How to Start Downsizing to live in an RV Full-time

Making a Plan to Downsize

Here we want to give you some tips and structure to make this downsizing process a bit easier. Moving your life into less than 400sqft is going to be a little tricky when you’re coming from a home more spacious than that. Everyone accumulates items over the years from Holiday decor to linens. We do not mean to collect things, but it happens to the best of us over time.

Three questions to ask yourself. Will you be selling almost everything you own, putting items in storage, or purging along the way? Every RV on the market has a weight limit. Being prepared to follow the guided weight limit on your RV can set you up to prevent blowouts and save money on fuel when hauling the RV.

Storage Units

If you will be putting items in storage you need to be able to weigh the Pros and Cons on storage units and decide:

• Pros- quick place to store items for future, most places have security or surveillance cameras installed, good for short term storage options, climate controlled options at many places for a higher fee
• Cons- the cost to store items for any period of time, unsure if your items will be getting messed up while you’re away, not using your items while gone, not easily accessible if you are far away

Selling Your Items

There are a few different options to sell your used items before you just give them all away. Look for different options in your area where you can make a profit on your gently used items that will not fit in your RV. It will also depend on the time frame you have to sell your items. Here are some ideas of places I have used to sell my used items here in the USA.

Ideas on How to Sell Items

• Facebook Market Place (sell furniture, decor, outdoor & lawn equipment, electronics, etc.)
• Craigslist (selling big ticket items)
• Ebay (website to sell pricier items)
• Marcari (app- you can sell items to ship out)
• Platos Closet (sell adult clothing)
• Kid2Kid/Once Upon a Child (Kids clothing and baby items)
• Local thrift stores (baby equipment & items)
• Books stores (That buy gently used books)
• Garage Sales (to sell miscellaneous items)
• Non-Profit Donation centers(help community)
• Friends/Family (ask if they want any items)

Re-homing your used items is a great way to make money to earn some funds for your travel adventures. For example: that ”love seat” could be turned into a ”zip-lining adventure with your whole family.” Sell your (insert sellable item here) and pay for (an event, memory, or experience with your family). Items depreciate over time, but you know you can always buy again.

What to do with Important Items

Many people have a hard time letting go of items for many reasons and here are some reasons:

1. They might be family heirlooms
2. They could hold special memories
3. It could have been costly when you bought it
4. Might be holding onto things for future purposes

When moving into an RV full-time the downsizing process is massive. This process does take a bit of time because you will be going through items you haven’t probably thought of as much importance until now. Therefore this process will be a physical, mental, and emotional one. The emotional one will come with the reasons behind keep items you find of importance.

Going through Papers

Going through items like paper, books and pictures can be daunting trying to decide what to do with them. All of these items can be turned into digital format. It will take time but the end result will be worth it because you can still have them all but you won’t have the add weight.

For the items you can not turn into digital format go through and pick what you want to bring in the RV with you. Books are heavy and will add weight to the RV. Downsizing your bookshelves will help and then you can always donate or sell gently used books after reading them.

What to do with Your Home

If you rent a home, you might want to finish your rental contract before starting your new full-time RV life. Unless you are willing to break your contract with whom you are renting and pay the fees. Start by weighing the pros and cons of keeping your house while traveling full-time in your RV.

Alternative Options for Keeping Home

Another option could be to rent out your home and have a rental company do the work or you could post your home on Airbnb. Which our friends over at Vintageninetwoeight has listed their home on Airbnb. In other words their home has been a passive source of income for them while they have been traveling on the road.

If you plan on keeping your home and only paying the mortgage payment; you will need to check with your insurance provider to see if they cover your home if it is vacant. Most insurance providers do not cover homes that are vacant if an event happens.

Selling your home

Selling your home you relinquish your stress of having to worry about your home while you travel full-time. There are always pros and cons on selling your home. It will all depend on your future goals and plans.

Although my thought process was if we are not living in our house why pay for something we do not plan on going back to. We sold our home to a lovely couple and will cherish all the memories we made in that home. As for now; our lives have evolved and our priorities have changed. Traveling is what were want to enjoy and we are loving the season of our lives.

Start Implementing These Tips

Now that you have started your downsizing process anything that you buy from here on out needs to have a purpose or a place. Living with less does not mean living with nothing. It simply means that every time you go shopping you will think more about where that specific item will go. Space is limited and has to be utilized in the RV. This will save you money because you need to think more about the items you bring into your life now more than before.

Now you are ready to begin taking items into your RV. Once you start bringing in each item be sure and find a place for it. Then once each space is filled in your RV you will be able to see what is left in your home. What we have found that is the best way to find out what you truly need when in the RV is to take your RV to a campsite down the road for a week. Pretend you are already full-timing in it and when you find out you need something take notes or drive home and go get it.

How long is the Process?

We have been full timing for 2.5 years now and we still are going through the items in our RV and re-homing them. The cleaning out and purging process is ongoing. Our kids grow out of their clothes, books are read, aging out of certain toys, and many more reasons. Don’t beat yourself up if you have a bunch of items. It does take time to go through everything and in the end it will be worth it with less clutter.

Here is a video tour of the inside of our RV before we moved in.

If you have any more questions or tips on downsizing to an RV please share them in the comments I know myself and others would greatly appreciate any help in this department.

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