Minimalist Archives - Page 2 of 7 - Making Sense Of Cents

Why Paying For A Storage Unit Is A Waste of Money

November 14, 2016 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 54 Comments

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The average home size in 1950 was less than 1,000 square feet. Fast forward to now, the average home size has increased to around 2,600 square feet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Despite that, according to SpareFoot, nearly 10% of households also rent a self-storage unit.

That is a lot of storage units!

Just over a year ago, in July 2016, we cleared out our storage unit. We were paying $185 a month for a small storage unit, mainly for photo albums and childhood items.

We only had the storage unit for around 6 months, but in that small amount of time we had already spent $1,110 in storage unit costs.

That's just an unbelievable amount of money to spend on things that we knew we weren’t going to need or use for at least several years. [Read more…]

What It’s Like Living In An RV

November 7, 2016 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 53 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

For the past year, me and my husband, as well as our two dogs, have been living in an RV.

Some people think we're crazy (okay, most people think that), others are extremely interested and want to do it as well, but the most common question we receive from anyone is “What is it like living in an RV?”

Makes sense, as living in an RV isn't the “normal” American dream.

Just over a year ago, I never thought I'd live in an RV either. It was never a dream of mine or anything like that. I never gave it a second thought.

However, one step into an RV and I knew it was for me. Living in our RV full-time has been the best thing ever, and we truly love living in an RV. [Read more…]

What I Learned By Donating And Giving Away Nearly All Of My Stuff

September 26, 2016 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 57 Comments

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When we sold our house and moved into an RV, we had to give away a ton of our stuff so that we could start living minimally in a smaller space. We gave away a lot of stuff to family members, had neighbors come by and take whatever they wanted, we had Salvation Army come to our home to do a big pickup, and more. We didn't sell a single thing, instead we gave it all away.

And, it felt great.

Now, we live in a 33 foot RV and are definitely living a minimal lifestyle.

We aren't the norm, though.

The size of the average home in 1950 was less than 1,000 square feet. Fast forward to 2013, the average home size has increased to nearly 2,600 square feet (according to the U.S. Census Bureau).

We were fairly close to that size when we owned a house. The house we owned in the St. Louis, Missouri area was around 2,500 square feet, if you included our finished basement, and it was just for myself, my husband, and our two dogs. Our home in Colorado was almost as big, at slightly over 2,000 square feet (with no basement).

However, we decided to buck the norm and started living minimally by completely downsizing our life.

This isn't to say that we are perfect, though. I used to keep pretty much everything I came across, and my basement was proof of that. I would always say “Oh, but I'll use that eventually!” [Read more…]

Becoming an RV Family – How We Travel Full-Time With 4 Kids and 2 Dogs

June 17, 2016 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 68 Comments

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Today, I have a great post from a fellow RV friend. They are an RV family of 6, plus 2 dogs, who travel full-time in their RV. We started RVing last year and I know that many of you have had questions about raising a family in an RV. Below is a post from Bryanna and she explains how being an RV family is possible, enjoy!

We built our family dream house on a 1/2 acre with a pool, swing set, and sandbox. We were set. Then we sold it all to buy an RV and travel around the US with our 4 kids and 2 dogs!

We have been living in our RV for over 2 years now and it has been a roller coaster ride of emotions and experiences, but it has all been worth it.

You’re probably wondering how we went from living the American dream to becoming homeless nomads.

Here you go!

[Read more…]

Downsizing Your Home? Here’s How I Went From A 2,000 Square Foot House To An RV

May 23, 2016 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 74 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Downsizing your home can be a big process. And, less and less people seem to be doing it these days.

The average home size in 1950 was less than 1,000 square feet. Fast forward to 2013, the average home size has increased to nearly 2,600 square feet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

We were fairly close to this size when we owned a house. The house we owned in the St. Louis, Missouri area was around 2,500 square feet if you included our finished basement, and it was just for myself, my husband, and our two dogs. Our home in Colorado was almost as big, at slightly over 2,000 square feet (with no basement).

More and more people seem to be purchasing large homes, but that's not the case for us. We sold our home last year and moved into an RV.

We made this decision for many reasons, but the main reason was that traveling nearly full-time added to the stress of owning a home. So, we figured why not just take it a step further and actually travel full-time?
[Read more…]

Downsizing Our House Has Allowed Us To Pursue Our Dream Life

April 22, 2016 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 27 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Here's an awesome post from my friend Emma. As you know, we recently downsized and we now live in our RV. Life is awesome!

In August of 2015, we returned from 15 months of travel through Mexico and Europe with our young son.

We saved hard throughout my pregnancy and were able to fund 15 months of travel with our savings.

However, eventually our savings ran out and we had to go home. Although the savings account was decimated, my attitude to life was completely altered.

I was hooked and wanted to make travel a core part of my everyday lifestyle. I came up with a slightly crazy goal of chasing the summer around the world, traveling for months at a time – between hemispheres, across oceans. Cruise ships. Train travel. Driving an RV across the US.

Wherever we wanted to go. [Read more…]

Common RV Questions – Yes, I Even Talk About What We Do With #2

January 20, 2016 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 84 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

We've been asked some interesting questions, ever since we started RVing.

While they seem funny to us now, I know that we have had some of these same questions before we started RVing as well. Due to that, I knew I had to answer some of the most common RV questions we have received in a blog post.

Some of the questions we are asked are from those who think we are crazy for living in an RV. Whereas, others are from people who are interested in RVing, but are unsure about certain things. Either way, I hope to clear up a lot of the common RV questions we receive.

You will never know: maybe, I'll convert some of you. 🙂

Below are questions that I've been asked by friends, family, readers, and even strangers. It's always an interesting time, trying to explain RVing to strangers who stop me at the store after they've seen me get out of our RV.

It's a lot of fun, though. I love answering RV questions and getting others hooked on this lifestyle! [Read more…]

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