Moving from a three bedroom house to a 32TS...help

[Ldybug]

What essentials do we need to keep?

Need help on Organization ideas as well

[TXiceman]

Basically no more than ONE of anything. Find lots of stacking and multi-use items...like plastic mixing bowls with lids...all fit inside the largest.

Use lots of plastic bins to organize and store items. For dishes, down to a set of FOUR, same for flatware. Only 2 sets of sheets and towels. Pare down the cooking tools to those that you regularly use. A small crock pot, small griddle.

Basically think small.

Any items you are not sure about, rent a small storage space and store them for a few months until you decide.

If you can, put the RV in the drive and move into it. Live in a few days and see what you might need to add or take off.

ken

[missourijan]

Great suggestions from TXiceman, just think of the items that you use everyday, that's what you will use everyday in the rv. We sleep, shower, brush our teeth & hair, cook, eat, vacumn & dust, watch tv, repair stuff, use the laptop and wash & wax the outside. Take a basic set of tools with tape, wood glue, silicone glue, stepstool & ladder, bbq and chairs. As for clothes pack what you think you will use, then go back through and take out 1/3 because you won't wear them! Just remember there are Wal Marts everywhere and they have whatever you have forgotten.

[ghoststories]

Hello and welcome to iRV2, looks like you have already received some great advice.

[historyljc]

Hi Ldybug, welcome to the forum. As usual, Ken has hit the nail on the head. If you don't use it in the house, you don't need it in the motorhome. Be careful about wanting to put in a bunch of countertop appliances. Good Luck!!

[SarahW]

Howdy and welcome. We don't live in our moho, so the "contents" change with each trip. However, the advice about not having too many counter-top appliances is RIGHT ON! Good luck. You'll probably over-pack and then cull a dozen times.

[clyon51]

The other advice to think small, is to think LIGHT, especially while going down the road. For each item you need to add to the RV, try to get a light weight version. Don't drive with full tanks, don't travel with 2 weeks of food/drinks if you can get by with 2-3 days, ect, ect. Being underweight rather than overweight is MUCH safer and a bit cheaper.

[Greyeagle]

If you are going to be fulltimers?
then all you need are a couple part of jeans, couple pair shorts, some t-shirts, and comfortable shoes.... one dress outfit for those just in case events. there are no walk in closets in the RV's.
Best of luck
The task of getting rid of everything you don't need will be easier as time goes by you will find out if you don't use it you don't need it. To keep the list of stuff down after you get into the RV remember to remove something for every item that goes in...

[Sky_Boss]

Originally Posted by clyon51

The other advice to think small, is to think LIGHT, especially while going down the road. For each item you need to add to the RV, try to get a light weight version. Don't drive with full tanks, don't travel with 2 weeks of food/drinks if you can get by with 2-3 days, ect, ect. Being underweight rather than overweight is MUCH safer and a bit cheaper.

The above example and others previously posted are great. The concept of moving from a traditional home to an RV is a great example of a personal paradigm (pronounced para-dime) shift.

Paradigm Shift - Defined

The trick is to understand that FT RVing is not what you have been programmed to accept as normal. Learning a "new normal" is not intuitive nor does it make itself obvious either. It sometimes takes a leap of faith on our ability to adapt and conquer. In many cases that means it challenges our core beliefs on what makes us "secure".

Now, I don't have much experience YET except that I am learning from folks on the board. I'm sorta in the para-nickle phase of my education. But I do recognize there are factors in Sandee's and my decission to go in this direction that have yet to be proven as correctly understood. However, we are learning a little bit every day and so far, we haven't scared the heck out of ourselves...YET. LOL (Ahhh...ignorance is bliss.)

GOOD LUCK!

[Ldybug]

Little bit about our move...our TT is a Forrest River Cardinal, 32TS...really no under carraige storage to speak of....needing suggestions for organization and storage for kitchen, bathroom and bedroom....We will be living in it fulltime and only moving it to have a long weekend at the lake or something.

[EelKat]

I live in a 22' motorhome. No storage space, other than 2 closets, and 4 overhead cabinets. Things I took with me:

one set of bedding for the bed (table-dinette-bench old down thing)

one set of bedding for the sofa bed

one tablecloth (have not yet used)

2 placemats (haven't used these either)

6 each of: large bowls, small bowls, large plates, small plates, large cups, small cups, spoons, forks, knives, and sectional tv-dinner tray style plates. (have yet to use any of them except for 1 bowl and 1 spoon)

4 refillable 16oz water bottles

1 toaster oven

1 Magic Bullet blender

1 sandwitch maker grill

1 waffle iron

1 - 2 burner hot pad/stove top

1 body pillow

2 decorative pillows for sofa

3 antique tapestries - yeah - big ones, like you'd seen in a castle - about 8 feet tall by 15 feet across.

2 bathroom towels, 2 wash cloths

2 kitchen towels, 2 oven mits

2 framed photographs of Liberace, nailed to wall

57 Liberace records

1 record/phonograph player

1 box filled with Liberace books, autographs, fan club newsletters, scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings

7,000 Disney/Donald/Uncle Scrooge comic books, bagged, boarded, and boxed

37 board games (Clue, Sorry, Candy Land, Risk, Monopoly, ect)

61 Star Trek novels

aprox 200 other sci-fi novels

the complete run of DVDs of: X-Files, Columbo, Tales From the Crypt, DuckTales, nearly every movie Vincent Price ever made, and most of the Disney cartoons

1 pair winter boots

1 pair hiking sneakers

1 pair dress shoes

2 kimono

2 sequined ball gowns

5 CosPlay costumes

1 kente (antique witch doctor's robe, over 200 years old)

12 decks of Orecal cards

1 pendulum

14 Spirit Boards

3 "crystal" balls

Dungeons and Dragons collection (a couple dozen books, game board, minis, and about 200 dice)

7 skirts (long)

2 sequined blouses

5 tank tops

28 scarves

12 stretch knit glitter tops

13 pairs of stripped thigh high stockings

several pairs of underwear

1 top hat

1 knit stocking hat

1 fur deer hunter hat

1 full legnth mink coat

1 full length fleece coat

1 long leather trench coat

1 fur shearpa coat

2 "business suits" (actually, a black knit dress, and a black velvet skirt & jacket)

1 cat carrier

2 vases of dried flowers (now just stems as the cats eat the flowers)

1 - 18" purple tinsel Christmas tree, that stays up all year

curtains on the windows, seperating the cab from the living quarters, and over the door.

1 - 6 foot carpeted cat tree gym

dozens of cat toys, mice, bells, balls, etc

a repair manual for 1975 Dodge vans

1 laptop

paints and canvases

1 sewing machine

college text books

4 book/tote bags

2 pocketbook/purses

paper and lots of pencils

1 giant bird cage that fills the over cab compartment

5 catfood bowls (which use 25lbs of catfood per week)

2 water dishes

a 3x5' catbox (which uses 35lbs of cat litter per week)

6 pink plastic lawn flamingos

1 plastic garden gnome

and that's it, the complete list of absolutly everything in my motorhome. I have no food on board as I eat at the college caffeteria (included in the cost of my tuition) and at Subway. Except for the things which I noted as not having used, I use everything I brought with me.

And yes, that does mean that I do not have either a phone or a tv, nope they are not on the list because I do not have them.

Yes, I do, stick pink flamingos in the ground around my motorhome when I park. They match the green metal flake.

Yeah, like everyone else said: just take what you use. Figure out what you use every day, and bring only that. It's all you need. Everything on board, I use. Everything I don't use, did not come with me. The reason I have 6 each of dinner sets, is because, in case I have guests over, say for Christmas dinner, I'll have something for them to eat on.

Also, don't change who you are and start dressing different because you moved into an RV. Jeans, t-shirts, camp gear? Nope, zip, nadda. Don't wear them, don't use them, never did, never well. Sequined ball gowns and mink coats? Yeah, wear them every day. When you see me in public, you will know you have crossed my path. I do take my Liberace obsession to the extreme. But than again, as you might have guessed from the cards, spirit boards, and crystal balls, I'm also what most would call a "Gypsy Fortune Teller" and by culture, this is just the normal way Travellers dress anyways. So, yeah, wear what you already wear, don't go all jeans and ts because you live in an RV, if that's not what you wore before living in an RV.