As you can imagine, we get some interesting looks when we’re asked where we live. “You live in your WHAT?!” Of course, there are always a few people who think the idea is intriguing. But mostly we’re met with people who think we’re slightly insane for (currently) raising our toddler in a 35-foot-long travel trailer. And I’ll be honest. When you type it out like that, it does seem a little crazy. But y’all. This RV life makes me so stinking happy. Here’s why.

Ability to Pay off Debt

I’m not going to say that living in an RV eliminates all of your financial burdens. But it certainly helps! When looking for a new house, we were met with a major decision. Did we want to buy a home now and work on debt later? Or would it be wiser to stick with our RV and make a big dent in my student debt before adding a mortgage to the picture? In the end, paying off debt won and it feels SO GOOD.

Lower “Home” Expenses

I’ve been asked a lot about how much this is actually saving us. Every situation is different, but for us it has been completely worth it. Here’s a rundown of the numbers.

We sold our house at the top of the market, after property taxes majorly increased. If we had continued to live in our home, our monthly mortgage would have been about $1,500/month. In addition, we had bills of at least $100/month for electricity, $100/month for water and $125/month for cable and internet. So this put our monthly home costs at over $1,800/month on one teacher’s income. It was rough.

Living in our RV is a different story. After putting some money down, our monthly payment is about $250. In the DFW area, most RV parks average about $500/month for “rent”. This includes water, cable and internet, and you usually pay around $100/month for electricity. This puts our monthly home costs at just over $800/month TOTAL. Y’all. That means we’re saving $1,000/month! For us, that’s a game changer.

Financial Freedom

Done the right way, saving this kind of money by living is an RV is amazing. (I say “done the right way” for a reason…) It feels so good to enjoy family activities we normally wouldn’t have been able to afford. Our current family favorite is spending the day at the zoo and grabbing lunch or dinner after. It’s now such a stress-free outing.

However, this financial “freedom” can become dangerous. The worst thing we did in the beginning was get into the mindset that we were saving so much, we could do whatever we wanted. That a really great way to throw away all your savings super quick. So learn from our mistake and continue to keep your eye on your budget!

Life is Simple

My final, and favorite, reason for living in our RV is the simplicity it brings to our life. Because of the small space, daily chores at a minimum. I don’t spend all day cleaning up messes all of the house, or sweeping, or cleaning bathrooms. Yes, I have to hand wash our dishes (gloves are a lifesaver, just sayin’!) and we’ve had to get creative with organization, but our daily lives are so much simpler!

You might be wondering how on earth we survive with a toddler in here. I’ll get to more on that in another later post, but if you’ve got a curious little one who’s into everything they can find, the RV life if perfect. I can see LG from any spot in our RV and don’t feel nearly as stressed about her getting into something dangerous. It’s the best!

If you’ve been curious about whether or not the RV life if worth the spatial sacrifice, I hope I’ve given you some reasons to believe it is! Do you have other questions? I’d LOVE to hear from you!