How to Downsize to Live in an RV Full Time
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Living in an RV requires adopting a minimalist mindset. You'll need to prioritize what items are essential and let go of excess baggage. While downsizing from a large home to a smaller space can seem overwhelming, it’s necessary for this lifestyle, and ultimately teaches us to cherish what we have and prioritize our time together.
We get asked all of the time how we went from 2,400 sq. foot home that was FULL of things, to a 10 x 10 ft. storage unit and a 42 foot RV (with minimal storage). And how we did it in about two months.
Our home kitchen that we renovated. This is after we got rid of a lot of our belongings to prepare for RVing, and enjoyed a clutter free kitchen!
The Key to Downsizing
Have the right mentality.
Both of us believe that in order to ensure a successful full time RVing experience, both you and your spouse need to be on the same page, fully committed and excited to make it work.
Otherwise every time you hit a bump in the road of the RV lifestyle, it’s easy for resentment to build. “YOU did this. YOU'RE the one that wanted this life. If it wasn’t for YOU…”
We do our best to avoid this type of damaging language, and consider ourselves a team. If one fails, the other fails. No blame necessary.
It was hard getting rid of so many fun outdoor kids things. We knew they still loved and enjoyed it, but had to tell ourselves we’d have a park in our backyard most of the time, so it just wasn’t needed any longer and better things were in store.
We mention this because the same goes for the decision to downsize.
People love their stuff (and that’s an understatement).
Whether it’s because it’s attached to a memory, has sentimental value, or is just something you really want… material things hold a lot of power in our lives. And it isn’t all bad.
But when we’re asked to sacrifice it and give it up for a big life decision, we’ve got to value the reason for the sacrifice.
The good news is: once you value the full time RV lifestyle, and fully commit to it, you’re willing to give up almost anything willingly to make it happen.
Having the right mentality will allow you to part with items you’re attached to, have a clear perspective on your purpose, and as you mourn the loss of a lot of your things, maintain joy as you remind yourself why you’re doing it.
Home decor was a HUGE purge for us, and it was hard to not hang onto everything for later!
Our top recommended resource
Nothing fancy, but we recommend the simple process found in this book: Full-Time RVing with Kids
In this book it explains their process of getting rid of your stuff. And I (Melody) love it, because they break it down into rounds.
I’m all about bite-size chunks to make big tasks more attainable. And this book did just that for me.
Our process was a combination of the book’s suggestions, the tactics I already knew about and love, and the entire “decluttering” steps amplified for the unique situation of RVing full time.
Living with Less
When you learn to routinely live with less, you find you’ve more content more often.
We have a tiny cupboard above our stove with a pot, pans, and baking dishes. We have one large skillet, one small skillet, a saucepan, a dutch oven, and some baking dishes such as an 8 x 8 glass dish and pie plates.
We used to have cupboard and cupboards full of these items! Do we miss our 13 piece pan collection? Not really. We don’t ever find that we need more than what we use each meal.
Do I (Melody) really wish I still had all three of my 9 x 13 glass casserole dishes? Only at Thanksgiving. :)
Clothes were one of our biggest worries.
We rotate seasonal clothing between the RV and storage, but still worried about just how many clothes we all have and love.
I (Melody) was also worried that wearing the same items over and over would make me feel poor, or self conscious around others as if they were judging me. But I really haven’t found this to be the case at all. I had to get out of my own head about it.
There is really NO need to have five fancy outfits when we go to one fancy event every year (if even that). Now the hiking shorts and tanks? Those we have bounties of since we are traveling to national parks and outside daily.
Evaluate your lifestyle and what you need to keep based on your activities.
Our downsizing process for our RV
Know your end goal.
Having a specific target in mind is important. For us, we knew we had to get rid of as much as possible since we were going through such a downgrade in space and storage. But if your goal is simply to not feel so cluttered, then your process will look a lot different then ours. Just know what your goal is so that you’re motivated to work towards it and know when you’ve arrived!
Get rid of everything you already know you need to get rid of.
You know what I’m talking about: the clothes that don’t fit, the old dishes with chips in them, the smelly boots in the corner of the garage… grab and GO. Get them OUT. Don’t bother saving this kind of low value stuff for a rummage sale. You need to purge and getting rid of things will help you breathe some before diving into the harder stuff.
Room by room, intentionally declutter and purge.
Now that you’ve made a big sweep, hone in on each room. Go through it and make PILES. Piles are your key. The piles: Keep, throw away/donate, sell. Can’t decide? Put it in “keep” for now. Additional rounds will touch those items again later (which was one of the key helpful ideas to know about when I just couldn’t part with some important things).
Go through books and paperwork.
For us, this looked like taking everything out of bookcases, filing cabinets, and desk drawers. We kept only the absolutely necessary paperwork and filed it away in a well organized fire-proof locked box. Anything office we needed to keep (and this took the same piles as above along with additional rounds of decisions), we put into stackable plastic organizers that would go into the RV with us. We scanned a lot and made many things digital.
Revisit the keep piles and move more into donate and sell piles.
At this point you need to start making the tough decisions. Here are some questions I ask myself: is it a duplicate? Do I envision myself using this in the next month? Could I replace it with something better (and put that on my Christmas wish list)? And not to totally Mari Kondo it, but… “does it spark joy?” (You’re welcome.)
Organize a rummage sale to get rid of high value items and furniture.
I don’t think yard sales are ALL that successful these days. But if you advertise it right from the beginning and utilize Marketplace as well as advertising your sale in Facebook groups, you can find it to be profitable. On rummage sale day, walk back through your house and grab more things to take outside. I find that when I’m actually set up for the sale, my mindset shifts a bit and all of a sudden things around my house stand out as being able to be sold.
Then I take it directly to the sale without thinking twice. What do you do with the stuff that doesn’t sell? DONATE IT. It does not come back into your house! It goes from your driveway to the car for donation. Period.
Get your kids involved and weed through the toys.
This is one of the hardest parts, and man do kids get attached to their toys! But it was a process for all of us.
I’d spend days going into my son’s room, picking up a few of his toys, an out of the 5 or so toys I chose, ask him to keep 1 and give away the other 4. The first day we did this was TOUGH.
But by the other days, it was routine and he was excited to donate the toys. And do we miss them? Does he miss them? Nope. Christmas was right around the corner anyways, and he was set on some new things (though we obviously kept Christmas gifts strategic).
Ideas for how to get rid of your stuff
Think of your family and friends who could use your items. Yes, it was hard to get rid of some things, but giving it to families who needed it encouraged us and made a difference for them. Especially those cherished baby clothes you’ve struggled parting with!
Donate your gently used items to an organization you support. For us, it was the local pregnancy center. There are a lot of thrift stores that could use your donations and you can make a positive impact on the community.
Keep in mind local fundraisers and drives. Coat drives, kitchen supply collections, toy donation boxes around Christmas time… keep an eye out for these initiatives as you collection your things for donations.
Sell things on Facebook Marketplace and Facebook groups. We sold SO MUCH STUFF on Facebook Marketplace, that in the end, we didn’t even need to do a rummage sale. We even posted free items on Facebook that we just needed to get rid of, and we’d have it gone within an hour. You can sell nicer items for more in Facebook groups, especially those mom groups!
Other Resources
Not to be typical, but I really do love the processes of KonMari. So check those out online if you haven’t already.
Specifically, her organization of clothes has been a game changer for the RV drawers.
I also appreciated this guide I found online from Budget Dumpster. It’s a lot, but I took a few good tips from it as I processed decluttering.
The End Result
We have found a massive amount of contentment in having less.
Uncluttered tabletops, things not stacked in corners, and always picking up as we go throughout our day lets us breathe.
We love order and thrive in places that feel organized and seamless.
What we do have, we value more, and take better care of it.
It’s challenging in an RV, but we kind of don’t have a choice but to be picking up constantly and to make sure things are put away like they should be. We’ve developed some really great habits that will allow us keep an uncluttered “sticks and bricks” home someday.
We did utilize our small storage unit to keep things we think we’ll need again some day.
Selling it all doesn’t mean you have to literally sell it all. And you WILL bring more into your RV initially than you need.
It’s a process that’s customized for you and your family. Don’t feel like you have to follow any one system, and try not to overwhelm yourself by how much you’re downsizing or decluttering on any one day. And definitely don’t let it be the thing that stops you from living the full time RVing lifestyle!
Embarking on a full-time RV living adventure requires downsizing and decluttering your belongings to create a simplified and liberating lifestyle. Get ready to hit the open road and embrace the journey to a more fulfilling and grateful life that doesn’t require lots of material possessions. We promise you won’t regret it!
Have any decluttering and downsizing tips? Let us know!
