RV Archives - Page 4 of 6 - Making Sense Of Cents

How This Couple Bought an $11,500 RV, Traveled To All 50 States, and Built A Thriving Business

Last Updated: May 26, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 53 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Heath and Alyssa Padgett. They are currently living in an RV full-time, making a living, and documenting it all.

They blog over at HeathandAlyssa.com, and I’m a huge fan! Not only have I been on their podcast (How Michelle Makes Six Figures from a Blog While Full-Time RVing), we’re also friends.

In 2014, they quit their jobs, purchased a motorhome, and went on a year-long road trip across America. They worked jobs in all 50 states for a documentary they filmed called Hourly America.

After a year of living in an RV full-time, they realized RV life was for them. They worked to pay off a bunch of debt, built up their video production business, and they still love RV life.

This amazing couple has been featured on CNN, CBS, People Magazine, Business Insider, Forbes, and more!

Related articles on living in an RV full-time:

[Read more…]

How I Saved $45,000 In Three Years To Create A Life Of Travel

Last Updated: February 15, 2019 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 55 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Quick note from Michelle: Today, I have a great post from Brendan. Brendan is a former Chartered Accountant from Auckland, New Zealand but now is a full-time traveler (since 2011!). I absolutely love full-time traveling and I really enjoyed reading this. Here’s how he saved $45,000 in three years to create a life of travel. Below is Brendan’s post:

Whenever I meet people out on the road, we tend to ask the same questions.

“Where are you from?”

“How long are you staying?”

“Where are you going next?”

And then somewhere in the mix, the question I dread eventually comes out.

“How long have you been travelling?”

Most people expect to hear something like three or four weeks, maybe a couple of months, so naturally I cringe a little when I tell them the real answer.

“Six years.”

Of course, this leads to all sorts of questions like; How do I do it? What do I do for money? Do I suffer from permanent jet lag? What’s Colombia like? Are park benches in Sweden really made by IKEA? Until we finally get all the way back to the beginning. That’s actually what I’m here to talk to you about today. [Read more…]

How To Camp For Free, Even In Beautiful and Desirable Places

Last Updated: August 24, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 52 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Did you know that there are plenty of great places for free camping? If you want to learn how to save money, this can be a great way to explore new places while saving money!

When camping, the cost of your nightly stays can vary widely.

There are so many amazingly beautiful places to camp for free in the United States, and then there are campground resorts that charge $150+ a night, and sometimes even over $200 per night!

Even if you’re just looking for a place to set up your tent, you may easily spend over $30 a night in some of the more desirable camping locations.

Plus, more and more people are starting to camp. Campgrounds are becoming busier, and this is probably one of the reasons why campgrounds are starting to charge an arm and a leg for a camping spot.

But, there are plenty of great places to camp for free that have amazing views, and you may not have a neighbor for miles.

Many people don’t realize that you can actually camp for free and still go on an amazing vacation that you’ll remember for decades. [Read more…]

I’m Tired Of Living In A Motorhome!

Last Updated: April 3, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 116 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

For almost 2 years I’ve been talking about how much I love living in a motorhome. I’ve written about how much I love all of the places we’ve traveled to, how we’ve made great RVing friends, that we’re more active than ever, and that our dogs are happy too.

Well, that’s all recently changed.

After nearly two years of listening to people tell me that I’m crazy for living in a motorhome, I began to reevaluate my living choices and realized that I must be crazy.

I mean, why would someone choose to live in a motorhome instead of a REAL home?

I miss my old house. My ranch style home was filled with rooms I rarely ever went into, and I loved that.

I also miss yard work, getting junk mail, all of the stuff I never used or needed, and more.

If you’re thinking about living in a motorhome, I want you to stop and read this blog post before making a drastic decision that could possibly impact the rest of your life.

If you’re interested in living in a motorhome, check out these other blog posts on Making Sense of Cents:

Here’s why I dislike living in a motorhome.

[Read more…]

How I Run A Business While Traveling 365 Days a Year

Last Updated: July 12, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 64 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Do you dream of learning how to become a digital nomad? Today, I’m going to share with you how I run a business while traveling 365 days a day – yes, we travel full-time! You’ll learn how to work and travel, find remote working jobs, and how to manage digital nomad life.

Around two years ago, my husband and I bought an RV and unknowingly became digital nomads.

We thought the RV would just be a weekend thing or for short trips back home to see family.

We fell in love with the RV lifestyle as soon as we bought our first RV, and we quickly decided to get rid of our house and move into our RV full-time.

And, we were able to do this because of our business.

See, I started Making Sense of Cents in August of 2011. It was all just a hobby at the time, and I never thought that I would make money blogging, that it would turn into my full-time career, or that I would learn how to become a digital nomad.

Eventually, Making Sense of Cents was earning enough for me to quit my day job to blog full-time. I now earn around $100,000 a month through my blogging business AND I am able to travel full-time. [Read more…]

Less is More: Guide To Becoming a Minimalist

Last Updated: February 15, 2019 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 35 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Are you interested in becoming a minimalist? Or, maybe you just want to get rid of some clutter and extra nonsense in your life?

Whatever your reason may be, cutting back on the number of things you own can help you in many ways.

Here are some interesting facts about how clutter impacts our lives:

The average house has 300,000 items.
Nearly 10% of households also rent a self-storage unit.
The average person spends 12 days per year looking for things they can’t find.
Every day the average office worker spends 1.5 hours looking for things (when a simple filing system like one of these would solve this problem!).
In a recent survey, 55% of consumers stated they would save anywhere from 16 to 60 minutes a day if they were organized.
23% of people pay bills late and have to pay late fees because they are unable to find their bills.
In the last few decades, the average home has nearly tripled in size.

If you’re looking for blog posts on how to become a minimalist and becoming a minimalist, then you’ve come to the right place. [Read more…]

11 Reasons to Choose RV Life

Last Updated: August 24, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 71 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

It’s been over a year since me, my husband, and our two dogs started living the RV life full-time.

People keep asking us when we will stop traveling, grow up, and buy a house again.

Well, not anytime soon!

While I know that traveling full-time and RV life isn’t for everyone, I also know that I don’t want to live in a “normal” home anytime soon.

Now, don’t get me wrong, living in a house can be great. And, when I owned one, I loved it at the time. However, I just love RV life much, much more.

And, I don’t think I’m alone.

According to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, in 2016 RV sales reached their highest total since 1977. More than 9,000,000 households own an RV, which is also the highest level ever recorded. And, buyers between the ages of 35 and 54 are the largest segment of RV owners, so there are a lot of other young RVers who are pursuing this lifestyle as well. [Read more…]

Here’s why I dislike living in a motorhome.

Subscribe Via Email