Twelve months ago, my husband Dave, myself and our cat Edward moved into our Wilderness Travel Trailer full time. It is a 27 foot long travel trailer with less than 150 square feet of living space. A tiny studio apartment on wheels. What an adventure we have embarked on, to say the least.
I love my husband. I love my cat. I do not love living in such a small space through the winter months in Oregon with my husband and my cat in a trailer. When you think of a trailer you might think I mean a 5th wheel or a motor home. I do not mean either of those. I would love to live in either of those, but I don’t. I live in a travel trailer.
That is pretty much it… The fridge is like one you would have in a dorm room. The shower is for small people. And my trailer has not looked this clean since the day before we moved all of our stuff into it. It has been a challenge to be organized, to keep things clean and to be hygienically conscious as I was when I had access to a human sized showed full time. I have noticed that women that live in an RV full time (more often these women are RETIRED and not still working full time like me) have short hair. I have very long, thick hair and refuse to cut it regardless of how much of a pain in the butt it is to keep up on.
My life is very different today than it was a year ago. I am VERY close to being debt free. THAT is why we embarked on this path to begin with. We (Husband and I) were looking for an alternative to renting. We were tired of paying 70% of our income towards our cost of housing. I know that renting expenses are high in most of the country. But where we live in the Portland Metro Area of Oregon, it is insane! Our rent on our 2 bedroom apartment had been going up every year when our lease was up. Instead of getting preferential treatment for being good renters, we were getting bumped up $170-$250 every year. By our 3rd year in this apartment we had seen over a $500 increase. We were never going to get ahead financially or ever be able to save for a house. When we took the leap from renting to buying a trailer (with cash, btw) and moving into it full time, we actually had light at the end of the tunnel.
Now that we are on the other side of our 1st goal – living in this paid for trailer for 12 months – we can say that we did it. And, after filing bankruptcy last summer, we are going to keep doing it. I estimate that we can get our credit in a favorable position to be eligible to be able to qualify for a house in 12-18 months from now. TWELVE TO EIGHTEEN MONTHS FROM NOW…..
That can go one of two ways for me. Yay, we can do this for another year-year and a half and buy a house! OR…. I HAVE TO DO THIS FOR ANOTHER YEAR-YEAR and a HALF??? Are you out of your ever-loving mind??? Ok. Take it down a notch, right? I am torn. Do I love saving money and having a goal focused agenda or do I love modern conveniences of showering and my own personal space?
I would love to upgrade to a larger trailer. I think that if we did that and I had more room, I would be able to withstand the long, rainy winter a little better. This past winter was hard!! When we first moved into the trailer and started the summer last year, I felt like I was on a full time camping trip. I love camping, so this was perfect. The hot days and nights lounging outside, tending to my flower pots and drinking wine. The day that the rain hit last fall was a sad day. I had to put away all of the patio furniture and vacate the great outdoors. I traded in my lush, sunny garden for the small cluttered trailer. I felt like a prisoner locked up in a tiny tin box. Now that the weather is turning nicer again I can feel my spirit lift and my camping goddess has reemerged.
My husband is telling me to stay the course and don’t veer from the mission of being debt free – meaning, we are not upgrading and getting into a monthly payment situation. I guess we will see who wins this battle. We are saving a ton of money every month so I know we can afford a small payment. It is going to come down to what he wants to face in the fall – spending money on a bigger trailer or having to live with me being locked up in the tiny tin box for another winter. I will keep you posted!
Thanks for reading and I promise – as I am back outside enjoying my camping life, I will write more!
Cheers,
Michelle
Penny-Wise Living 