Can a Decluttered Life Exist in an RV?

When we were starting our journey into RV life and selling our home, it was quite a process to declutter everything. Truth be told, we have some stuff stored at family member’s homes that we couldn’t part with, or didn’t want to travel with us.

But after 4 years on the road, I can honestly tell you that it was just the beginning.

Just like in a house, the clutter creeps in. Freebies from an event. A souvenir you just had to have from an amazing destination. Gifts from loved ones. New interests or hobbies. And just life of growing kids, seasonal changes, and things needing upgraded or replaced. Before you know it, a cabinet is overflowing or you are relying on piles to get by.

The difference I’ve noticed is that, in an RV, it shows up faster, having a dedicated donation station isn’t always practical, and isn’t always easy to deal with since we are always in new places. Most of the year, decision fatigue is a routine part of life with finding places to camp shop, or explore and route planning. Not to mention that life changes with each new location, so what I haven’t used recently, may be useful in the next destination.

So here are a few things we have found to help us.

The Daily Clutter

When you live, work, and relax in the same small space, clutter happens fast. We have learned to embrace the transition periods between to help our space, and our minds. In the morning, we make our beds and reset our sleeping areas. Sometimes the master bedroom is a second office, and the bunk room is also the school room, and later the game room. The dining table is where we do meals, but also where we work, craft, build, or do homeschool. The outside space is where we do repairs and store items, but also where we play games, cook or enjoy a campfire.

Taking the time to clean up the space after a task and put those items in their home before getting the next thing out can save time later, keep clutter at bay and allow the mind to transition. I often find myself saying don’t put it down, put it away–to both myself and the guys!

Avoid Duplicates

In most cases, I can only use one item at a time before it gets cleaned or repurposed. So, unless it’s something I truly need a duplicate of to use at the same time, I can eliminate items pretty quickly in this category. So many things are sold in bundles or with extras and it is either more cost effective to purchase this way or singletons just aren’t available. We get and keep what we need and pass on the rest, or buy the smallest package we possibly can, like pens, soaps or other consumables.

One in, one out rule

Since most of what we purchase is replacing something that was worn out or outgrown, this makes it easy. The shirt or shorts our son outgrew gets replaced with one. The portable heater that burned out gets replaced with a new one. The bowl that got cracked on that really bumpy road gets replaced (unless we weren’t using it anyway). If there’s a sale on multiples, then we either do without it, or get rid of something that is on its way out anyway. We do allow ourselves one or two souvenir items a year from our big destinations that go in the keepsake box in storage that will be a display someday when we can no longer travel.

What would I use instead?

If I didn’t have this and couldn’t replace it easily, is there something else I could use instead, or could I live without it entirely? This question has helped a lot with convenience items or items that serve only one job. A lot of these are kitchen gadgets, grooming items and hobby or craft items, which are the places that we build up the quickest.

One I recently struggled with was an electric blanket. We had one in the house but parted with it since we opt for warm locations. I told myself that I wouldn’t need one. But since we have been staying in cooler locations, and RVs get pretty chilly in cold weather, my feet were always cold–beyond what socks could help with, and trying to warm the air in an RV is challenging. So we got one during a recent cold snap and have loved having it. I did make sure I had a place to store it when we aren’t using it before committing to the purchase since blankets are one of my guilty pleasures to purchase from places.

If it disappeared, would I notice?

Some people ask this in another way, as “if my home/RV got destroyed and I lost everything, how quickly would I replace it?” but some people feel that’s too morbid or disrespectful of people who have lost everything. Either way you ask it, though, it helps you decide how valuable it is. For years, I carried around lots of my favorite books and board games we loved, because we enjoyed them.

Then I came to realize, I rarely reread those books, even when I tried to make myself, and we never really played those board games, opting instead for family movie nights, streaming shows, or hanging out around the fire pit or with friends. So we purged them. The books I did love, I digitized or got audio books of, and we kept the games that did get played.

Do I really need it, or do I just want it?

We take in a lot of information in a day, so get hit with a lot of ads targeted at what we like and show an interest in. That cool grill or gadget my favorite YouTuber can’t live without and has a great discount code for. The seasonal decor that will make life feel festive. The item that my fantasy self envisions using that is just what I didn’t realize I was looking for to make life perfect.

We’ve been in all of these situations. Sometimes, we made the purchase, only to regret it later. Sometimes, we got it and it was everything we thought it would be, maybe more. Yet, other times, we were left with buyer’s remorse and looking for how to unload it, with or without getting some of our money out of it.

The $20/20 minute Rule

This one has helped so much more than I realized. If the thing you are on the fence about can be replaced for less than $20 and in 20 minutes or less, than why keep it? I’ve only had a few things that I’ve parted with using this rule that I ended up replacing, but the other 98% I never even thought about again. In RV life, we aren’t always near a store, so this can be more challenging, but it’s still a good help.

Emergency/Health/Safety/Weather Items

There will be some items that these other rules won’t help with. While we rarely need them, we keep a fire extinguisher and fire blanket on hand (and hope we never need them). We have a stocked first aid kit, therapy items and at-home treatment items in a cabinet for when we need them in a hurry. We have safety and severe weather items on hand for those times where we could live without them, but why take a chance?

With these items, just be selective and find things that may serve more than one purpose. Oh, and be sure you are keeping them charged and checking expiration dates regularly so they serve their purpose when needed.

Lifestyle changes

As with anyone, time passes and life changes. Since starting this lifestyle in 2022, we’ve changed jobs, upgraded our RV, our little boy has grown into a young man, we swapped from online full-time to homeschooling (and moved into high school), gone from three pets to one, and we’ve gone from Florida travel only to traveling all over the country.

Since we can’t add on or renovate like a house, and a new RV with each change isn’t practical, or financially responsible, we’ve made it work. Some changes meant things were automatically downsized and easy to figure out, while others added the need for additional items, and storage for them. With each change, we sit in the problem for a bit, explore options and walk through all of these questions and their various options before making a decision. And sometimes the decision is that we don’t really need to do anything.

Sometimes, something we have can be eliminated or repurposed, other times we are plan to sit still long enough to renovate or buy, then sell or donate. And there are still times where we get something and it wasn’t what we thought it would be, and we ditch that, too.

Whether you are an RVer, or in sticks-and-bricks life and still read this far (and thanks for that!), don’t stress yourself too much about it. One of my favorite minimalists (Dawn the Minimal Mom–linked here) likes to tell us to “let the boundaries be the bad guy”.

In an RV, we are limited by weight–creative storage will cause more problems than it solves. So an annual weigh in helps us know if we are keeping it in check, or need to get serious. When we were in a house, we needed easy to clean with severe allergies and pets, so we kept storage organized and surfaces clear–purging when these stopped being easy.

By now, I am sure there’s an item you’ve thought of to declutter, or an area screaming at you that you’ve been ignoring. Why not go tackle it right now?

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