweaty clothes, wet clothes, and stinky feet. So, how do you make it smell good again? We’ve been living in our RV for over three years now and have found some great ways to keep it smelling fresh and clean. Here’s what we do: Bedroom: A decorative essential oil diffuser keeps the bedroom smelling great, provides a nice night light, and looks beautiful. Kids Room: A compact essential oil diffuser in the kids rooms is a space saver while still emitting a nice scent, purifying the air, and providing a soft night light. Our boys make sure to refill and turn on “Mr. Mister” (their name for their diffuser) every night before getti

We all want an organized space, whether it's just a drawer or the entire house. Finding really useful organizing tools and containers can be almost impossible without having to seek out a specialized store or spending a fortune. But, there actually is a certain time of year when you can find all sorts of small-space organizing hacks, and they may even be on sale. It's back-to-school time! Think about it. Back-to-School caters not only to elementary and high school students, but to college students as well. And college students are trying to fit as much of their stuff into a small dorm room as possible, so availability of organizing tools and containers is at an all-time high. You don't have to be a student to take advantage of the products and sales, so this is the time to stock up on all of those organizing tools and containers you'll need to get your space in tip-top shape stat. Here are 5 of my favorite organizing products: 1. Some of my favorite school product