Filed under: Small housing ideas
On Monday we took a quick drive to an RV dealer my wife had seen as she drove by it a few times.
Most of the RVs we saw were not laid out well enough to actually live in. Not that the space was not enough in some, but did not like how it was designed.
It was as if they found some space left over, and stuck a cabinet in it. It didn’t seem to matter what the average person might need to store, just that a cabinet might fit there. Any cabinet would do, even if it might only have space for a 6 pack of soda, or 2 rolls of toilet paper.
I have to say that I was very disappointed with the quality in the majority of the RVs. I know that many people trample through them, and may not treat them with the respect they would if they owned it. However, I believe that is how you judge how something will age over time.
If someone tells you that a piece of furniture has had too many people sitting in it. Say it is a floor model, and you accept that it has had more than its normal share of use, wouldn’t it really tell you how it would age over a longer period of time?
You know the cardboard pieces you tack on the back of most bookcases these days? That thick paper board that is trying to look like a piece of wood, but fails horribly? It was many times the bottom or back of a closet, and was sometimes terribly damaged.
If you could take 20 different RVs and pick and choose all the different items you like, and lay everything out, and then choose products that aren’t going to offgas and stink for a long, long, long time, then an RV might be an idea. I know many people live in them, but I can’t even imagine how with what we saw.
Does anyone live in an RV? Have you made any custom changes? How is the insulation? Do you have pictures? Are you happy? Anything you don’t like?
I have always hated reading advice on how to save money in ways that are saving you just a couple pennies, and taking you an hour for those two pennies. Or in ways that result in dissatisfaction.
Imagine saving up all your little soap bits. You find a little container to save them in. Then find a place for your container. After a year, you may have enough chips to equal a half bar of soap. Unless your soap is worth its weight in gold I would suggest this is not a worthwhile endeavor.
Save that tea bag, and use it again. Gotta love that hot water with a hint of tea in it. Just enough flavor to make it not taste like water, but it does not taste like a good cup of tea either.
SO….. the question is how to save more money that proves to actually be worth the effort.
Today, I purchased a container of trimmer line for my weed whacker. It was $4.71 for 300 feet (including tax).
To purchase 3 spools of pre-wound line at 30 ft each would have cost me $17.81. So, lets do the math on this….. My spool cost 47 cents for the line, and 10 minutes of my time.
I did 2 of them while watching a movie, and timed the second one to see how long it actually took me. Looking at the 3 pack (which saves money versus buying 1 at a time) a single spool costs $5.94. At a savings of $5.47 this would be equivalent to $32.82 per hour (or 6 spools).
The majority of the U.S. does not earn $32.82 per hour. If you wish to delve further into this, when you consider taxes paid on money you earn, this would be closer to earning $43.76 if you paid 25% in taxes.
Share some ways you save money that has a great impact.
Taxes (while important) should not be dismissed when saving money. This year tax freedom day was 4/13/2009. When you save money, also think about how much you would have to earn (before taxes)
Information on tax freedom day 2009
