Tag Archives: airstream

Tuesday Thoughts: The Real Mistake

A failure is not always a mistake... the real mistake is to stop trying.

“A failure is not a mistake… the real mistake is to stop trying.”

Lately I’ve had a hard time keeping up with this blog. I love it, but sometimes it can be a real slog. I have a full-time job and a life. I see very little income from this endeavor and it’s easy to give up on it. No one is holding me accountable. It’s just me here. Negative thoughts can get to me from time to time, but I know that it would be a mistake to give up. My goal will always be to share my story of living small in order to help others do the same. It won’t change and I won’t stop trying.

Fist bump emoji and love,
melanie

What does “living small” mean?

What does living small mean?

I often talk about living small, but I don’t think I’ve ever defined it. I know many people talk about tiny living and the tiny house movement, but I don’t think that phrase is all-encompassing. It also seems that no one can agree on what constitutes “tiny.” I’ve seen measurements as small as 90 square feet up to 1,000 square feet. Living small, to me, is much less about the measurements and more about the lifestyle. Here’s what living small means to me:

Living below your means
Living small is first and foremost about living below your means. It’s looking at your budget and consciously renting or buying less than you can afford. It’s knowing that by sacrificing some physical room you open up other financial possibilities for yourself. It’s about more freedom.

Living with less stuff
Logistically, by living in a smaller house, you’ll have to live with less stuff. It’s physics or something! But it’s also about being aware of the things that you own. It’s knowing that things are just that… things. It’s knowing that the important things in life aren’t really things. The important things are people, experiences and happiness.

Make do and mend
Living small is also about making do with what you have. People who live small aren’t tempted by the biggest, shiniest new toy. They see potential in their old toys. They have a D.I.Y. attitude, and an entrepreneurial spirit. They know that they can put in the hard work and it will pay off.

Prioritizing your life
Living small is making intentional choices about what is important in your life. People who live small know that if they don’t prioritize their life, someone will prioritize it for them. By making a big, flashy house a priority, you intentionally or unintentionally give up some of your other priorities.

Living more life
People who live small know that by sacrificing space and things, they make more room in their life for life. With less mortgage payments, they can take that vacation they’ve always dreamed of. With less house maintenance, they can spend more time on beloved hobbies. And with more money they can work less and spend more time with family and friends.

Do you agree with my definition of “living small?” Do you live a small life? Would you like to share your house and story? Shoot me an email to be featured in a future blog post!

love,
melanie

How Much Does It Cost to Live in an Airstream?

How much does it cost to live in an AirstreamI get a lot of questions about the logistics of living in an Airstream. Let me be the first to say, the logistics are going to be different for everyone because everyone’s life is different. You might have two kids or five dogs. You might be retired. You might work from home. There are all kinds of logistics that will make your life different from mine. That being said, people are often interested in the true cost of living in an Airstream. Today I’m going to be answering the question: “How much does it cost to live in an Airstream?” by sharing what it costs for us to live in the Airstream.

If you aren’t familiar with our situation, let me give you a refresher. Hi! I’m Melanie. I am a librarian at a community college and I run this blog. I live with my husband, George who is an artist and our small (11 lb) dog, Bambi in our 1978 Airstream Sovereign. We currently have our Airstream parked on family land due to my traditional job situation. Here’s a breakdown of our monthly living costs and the reasoning behind the costs. Continue reading →

Ask Melanie: Is our family too big to live in an Airstream?

Bambi living large in the Airstream.

Bambi living large in the Airstream.

Happy “half-way through the week” day! (Hump day just sounds gross.) Anyway, I often receive emails from loyal readers and people who just randomly stumbled across my blog. Many times these people will have questions about the logistics of living in an Airstream, downsizing and how we live. I thought it might be helpful to others to share those emails so all my sage advice (ha!) can be shared with a wider audience. So, I’m starting a new column called “Ask Melanie.” Our first email is from Laurel, her dilemma boils down to this, “Is our family too big to live in an Airstream?” Continue reading →

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”

It doesn’t matter if your house, garage or list of accolades are expanding. What matters is that your courage, and in turn, your life are expanding.

Happy Tuesday!

love,
melanie

Spring Cleaning Our Airstream

Shiny again!

Shiny again!

George and I have been doing some major spring cleaning around the ol’ Airstream. We washed the Airstream, planted flowers, pulled weeds, and at 11:00 last night I decided I needed to recaulk our shower. Home improvement projects are like that. You start one and then realize you need to do five more.

The Before!

The Before!

It all started with our air conditioning system. It broke at the end of last summer. It was almost cool enough to where we didn’t need it, but not quite. So we bought a portable one instead of the rooftop unit. The portable one was less than half the price of the rooftop unit, but it did not work as well. The first one we had also had a piece fly off in the middle of the night. I woke up screaming. I’m pretty sure I lost a year off my life.

Since we have Bambi, we were really worried about it getting too hot in our tin can, so we shelled out the $600 dollars for a new rooftop unit. Or at least, George did. He’s been working a ton lately and that money went to a good cause.

Be careful!

Be careful!

Well, after we fixed the rooftop unit, we decided the Airstream needed a good wash. And it did. Lord, it did. The poor ol’ thing had endured some major weather since the last time we washed it and just rinsing the dirt off was an epic improvement.

My flowers!

My flowers!

George also surprised me with the flowers and I think they make our Airstream look much more homey.

Have done any sprucing up projects lately? Talk to me in the comments!

love,
melanie

 

Tuesday Thoughts: Ridiculous

ridiculous

“I end up not buying a lot of things, because I find them ridiculous.”

Most stuff we have isn’t stuff we need. It’s ridiculous stuff that we thought we wanted for a fleeting moment and then never used again. It’s ridiculous stuff that we got as a gift and didn’t want to throw away. It’s ridiculous new stuff that we thought we needed when the old would’ve done just fine. There’s enough ridiculous in our lives without buying more.

love,
melanie

Airstream Organization

Airstream Spice Organization

This weekend was a rainy one, so if I had to stay inside for most of the weekend, I decided that I might as well be productive. I tried not to spend every last dime of my birthday money at the Container Store, but it organizational gizmos are better than candy to me. I may have had to stifle my urge to skip through the store.

I did spend most of my birthday money, but it was well worth it. I’ve been meaning to give some of the cabinets and drawers in the Airstream a little sprucing up for a while, but I just haven’t gotten around to it.

Airstream Cabinet Organization

Before and After

Looking at the drawers, cabinets and closets now, I feel so much better.

Airstream Pantry Organization

One problem with the Airstream is that it has super deep cabinets. This is great for storing a lot of stuff, but it’s not great for remembering that you have 15 cans of potatoes. I got these holders that are intended for canned drinks in the fridge, but I used them for canned goods in our “pantry.” Now I can see everything we have to eat.

Airstream Utensil Organization

Before and After

I had always wanted to organize our utensil drawer, but George balked at it every single time I mentioned it. Sorry, honey, you have to organize our utensils now when you put them away. It had to be done! My sanity was at stake.

Sometimes it’s the little things in a little space that make such a difference.

How was your weekend? Let me know in the comments!

love,
melanie

Happy Birthday to me!

baby me!

baby me!

In the past I’ve written goals for my birthday. I’ve set a lot of them: 27 before 27 and 27 before 28, but this year for my birthday, I’m giving myself a break. Sure, I’ve got goals and super big, super secret things I want to and will accomplish this year, but for now I’m practicing the art of leaving things undone.

I’m a seasoned “do-er.” I’m a list-maker. I’m committed and hard-working and fastidious. But I’m also often stressed out and burned out and quite frankly, tired. I don’t want to make even one goal, but if anything, this year, I want to learn how to relax. I want to learn how to relax and still accomplish things. I want to learn how to take a break and I want to learn how to not count my self-worth by my to-dos.

How have you practiced the art of leaving things undone? Let me know in the comments!

love,
melanie

Tuesday Thoughts: Too Many People

"Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like."

“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.”

Don’t keep up with the Joneses. You don’t even like them. It’s time to impress yourself.

love,
melanie