The unexpected things no one tells you about RV living

So what are some MUST haves in an RV with 7 people???

I tend to get odd looks a lot on a daily basis… and particularly when asked how I can “squeeze” 7 people into an RV full time.  But you might find it surprising that now that we are all moved in I have empty storage and empty drawers left over!!!

I have never been a big fan of clutter anyways so this was my chance to do away with it all!

Now that being said, we do have a small storage for out of season clothes, family keepsakes and heirlooms and our mattresses for when we decide to settle down again.

But for those curious… here are a few things I found absolutely necessary:

• large crock pot
• 16 qt stock pot
• silverware
• plastic dishes (until we can get tin since it’s light and better than plastic)
• giant flat screen TV that is used as TV (antenna on RV), computer monitor and DVD’s (ok… not so much for me but for Jerry… ha)
• sleeping bags for all the kids and pillows for everyone and a few extra blankets
• sheets and quilt for big bed
• in season clothes
• a couple of those rubbermaid drawers as dressers
• shoes for everyone
• dirty clothes hamper
• FOOD… LOL
• one large skillet
• the one heavy item I demanded… my large cast iron skillet
• one small basket of toys
• one cabinet full of books including school books
• 1 small rubbermaid drawers for colors, glue, scissors, tape, pens, pencils and erasers
• my bookkeeping/ record keeping system (which is really just a few  3 ring binders)
• 1 small trash can
• 1 rooster wall hanging (of COURSE that was necessary!) 😉
• DVD’s
• CD’s
• marble jar reward system (I’ll blog about that another time)
• herbs, homeopaths and medicines
• toiletries
• towels
• Milburn Mercantile merchandise and blanks to become merchandise
• diapers (cloth and sposies)
• 1 small basket of toys
• cooking utensils
• kitchen towels
• salad spinner (as it is 2 colanders, 1 large mixing bowl AND a salad spinner)
• kitchen knives
• 2 small tool sets for Jerry
• sand and water toys for summer (which will be stored after summer while it’s cold)

That’s basically it.

Now… TIP NUMBER ONE to ALL large families (or anyone) considering fulltiming it…

Find an RV park with sewer hook ups (a rare find you will find) or get you one of THESE bad boys…

This is a portable holding tank for your gray water (sink and shower water that you otherwise would have to dump and this family of 7, who does not even shower in the coach, dumps once every other day and we STILL end up overflowing).  This way you don’t have to “batten down the hatches” every other day to dump your rig… you can hook this on to the back of your car and just roll it on down to the dumping station and dump all that yuckiness without moving your rig a bit!

THIS is next on our list to obtain.

NUMBER 2 RECOMMENDATION:
Call ahead to ask how many people they let stay in one spot.  MANY RV parks won’t allow more than 2 or 3 people and even if they do they charge ridiculous fees for each additional person… and family friendly does NOT mean large family friendly.  LOL  The place we stay in now allows only 6 people per space but made an allowance since #7 was a baby.  🙂

NUMBER 3 RECOMMENDATION:
Most RV’s have propane water heaters and ovens/ stoves… and if you don’t know this already… propane doesn’t last long and is expensive to replace.  So have your propane water heater converted into an electric with a Hybrid kit!!  This is also handy since the parks we look at include electric (though some read your meter at your site and charge accordingly or charge extra for electric … we take advantage of  “electric included” when we can!)

Many more RV tips to come!