I asked my husband about making a ramp for the sewage line when we set up the RV but he said it was fine. Well I thought he knew more than me since he is a maintenance man and was in construction for years. Well everyone loves to tease me I have the nose of a bloodhound and I have a sensitive stomach so smells get to me. To top it off I have bipolar 1 with psychosis and tend to smell thing that aren't there so for the last month while I'm smelling this wretched smell in the back of the RV everyone is saying it's in my head.
I'm telling you I know my nose and I was right the smell was there. Yesterday we were cleaning outside the RV and my husband moved the sewage line and alas it was backing up. I am a very happy camper now and the smell is gone and I'm here to tell you to make sure you ramp you sewage line.
You don't have to buy one of those expensive RV sewage ramps either. I've learned a lot looking at others in the park. Some use a inclined board, some use graduation blocks of wood or concrete but the most impressive is the use of PVC pipe. They just run their sewage line down through it and it's protects it from the weed eaters too.
We used what we had lying around and it's perfect because our RV is close to the connecting pipe in the ground. My husband took my unused stepper, you know the ones from the 90's when people did step aerobics. Then he leaned it between the RV and the pipe and placed the sewage line on top. Plus the rubber non skid top stops it from sliding off. Cost: FREE the cost of the RV sewage ramp: $20 but lesson learned.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
Low Cost Great Depression Style Dinner
I had to wonderful dinners this weekend off of one piece of meat and want to share how to do this. My granny (yes granny) grew up in the great depression and came from a large family so a little bit of food had to go a really long way to feed everyone. These are two of my favorite meals she made.
On Sunday my granny would boil a piece of pork, beef, of whole chicken. In the water she would add salt, pepper, and hot sauce. I don't care for hot sauce so I use bay leaves instead. That night we would eat the meat along with veggies and cornbread and then the next night we would have hungry man stew.
Hungry man stew is very filling and cheap to make. You will need the broth from the meat you made the day before and any left over meat deboned. This will work with most types of lower fat meat. If you do use venison I recommend adding some beef bouillon.
On Sunday my granny would boil a piece of pork, beef, of whole chicken. In the water she would add salt, pepper, and hot sauce. I don't care for hot sauce so I use bay leaves instead. That night we would eat the meat along with veggies and cornbread and then the next night we would have hungry man stew.
Hungry man stew is very filling and cheap to make. You will need the broth from the meat you made the day before and any left over meat deboned. This will work with most types of lower fat meat. If you do use venison I recommend adding some beef bouillon.
Hungry Man Stew
Ingredients:
Left over meat from the dinner the day before
Left over broth from cooking the meat the day before
Bay leaves (2 or 3 depending on size)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Potatoes (As many as you like depending on your amount of broth)
Rice (also depends on your taste for a standard cooking pot I add 1.25 cups)
Large can of Diced Tomatoes
Large Can of Tomato Sauce
-First thing to do is skim the fat off the both from the night before (I hope you stored it in the fridge)
-Then take your left over meat (my favorite to use if left over pork roast) and chop into bite size piece. It might cook apart that just makes it even better.
-Next peel and dice your tomatoes to bite size and add them to the broth. Larger is fine also but takes longer to cook.
-When the potatoes are about 3/4th of the way cooked (they look a little clear around the edges) then you need to add your rice
-Let your broth continue to cook another 10 minutes stirring everyone once in awhile so your rice doesn't stick and scorch at the bottom of the pot.
-After 10 minutes add your tomatoes and taste. You can add more tomatoes to taste and if the soup is to tart for your taste you can add a can of condensed tomato soup to add a little sweet or if you like really sweet add tomato paste.
-At this point keep an eye on the soup and stir more often because as the soup thickens it scorches really bad if not stirred often enough.
-You will know when it's ready because the rice will begin to butterfly.
We always served this with leftover cornbread but there are enough carbs in here already that you really don't need much more.
Other great 2 day meals include using left over chicken broth and chicken for chicken and dumplings or all meat broths also do wonderful for non vegetarian vegetable soup.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Another busy weekend
My poor husband and his honey do list. Every time he started working on something another person knocked on the RV door. It started at lunchtime with a man demanding that we fix the AC in the bath house and in his RV that he rents from the RV park owner.
See we do the work camper program here and are responsible for cleaning the bath houses everyday. Yet this man insists that we need to make repairs on his demand but I deflated him when I told him the bath house AC was out of order and the parts had been ordered for the repairs. Then I had to go to the bath house to show him how to prop open the door...
Then later my poor husband is working again and another knock comes on the door. This man is trying to get us to buy a lamp that we gave away for free. See another camper wanted our lamp really bad a few weeks ago so we gave it to him, but then he moved and couldn't take the lamp and gave it to another camper. Then this camper tried to sale it back to us so they could buy food (aka alcohol they have food stamps).
So off my husband goes to working again and yet another knock. This time it's a man trying to give us his built in RV sofa in exchange for my husband doing repairs on his RV. See my husband has told the man he would help him in the past but that the man must buy the supplies. The man is disabled and saw this as a way for us to buy the things needed. We still plan to help him but can't use the sofa nor can afford the supplies.
Finally my husband is trying to work again and this time it's Comcast to fix our internet. WiFi is free in the RV park but it's spotty service at best so my husband decided we needed to find the money to have our own service install. I loved the Comcast guy! While he was here people were asking if they could link onto our WiFi so the Comcast guy named our signal, "Get your own damn WiFi".
See like I've said before, there are different types of RV'ers in a park and unfortunately my neighbors are mostly deadbeats, alcoholics, druggies, with a few nice people mixed in. The whole park isn't like this, just this corner but we like the spot we are in because it's large so we deal with the neighbors. Other parts of the park are MUCH nicer but sunnier and with smaller lots.
So once he left my husband finally got to work but with all the starting and stopping he misplaced a lot of things like screws, his hammer... So he got a little ill and I decided to hide in the bedroom. He did do good today though. He finally got the TV mounted on the wall, mounted another magnet strip in the kitchen, removed the front off the bathroom counter, raked the yard (the park mows but doesn't rake), cleaned in the back room, and got his very important (to him) Xbox fixed so that wires aren't running all over the living area. Now he's relaxing and trying to decide what his plans are for tomorrow.
My plans for tomorrow are to get a curtain over the front of the bathroom cabinet. I know this opens it up for people to see but they way it was before it was a useless space for storage. I will get some pictures online tomorrow of what we did to the front of the bathroom cabinet and other repairs we have been working on.
See we do the work camper program here and are responsible for cleaning the bath houses everyday. Yet this man insists that we need to make repairs on his demand but I deflated him when I told him the bath house AC was out of order and the parts had been ordered for the repairs. Then I had to go to the bath house to show him how to prop open the door...
Then later my poor husband is working again and another knock comes on the door. This man is trying to get us to buy a lamp that we gave away for free. See another camper wanted our lamp really bad a few weeks ago so we gave it to him, but then he moved and couldn't take the lamp and gave it to another camper. Then this camper tried to sale it back to us so they could buy food (aka alcohol they have food stamps).
So off my husband goes to working again and yet another knock. This time it's a man trying to give us his built in RV sofa in exchange for my husband doing repairs on his RV. See my husband has told the man he would help him in the past but that the man must buy the supplies. The man is disabled and saw this as a way for us to buy the things needed. We still plan to help him but can't use the sofa nor can afford the supplies.
Finally my husband is trying to work again and this time it's Comcast to fix our internet. WiFi is free in the RV park but it's spotty service at best so my husband decided we needed to find the money to have our own service install. I loved the Comcast guy! While he was here people were asking if they could link onto our WiFi so the Comcast guy named our signal, "Get your own damn WiFi".
See like I've said before, there are different types of RV'ers in a park and unfortunately my neighbors are mostly deadbeats, alcoholics, druggies, with a few nice people mixed in. The whole park isn't like this, just this corner but we like the spot we are in because it's large so we deal with the neighbors. Other parts of the park are MUCH nicer but sunnier and with smaller lots.
So once he left my husband finally got to work but with all the starting and stopping he misplaced a lot of things like screws, his hammer... So he got a little ill and I decided to hide in the bedroom. He did do good today though. He finally got the TV mounted on the wall, mounted another magnet strip in the kitchen, removed the front off the bathroom counter, raked the yard (the park mows but doesn't rake), cleaned in the back room, and got his very important (to him) Xbox fixed so that wires aren't running all over the living area. Now he's relaxing and trying to decide what his plans are for tomorrow.
My plans for tomorrow are to get a curtain over the front of the bathroom cabinet. I know this opens it up for people to see but they way it was before it was a useless space for storage. I will get some pictures online tomorrow of what we did to the front of the bathroom cabinet and other repairs we have been working on.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Traveling long distance in your car with you cat
I know this isn't really RV related but you might find yourself in the position at some point in the future and I've discovered there is not enough information on the internet about this.
Traveling with a cat in your car isn't as hard as it seems. Basic rule of thumb to remember is that cats are fast and they can fit most anywhere, because of this I don't advice letting your cat run free in the car unless you want to fight them to get them out from under seat or from inside your dashboard. I've been there and it's not pretty. You also don't want to leave them in a cat carrier for to long because they need to move and they need to potty and unless they are leash trained then this presents a problem.
I have moved a long distance with a cat a few times and it doesn't have to be hard to do. I've tried it three different ways and the last two worked out great.
The first time was 300 miles and it was in a cat carrier. My poor cat wasn't happy and couldn't move and then peed in the kennel so I had to let it out and then it got in the dash followed by getting lodged under the seat. This was not good.
The second time was almost 330 miles. In this trip I put the cat in a large dog kennel (cocker spaniel size). Inside the kennel I put a plastic box for a litter pan (don't overfill or you will be cleaning your car) and in the other half of the kennel I put blankets for the cat to snuggle in. The only problem with this method was the cat cried most of the way and turned over the litter pan trying to dig her way out of the kennel.
On the next move (350 miles) I got a little smarter and wiser. On this trip I used two small dog kennels (chihuahua size). What I did was remove the doors of both dog kennels which isn't hard. You just bend the wire and later you can do the same to put them back on. Then I faced both kennels towards each other and zip tied them together. When you think you have it secure wiggle it around and add some more because the cat will be looking and fighting to find a way out. Next you need to put in the food bowls that come with the kennel and I recommend if you can zip tying them to the walls of the kennel or at some point during your trip the cats going to knock them off. Next I put plastic wrap about 1/4 the way up the side of the kennel that would house the litter pan encase of spills.
Once this is dine then go ahead and put a blanket or towel in one of the kennels that you will be using for the trip. In the other side put a small litter pan. I used one of the small square plastic boxes that they give you when you stay in the hospital but they sale these also at the store. I don't recommend cardboard because of urine and smell.
Then I put the kennels with the top hatched open in the floor a week before my trip and put snacks inside for my cat to find. It took her a few days but she was finally going inside and getting the snacks and taking naps. Make sure you put the snacks both in the floor of the kennel and the food bowls on the wall of the kennel so they get used to going there for food.
On the night before my move I only gave my cat a small amount of food so her stomach didn't get upset the next day because of nerves. Then the morning of the move I put her and the kennel in the bathroom with only a nightlight while we unloaded the rest of the house so that she would remain calm. That morning I also made sure I put her food inside the kennel and once again it was only a small amount. I also put litter from her regular litter box inside the litter pan in the kennel so it would have her smell.
When it came time for use to leave I went in the bathroom and closed the door. Then I sat on the floor awhile and loved on her. Once she was calm I put her favorite snack inside the kennel hoping she would go in but she was to smart so instead it was a fight but I got her in. Then I covered the kennels with a dark thin blanket. The blanket is so that she can't see and will remain calmer because if at all possible you don't want to over stress you cat that is already going through a lot of stress anyway.
While traveling we put the kennels in the back seat and for the first few hours we kept them covered and after a while all went quiet and out cat went to sleep. Then we stopped for the dogs to take a potty break and checked on the cat and gave her a little more food and water. This upset her a little because she wanted out but she could walk between the cages and had a litter pan so she was fine. We also made sure to give her one of her favorite toys when we stopped but I don't recommend catnip because it over stimulates the cat while the poor thing is caged.
During the next part of the trip the cat got very vocal and I lifted just one side of the blanket so she could see out the window and at first she liked it but later I had to but the blanket back down because it was more calming for her.
That night we got to tired and had to stop for a nap. So we took the dogs for another walk and uncovered the cats cage because we didn't want her in total dark for too long. She got a little vocal then before going to sleep I covered her cage just a little over the top to give her a little dark.
We slept only an hour or two then we were off again but this morning I left one kennel uncovered and left the litter box side covered because she likes privacy when pottying. She got a little loud when we started out but then quieted down. When he were 10 minutes out from our destination I think she could read our vibes because she got extremely loud.
Once we got to our stopping point we didn't immediately let her out of the kennel. Instead she was put in a quiet place and given a little more food (still not a lot do to stress) but we left the cage uncovered so that she could see and smell everything. Then when we had everything unloaded and the RV had calmed down we opened the kennel but still didn't take her out. We just made sure that the kennel was by her litter box and near her food bowls.
Then when she was ready she got out and hid for two days. Then punished us for a few more by not letting us touch her. I have to say the last move worked out the best and if I ever have to do it again I will do it this way but with different kennels because now when she sees the kennels she runs and hides. My cat does not like to go outside or to travel but this is most likely because she is a rescue cat and was taken to the local pet store everyday for weeks and spent all day in cages before we rescued her.
Traveling with a cat in your car isn't as hard as it seems. Basic rule of thumb to remember is that cats are fast and they can fit most anywhere, because of this I don't advice letting your cat run free in the car unless you want to fight them to get them out from under seat or from inside your dashboard. I've been there and it's not pretty. You also don't want to leave them in a cat carrier for to long because they need to move and they need to potty and unless they are leash trained then this presents a problem.
I have moved a long distance with a cat a few times and it doesn't have to be hard to do. I've tried it three different ways and the last two worked out great.
The first time was 300 miles and it was in a cat carrier. My poor cat wasn't happy and couldn't move and then peed in the kennel so I had to let it out and then it got in the dash followed by getting lodged under the seat. This was not good.
The second time was almost 330 miles. In this trip I put the cat in a large dog kennel (cocker spaniel size). Inside the kennel I put a plastic box for a litter pan (don't overfill or you will be cleaning your car) and in the other half of the kennel I put blankets for the cat to snuggle in. The only problem with this method was the cat cried most of the way and turned over the litter pan trying to dig her way out of the kennel.
On the next move (350 miles) I got a little smarter and wiser. On this trip I used two small dog kennels (chihuahua size). What I did was remove the doors of both dog kennels which isn't hard. You just bend the wire and later you can do the same to put them back on. Then I faced both kennels towards each other and zip tied them together. When you think you have it secure wiggle it around and add some more because the cat will be looking and fighting to find a way out. Next you need to put in the food bowls that come with the kennel and I recommend if you can zip tying them to the walls of the kennel or at some point during your trip the cats going to knock them off. Next I put plastic wrap about 1/4 the way up the side of the kennel that would house the litter pan encase of spills.
Once this is dine then go ahead and put a blanket or towel in one of the kennels that you will be using for the trip. In the other side put a small litter pan. I used one of the small square plastic boxes that they give you when you stay in the hospital but they sale these also at the store. I don't recommend cardboard because of urine and smell.
Then I put the kennels with the top hatched open in the floor a week before my trip and put snacks inside for my cat to find. It took her a few days but she was finally going inside and getting the snacks and taking naps. Make sure you put the snacks both in the floor of the kennel and the food bowls on the wall of the kennel so they get used to going there for food.
On the night before my move I only gave my cat a small amount of food so her stomach didn't get upset the next day because of nerves. Then the morning of the move I put her and the kennel in the bathroom with only a nightlight while we unloaded the rest of the house so that she would remain calm. That morning I also made sure I put her food inside the kennel and once again it was only a small amount. I also put litter from her regular litter box inside the litter pan in the kennel so it would have her smell.
When it came time for use to leave I went in the bathroom and closed the door. Then I sat on the floor awhile and loved on her. Once she was calm I put her favorite snack inside the kennel hoping she would go in but she was to smart so instead it was a fight but I got her in. Then I covered the kennels with a dark thin blanket. The blanket is so that she can't see and will remain calmer because if at all possible you don't want to over stress you cat that is already going through a lot of stress anyway.
While traveling we put the kennels in the back seat and for the first few hours we kept them covered and after a while all went quiet and out cat went to sleep. Then we stopped for the dogs to take a potty break and checked on the cat and gave her a little more food and water. This upset her a little because she wanted out but she could walk between the cages and had a litter pan so she was fine. We also made sure to give her one of her favorite toys when we stopped but I don't recommend catnip because it over stimulates the cat while the poor thing is caged.
During the next part of the trip the cat got very vocal and I lifted just one side of the blanket so she could see out the window and at first she liked it but later I had to but the blanket back down because it was more calming for her.
That night we got to tired and had to stop for a nap. So we took the dogs for another walk and uncovered the cats cage because we didn't want her in total dark for too long. She got a little vocal then before going to sleep I covered her cage just a little over the top to give her a little dark.
We slept only an hour or two then we were off again but this morning I left one kennel uncovered and left the litter box side covered because she likes privacy when pottying. She got a little loud when we started out but then quieted down. When he were 10 minutes out from our destination I think she could read our vibes because she got extremely loud.
Once we got to our stopping point we didn't immediately let her out of the kennel. Instead she was put in a quiet place and given a little more food (still not a lot do to stress) but we left the cage uncovered so that she could see and smell everything. Then when we had everything unloaded and the RV had calmed down we opened the kennel but still didn't take her out. We just made sure that the kennel was by her litter box and near her food bowls.
Then when she was ready she got out and hid for two days. Then punished us for a few more by not letting us touch her. I have to say the last move worked out the best and if I ever have to do it again I will do it this way but with different kennels because now when she sees the kennels she runs and hides. My cat does not like to go outside or to travel but this is most likely because she is a rescue cat and was taken to the local pet store everyday for weeks and spent all day in cages before we rescued her.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
RV Living Cost
I keep seeing on Pinterest all these posts on how much it cost to live in an RV versus a home. Some are close and some are crazy. I would like to know how these people came up with these numbers are where they are from.
This is on I found on Pinterest. I would like to know who their cell phone and insurance providers are!
Living in a House Expenses: Living in an RV Expenses:
House Payment(with taxes): 1200.00 $595 ( campground fees average)
Electric: $120 $0 ( Included in campground fees)
Water: $100 $0 (Included in campground fees)
Car Payment: $0(own our car) $0 (own our car and will own RV)
Gas: $320 $600(1,885 miles a month)
Heat: $56 $25 (propane)
Auto Ins.: $25 $50(car and RV)
Groceries: $400 $400
Eating Out: $0 $100
Family Activities: $0 $100(museums and such)
Tolls: $0 $10
Cell Phone $15 $15
Home Phone/Internet: $85 $0(use free wi-fi)
Mortgage Ins: $35 $0
Cable/Sat. :$0 $0 ( get it free at some camps)
Tithe:$250 $0*
Personal Loan: $100 $100_________
TOTALS: $2706.00 $1995.00
This is another I found on Pinterest. These people need to learn how to grocery shop and quit eating steak at every meal.
So since you've seen those I've decided to post my budget for the world to see. This is based on living in a house in a dying town in North Carolina and then living in an RV in Brunswick, Ga
Living in a House Expenses: Living in an RV Expenses:
House Payment: 475.00 $0 (work camper but $425 if paying rent)
Electric: $140 $0 ( Included in campground fees)
Water: $60 $0 (Included in campground fees)
Car Payment: $110 week $110 week
Gas: $60 week $120 month
Heat (Propane): $425 every other month $0 (electric so included in campground fees)
Auto Ins.: $104 $104 (no RV insurance since it's parked)
Groceries: $200 $300 (went up due to no deep freezer or deer meat)
Eating Out: $20 $20 (we're on a budget)
Family Activities: $0 $15 (fishing licence)
Tolls: $0 $0
Cell Phone $45 $45
Home Phone/Internet: $65 $0(Included in campground fees)
Mortgage Ins: $0 $0
Cable/Sat. :$100 $0 (included in campground fees)
AAA: $45 year $45 year (already paid so not added)
Tithe:$0 $0
Personal Loan: $0 $100_________
TOTALS: $2104.00 $1144.00
Any money left over from our budget goes to remodeling and repair *Not factored in the budget is child support but that is also not factored into the income. That is removed before any money is spent or budgeted*
I don't feel we live like penny pinchers but at the time we don't throw the money around or have a lot for extra. As I've posted before some of our biggest money savers are using the free electric here in the park and buying things in bulk when on sale. It's not that we are doing without, we are just planning ahead. Another money maker for us is recycling cans. There are a lot of people in the park that throw them away so we get them to save them for us. This allows my husband to eat out for lunch once or twice a month. I also listed no RV insurance because since it's not being moved we don't have to have it. However as soon as we can afford to add it to the budget we will.
This is on I found on Pinterest. I would like to know who their cell phone and insurance providers are!
Living in a House Expenses: Living in an RV Expenses:
House Payment(with taxes): 1200.00 $595 ( campground fees average)
Electric: $120 $0 ( Included in campground fees)
Water: $100 $0 (Included in campground fees)
Car Payment: $0(own our car) $0 (own our car and will own RV)
Gas: $320 $600(1,885 miles a month)
Heat: $56 $25 (propane)
Auto Ins.: $25 $50(car and RV)
Groceries: $400 $400
Eating Out: $0 $100
Family Activities: $0 $100(museums and such)
Tolls: $0 $10
Cell Phone $15 $15
Home Phone/Internet: $85 $0(use free wi-fi)
Mortgage Ins: $35 $0
Cable/Sat. :$0 $0 ( get it free at some camps)
Tithe:$250 $0*
Personal Loan: $100 $100_________
TOTALS: $2706.00 $1995.00
This is another I found on Pinterest. These people need to learn how to grocery shop and quit eating steak at every meal.
Then I found this one that shows way to wide of a range to really give you a real idea.
Living in a House Expenses: Living in an RV Expenses:
House Payment: 475.00 $0 (work camper but $425 if paying rent)
Electric: $140 $0 ( Included in campground fees)
Water: $60 $0 (Included in campground fees)
Car Payment: $110 week $110 week
Gas: $60 week $120 month
Heat (Propane): $425 every other month $0 (electric so included in campground fees)
Auto Ins.: $104 $104 (no RV insurance since it's parked)
Groceries: $200 $300 (went up due to no deep freezer or deer meat)
Eating Out: $20 $20 (we're on a budget)
Family Activities: $0 $15 (fishing licence)
Tolls: $0 $0
Cell Phone $45 $45
Home Phone/Internet: $65 $0(Included in campground fees)
Mortgage Ins: $0 $0
Cable/Sat. :$100 $0 (included in campground fees)
AAA: $45 year $45 year (already paid so not added)
Tithe:$0 $0
Personal Loan: $0 $100_________
TOTALS: $2104.00 $1144.00
Any money left over from our budget goes to remodeling and repair *Not factored in the budget is child support but that is also not factored into the income. That is removed before any money is spent or budgeted*
I don't feel we live like penny pinchers but at the time we don't throw the money around or have a lot for extra. As I've posted before some of our biggest money savers are using the free electric here in the park and buying things in bulk when on sale. It's not that we are doing without, we are just planning ahead. Another money maker for us is recycling cans. There are a lot of people in the park that throw them away so we get them to save them for us. This allows my husband to eat out for lunch once or twice a month. I also listed no RV insurance because since it's not being moved we don't have to have it. However as soon as we can afford to add it to the budget we will.
Big Plans for the future
To make this a home we need space. There seems to be a lot of storage in the newer RV's but this old RV is lacking or was modified by the old owner that used it as a fish camp office. So last night my husband and I talked a long time about remodeling (or I talked and he listened). We came up with some good ideas. The first I've talked about before and now we have it planned out. We want to reconfigure the kitchen and the back bedroom since no one will ever sleep in there.
In the kitchen we don't have to even rip anything out except some upper cabinets on one side. The plan is to buy an old dresser or buffet and place it along the wall on one side of the kitchen where the table and benches are suppose to be. Then we plan to put a counter top over the dresser and shelving above that, where the cabinets are now. This will allow us to store both in the dresser and on the shelves. Since we don't plan to move the RV this is fine but if we do move the RV then things on the shelves will have to be moved but this will more then double our storage area.
As of right now we only have a foldable table there with plastic shelves under the table. The cabinets above house unneeded control panels and ill fitting cabinets the were designed wrong for long term use. The update will be done in the red area in the picture (not drawn to size or scale)
The next update will be the largest and will be put to use. This RV had two bedrooms and as of now the back bedroom is a dumping zone. We would like to remodel this for storage us and closet area. RV's were not designed for long term use or at least not in the case of this RV. In the back room there is a set of bunk beds with no mattresses. These are no a dumping ground for everything without a home. It's horrible for me because I'm short and there is no ladder so anything one the top bunk stays there until me husband can get it for me. My idea for this area is to just remove the top bunk all together. Then we can install a closet rod and make more space for clothes. We are by no means clothing hogs but in the case of my husband he has his work clothes and then nice clothes and our Sunday clothes. That little cracker box in the bathroom just isn't large enough. We have to leave the bottle bunk because of the water and electrical below but this isn't a problem because storage boxes can be placed below the clothing.
The next plan is to remove the cabinet beside the bunks. This was a design error in the first place due to the slanted wall. There isn't a hanger made that will hang in the cabinet and let the door close. Plus the cabinet is so narrow it's not of much use.
Then we will be removing the benches and table. As of now these are also not of use since no one sleeps in the back room. Plus the table is in such disrepair it would have to be replaced anyway. Above the table and benches is another set of cabinet and there are no flaws with these but they are in the way. My husband is in maintenance and needs room for his toolbox that won't fit under them. For now they house my shorts and sweats anyway so it's not a problem if they go because I've redesigned another area for clothing.
Once all off this is gone we will move in my husband's tool box and bolt in place encase we ever move the RV. Then in the other open area we will be installing floor to ceiling shelving. To will allow us to move most of our stuff from storage and sell the rest of rent a very small storage unit instead.
This is a picture I drew of the before and after of the back room. It is not to scale.
As for the closet in the bathroom since I moved the clothes, we will be installing shelving in there as well for our sheets, towels and foldable clothing. I also plan to make one more change to the bathroom which is to fix another design flaw. Under the bathroom sink there is only one cabinet door although the cabinet continues along side the toilet. You can't even open the cabinet door the whole way because of the toilet. The plan here is to remove the whole front facing of the cabinet so that all the area becomes usable. To hide the things stored there I plan to hang a tension rod and curtain over the front. Now I can store the extra toiletries and waste basket out of sight.
This is just the remodeling to add space. This still doesn't include repairs we still need to make that I listed in the last post.
In the kitchen we don't have to even rip anything out except some upper cabinets on one side. The plan is to buy an old dresser or buffet and place it along the wall on one side of the kitchen where the table and benches are suppose to be. Then we plan to put a counter top over the dresser and shelving above that, where the cabinets are now. This will allow us to store both in the dresser and on the shelves. Since we don't plan to move the RV this is fine but if we do move the RV then things on the shelves will have to be moved but this will more then double our storage area.
As of right now we only have a foldable table there with plastic shelves under the table. The cabinets above house unneeded control panels and ill fitting cabinets the were designed wrong for long term use. The update will be done in the red area in the picture (not drawn to size or scale)
The next plan is to remove the cabinet beside the bunks. This was a design error in the first place due to the slanted wall. There isn't a hanger made that will hang in the cabinet and let the door close. Plus the cabinet is so narrow it's not of much use.
Then we will be removing the benches and table. As of now these are also not of use since no one sleeps in the back room. Plus the table is in such disrepair it would have to be replaced anyway. Above the table and benches is another set of cabinet and there are no flaws with these but they are in the way. My husband is in maintenance and needs room for his toolbox that won't fit under them. For now they house my shorts and sweats anyway so it's not a problem if they go because I've redesigned another area for clothing.
Once all off this is gone we will move in my husband's tool box and bolt in place encase we ever move the RV. Then in the other open area we will be installing floor to ceiling shelving. To will allow us to move most of our stuff from storage and sell the rest of rent a very small storage unit instead.
This is a picture I drew of the before and after of the back room. It is not to scale.
As for the closet in the bathroom since I moved the clothes, we will be installing shelving in there as well for our sheets, towels and foldable clothing. I also plan to make one more change to the bathroom which is to fix another design flaw. Under the bathroom sink there is only one cabinet door although the cabinet continues along side the toilet. You can't even open the cabinet door the whole way because of the toilet. The plan here is to remove the whole front facing of the cabinet so that all the area becomes usable. To hide the things stored there I plan to hang a tension rod and curtain over the front. Now I can store the extra toiletries and waste basket out of sight.
This is just the remodeling to add space. This still doesn't include repairs we still need to make that I listed in the last post.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Wahoo! I have an awning!
Since getting the RV I've been looking for an awning but when you are on a budget that just doesn't work at all. Everything I could find averaged around $500. Well this week a family moved out of the RV park and were selling the RV dirt cheap or scrapping it. Well we asked about buying the awning and they never got back to us. Then today they stopped by the RV and said we could buy it.
My husband went and talked and they only asked for $30 for the awning with no leaks! The problem is we only have $20 till Friday and they said that that was fine. So we got the awning for a grand total of $20. It isn't the model that fits our RV and not long enough for the brackets already on our RV but my husband says he won't have a problem attaching it as long as he can get some help putting it up.
This is great because in storage we have a deep freezer and there are other people in the RV park that have them under their awnings and say they work great as long as you keep the rain off and them up off the ground. My husband is going to build a platform with pallets to raise it up and then he will put a lock on it to secure it from thief. This will go a long way in saving money since we can buy more when things go one sale and my husband can kill a deer and really save us some money on meat.
My husband went and talked and they only asked for $30 for the awning with no leaks! The problem is we only have $20 till Friday and they said that that was fine. So we got the awning for a grand total of $20. It isn't the model that fits our RV and not long enough for the brackets already on our RV but my husband says he won't have a problem attaching it as long as he can get some help putting it up.
This is great because in storage we have a deep freezer and there are other people in the RV park that have them under their awnings and say they work great as long as you keep the rain off and them up off the ground. My husband is going to build a platform with pallets to raise it up and then he will put a lock on it to secure it from thief. This will go a long way in saving money since we can buy more when things go one sale and my husband can kill a deer and really save us some money on meat.
This is my RV. It's a '92 Cobra Sierra. As you can see it needs a lot of work and I've posted some of what we've done so far but there is so much more to do. Yes I realize for what we are sinking in this one we could have bought a nicer one but we didn't have the funds at the time. The most important thing to me is that as long as I have this RV I can never be homeless. This is the day we got it. Right after we pulled it in and hadn't even set it up yet.
This is my RV a month later and all ready for Halloween but as I posted earlier I love the holidays. As you can see I had to put my plants outside. When we had a home I had the living room and kitchen full of plants but when moving I had to down size to 1/4th the plants. My husband hung me some plant hooks on the corner of the RV for my hanging baskets and then caulked around them to make sure they didn't cause a leak. The rest are on shelves found in the garbage and one is on an upside down tote. Don't ask me what I'm going to do with them when it gets cold.
Here is a list of the repairs we have done so far:
Seal leaks in the roof and add two coats of Kool Seal
Caulk around all the windows
Install a window AC to replace the broken roof until
Repair the door locks that wouldn't latch
install lattice on the bottom of the screen doors to stop potential pet damage to them
Place the RV on blocks and level it
Clean out sewage tank that had been stuffed with garbage by former owner
Repair water damage to the wall and floor to the side of the main door
Replace the toilet with a eco friendly household kind
Remove the rusted out hot water heater, furnace, and stove
Remove the cabinet for the fridge to make room for small household fridge
Rip out old flooring and replace it with peel and stick tile (all but back room)
Install temporary curtains until I can make some
Remove nasty broken built in sofa
Cut down sofa and make it into a love seat to fit the RV
Plus some small storage ideas
Still to do to the RV:
Install inline water heater
Place tile in back room
Gut the back room to make better use of it for storage
Buy and install an awning
build a small deck off the ground with pallets to place deep freezer on
Build shelving in back room and closet
Place new closet rod in the back room
Repair small amount of water damage to the wall in the back room and in the roof in the shower area
Put in larger sky light in the shower area so my husband can fit in the shower
Replace shower wand
Install TV bracket for TV in the bedroom
This is things we have to do off the top of my head I'm not sure how much more we need to do. I guess it's like a home and can be an endless list.
Banging my head on the key board
It's no secret that my husband hates living in the RV. He's a country boy and used to hunting and wide open spaces. This place I've nicknamed the aluminum can. So I been scouring the internet for every storage solution I can find because I know the more things out of his way the happier he will be. So now I have this long honey do list and he doesn't want to do them.
One thing I made sure we had before buying this RV was outdoor living space. In the RV park I'm in the have large natural looking spot in the long term side of the RV park. Because of this I bought a swing and a outdoor table and umbrella. This makes it obvious we won't be traveling much in this RV but we don't want to travel. We want to survive and rebuild our lives. That's why O call it RV surviving.
Some of the ideas I have for more storage is to gut the back bedroom except for the bunk beds and put in floor to ceiling shelving. In the bathroom I would like to take the closet and so one of two things. Either remove the separation from the bottom cabinets and the upper hanging space, making more for longer clothing and shoe storage before OR I would like to make shelving out of the upper closet and place a closet rod in the shower that we don't use.
I would also like to open up the front of the bathroom cabinet. As of now there is only one door and it's to small and won't open all the way due to the toilet. Then all the space to the right is unused because unless you are small you can't get back there. If I opened the front then I could put up a curtain over the opening making all the space usable.
In the back bedroom I would also like to put in some ceiling storage for my husband's fishing rods. I got the idea online to attach PVC rings to the ceiling for his fishing rods to hang from.
OH! I just had an epiphany! What if I removed the top bunk and hung a curtain rod across the whole length? This would more then double the hanging room and I could place drawer storage units below the clothes for extra storage. Then place the shelves like I said in the original closet for foldable clothing and towels and sheets!
I foresee a lot of posts about storage in my future and will try to get as many photos of these as I can because there are not nearly enough camper storage ideas online. It's mostly the same things posted over and over.
One thing I made sure we had before buying this RV was outdoor living space. In the RV park I'm in the have large natural looking spot in the long term side of the RV park. Because of this I bought a swing and a outdoor table and umbrella. This makes it obvious we won't be traveling much in this RV but we don't want to travel. We want to survive and rebuild our lives. That's why O call it RV surviving.
Some of the ideas I have for more storage is to gut the back bedroom except for the bunk beds and put in floor to ceiling shelving. In the bathroom I would like to take the closet and so one of two things. Either remove the separation from the bottom cabinets and the upper hanging space, making more for longer clothing and shoe storage before OR I would like to make shelving out of the upper closet and place a closet rod in the shower that we don't use.
I would also like to open up the front of the bathroom cabinet. As of now there is only one door and it's to small and won't open all the way due to the toilet. Then all the space to the right is unused because unless you are small you can't get back there. If I opened the front then I could put up a curtain over the opening making all the space usable.
In the back bedroom I would also like to put in some ceiling storage for my husband's fishing rods. I got the idea online to attach PVC rings to the ceiling for his fishing rods to hang from.
OH! I just had an epiphany! What if I removed the top bunk and hung a curtain rod across the whole length? This would more then double the hanging room and I could place drawer storage units below the clothes for extra storage. Then place the shelves like I said in the original closet for foldable clothing and towels and sheets!
I foresee a lot of posts about storage in my future and will try to get as many photos of these as I can because there are not nearly enough camper storage ideas online. It's mostly the same things posted over and over.
Living in an RV frugally
One of the biggest cost in your RV will be propane. It runs your hot water, stove, and in some cases refrigerator and oven. Propane thanks to Bush Jr is not cheap. Embrace electric! It will mean some upfront cost but will save you a ton in the long run.
In our RV we don't even have a gas stove anymore. We ripped it out and put a washer dryer combo there. More about the money saver later. On top of the washer dryer we put plywood that we will later replace with counter top. This has given us room to use an electric skillet, hot plate, and griddle. Why are these cheaper? Because in a lot of RV parks electric is included in the rent.
When we bought our RV the table and benches were gone but that's fine too! We put a collapsible table there and it holds our toaster oven. This cost $90 at Walmart and it's a toaster oven on steroids. It is also a convection oven. The table also holds a larger microwave and coffee maker.
One thing I should mention about all these electric appliances is that you can't use them all at once or you will blow your breakers like crazy. To help with this problem we ran extension cords to the power pole because besides the main plug in for the RV it also has two standard house plugs. In these two plugs we plugged in the washer dryer combo and the window AC unit.
Now that you have a way to cook it you need to learn to shop cheap. If you have a computer use it. All grocery stores now list their ads online. One of the biggest ways to save money is to shop around. If you don't want to travel all over town that's not a problem either. Just copy the ad and shop at Walmart. They will match other's ads and save you gas money. Also look at special one day savings. For example every Wednesday Harvey's Grocery here in Brunswick will have a list of things they will sale for dirt cheap on that one day only. Food lion tends to have 3 days sales once or twice a month.
Also know the power of coupons. You can still get them in the paper but there are even more and better ones online. If there is any one named product that you like then go to their web page and look for printable coupons. If they have a sample then request it because the sample usually comes with a coupon. Also sign up for their emails and they tend to email you more coupons. Also look at their page on Facebook. It's crazy how many products now have pages on a social website. Make sure you like their page and every now and then you will see links to coupons show up on your news feed. Some grocery stores also have pages and will do the same thing.
Other money savers in an RV: One of the biggest costs I've found is the laundry mat. In this RV park the machines only cost $1.50 a load which is cheaper then I've seen elsewhere but it still adds up and you will find yourself looking in the sofa for quarters on a tight week. When we used the laundry mat it usually cost us $18 a week in laundry. When we bought this RV we saved money by buying an older RV and fixing it ourselves. With that savings we bought a washer dryer combo that was designed for RV's and runs off of 110v. Below is a link to where you can find them for sale but this isn't where we bought ours. We found ours used on Craigslist for $400 and it was only 6 months old.
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/splendide-2100xc-washer-dryer-combo-white/37344
http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites look under appliances or do a search
Another GREAT money saver for us is making our own laundry detergent. All the supplies cost around $20 (depending on where you shop) and our washer only takes one tablespoon an load. This laundry detergent lasts us about 6 month. Try that with Tide! Here is a link to how to make the laundry detergent and another for fabric softener.
http://www.howdoesshe.com/cheaper-and-better-diy-laundry-detergent/
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2013/07/homemade-fabric-softener-finally.html
If you haven't yet you should really check out Pinterest when you can. There are amazing DIY's for most everything from home made shower cleaner to home made shaving cream.
Another thing that will save you a lot of money is buying in bulk but there is a drawback in the fact that that requires more storage. My husband and I are lucky in the fact that we have to bunk beds in the back to stack things like bulk toilet paper and paper towels but not all RV's are that lucky. There is also the little used storage under the bed. The problem with that is it's a bugger to pick the thing up. A helpful thing, if you can afford it is bed lift kits. These are rods that you mount under the bed that help raise it. They look like what you would find on a hatchback car.
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/large-bedlift-kit/66716
In our RV we don't even have a gas stove anymore. We ripped it out and put a washer dryer combo there. More about the money saver later. On top of the washer dryer we put plywood that we will later replace with counter top. This has given us room to use an electric skillet, hot plate, and griddle. Why are these cheaper? Because in a lot of RV parks electric is included in the rent.
When we bought our RV the table and benches were gone but that's fine too! We put a collapsible table there and it holds our toaster oven. This cost $90 at Walmart and it's a toaster oven on steroids. It is also a convection oven. The table also holds a larger microwave and coffee maker.
One thing I should mention about all these electric appliances is that you can't use them all at once or you will blow your breakers like crazy. To help with this problem we ran extension cords to the power pole because besides the main plug in for the RV it also has two standard house plugs. In these two plugs we plugged in the washer dryer combo and the window AC unit.
Now that you have a way to cook it you need to learn to shop cheap. If you have a computer use it. All grocery stores now list their ads online. One of the biggest ways to save money is to shop around. If you don't want to travel all over town that's not a problem either. Just copy the ad and shop at Walmart. They will match other's ads and save you gas money. Also look at special one day savings. For example every Wednesday Harvey's Grocery here in Brunswick will have a list of things they will sale for dirt cheap on that one day only. Food lion tends to have 3 days sales once or twice a month.
Also know the power of coupons. You can still get them in the paper but there are even more and better ones online. If there is any one named product that you like then go to their web page and look for printable coupons. If they have a sample then request it because the sample usually comes with a coupon. Also sign up for their emails and they tend to email you more coupons. Also look at their page on Facebook. It's crazy how many products now have pages on a social website. Make sure you like their page and every now and then you will see links to coupons show up on your news feed. Some grocery stores also have pages and will do the same thing.
Other money savers in an RV: One of the biggest costs I've found is the laundry mat. In this RV park the machines only cost $1.50 a load which is cheaper then I've seen elsewhere but it still adds up and you will find yourself looking in the sofa for quarters on a tight week. When we used the laundry mat it usually cost us $18 a week in laundry. When we bought this RV we saved money by buying an older RV and fixing it ourselves. With that savings we bought a washer dryer combo that was designed for RV's and runs off of 110v. Below is a link to where you can find them for sale but this isn't where we bought ours. We found ours used on Craigslist for $400 and it was only 6 months old.
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/splendide-2100xc-washer-dryer-combo-white/37344
http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites look under appliances or do a search
Another GREAT money saver for us is making our own laundry detergent. All the supplies cost around $20 (depending on where you shop) and our washer only takes one tablespoon an load. This laundry detergent lasts us about 6 month. Try that with Tide! Here is a link to how to make the laundry detergent and another for fabric softener.
http://www.howdoesshe.com/cheaper-and-better-diy-laundry-detergent/
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2013/07/homemade-fabric-softener-finally.html
If you haven't yet you should really check out Pinterest when you can. There are amazing DIY's for most everything from home made shower cleaner to home made shaving cream.
Another thing that will save you a lot of money is buying in bulk but there is a drawback in the fact that that requires more storage. My husband and I are lucky in the fact that we have to bunk beds in the back to stack things like bulk toilet paper and paper towels but not all RV's are that lucky. There is also the little used storage under the bed. The problem with that is it's a bugger to pick the thing up. A helpful thing, if you can afford it is bed lift kits. These are rods that you mount under the bed that help raise it. They look like what you would find on a hatchback car.
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/large-bedlift-kit/66716
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