Preparing for Tiny House Living

As the deadline for our move into the camper gets closer, I find myself making big and small shifts in our daily living to help prepare us for this major transition.

1. I rewear clothes.

• In all of my years of living, at the end of the day, I've always taken off my clothes and put them in the hamper, jeans and all. With the shift in amount of clothes we'll take into the camper, the lack of easy access to a washer/dryer, and the smaller clothes hamper we'll have in the trailer, I'm forcing myself to fold my clean clothes after I wear them and put them back in the drawer for another wear.

2. I wash the dishes right away.

• We all know that we should wash dishes as soon as we use them, but after I've made a meal, helped the girls through their food, and gotten to eat myself, I often don't feel up to washing the dishes right then (and we're often heading out the door to something anyways!). We've never had a dishwasher (count your blessings, humans!), but we'll have less counter space and less cabinet space in the camper, so I've been trying to stay on top of keeping all of the dishes clean, all of the time.

3. I buy less food.

• Our fridge/freezer/pantry space is all going to be downsized in the camper, and we won't be able to keep twenty-seven bags of frozen veggies on hand at all times. This last grocery trip to Aldi, I purposefully only bought one cream, three bags of frozen veggies, etc. I'm trying to help us get used to having less food "in reserve," since we won't have that same option in the camper.

4. I put things away, right away.

• Here's another one that we all know we should do all of the time, but often when I take off a jacket, I'll hang it on the hook on the back of our coat closet with an, "I'll wear it again tomorrow!" mindset, instead of putting it on a hanger inside the closet. Sometimes I'll sit down on the couch, take my shoes off, and then walk away later, leaving my shoes on the floor in front of the couch, instead of putting them in my closet. Lately, I've been putting things all the way away, working on "a place for everything, and everything in its place."

Those are four ways I'm working on making the transition to tiny house living next year smoother for our family. If you've ever lived tiny, what are your tips?? I know our family will enjoy all of the changes, but I also know they'll be some adjusting, for sure!