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Elite Veteran
Posts: 682
  
Location: Northwest | Our family of three lived in a 41' toyhauler for 10 months. I LOVED it. It was rather roomy and that probably made the difference. Not much to clean which was great. Did get a bit chilly in the winter. My husband got a bit stir crazy in it but I could have lived in it for years. |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| I've lived in mine for five years. It has four slide outs and is 34'. I love it absolutely. I've met, dated, lived with, and married my husband while living there. I figured it we could make it in a camper, we could make it anywhere!
One of the most important things about camper living is an Essential Oils mister. Smells are amplified in a camper. Like majorly. Cook bacon, smell bacon for three days. I'm addicted to Essential Oils to keep the house right.
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Veteran
Posts: 291
| You can always get larger propane bottles or a small tank, would be kind of a pain to always be packing the little ones to get filled. |
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  Witty Enough
Posts: 2954
Location: CTX | I haven't done it, but since it won't be forever, I would be willing to do it. You will be saving all the money you are putting in the rental now, so you can put that all towards building the house.
Just have to make sure you get one that is winterized. Maybe out haybales around the outside and underneath it to insulate it more from the ground up.
The only reason I would not do it would be if you can't hook it up to a septic system. Other than that I wouldn't have any objection. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 550
| whiplashranch - 2015-09-09 9:31 PM
Sorry if this has been addressed but my question would also be septic? Will you have to be hooking up to dump the tanks somewhere or can you tap into a septic system? We lived in an RV when I was little and we were waiting on our house to be finished. I don't remember a whole lot except that one night, we went and stayed in the unfinished house because the fireplace was at least done and we were freezing out in that thing!
I thought about the septic too, but since you are building on the property, could you go ahead and install whatever system you will be using for the home once it is built? We have a septic tank, and I talked to someone who had a camper site added, and they were able to add something to the septic tank to empty in too. I don't know if they hooked to it all the time, or just went over to it when it needed to be dumped. |
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Expert
Posts: 1314
Location: North Central Iowa Land of white frozen grass | At this time of year I think that you would be better off staying in your rental right now and move in the spring to the camper. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 672
| quikchik - 2015-09-10 7:38 AM
whiplashranch - 2015-09-09 9:31 PM
Sorry if this has been addressed but my question would also be septic? Will you have to be hooking up to dump the tanks somewhere or can you tap into a septic system? We lived in an RV when I was little and we were waiting on our house to be finished. I don't remember a whole lot except that one night, we went and stayed in the unfinished house because the fireplace was at least done and we were freezing out in that thing!
I thought about the septic too, but since you are building on the property, could you go ahead and install whatever system you will be using for the home once it is built? We have a septic tank, and I talked to someone who had a camper site added, and they were able to add something to the septic tank to empty in too. I don't know if they hooked to it all the time, or just went over to it when it needed to be dumped.
Yes, we can hook up right to the septic system that is in place - I checked that first!! |
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 Famous for Not Complaining
Posts: 8848
Location: Broxton, Ga | veintiocho - 2015-09-08 2:36 PM
What are your thoughts to living in a camper for a while? Any stories? I want to hear the good, bad & ugly!
My husband and I are looking into getting a camper and moving into it this fall, staying in it for 6mo to a year, just depending. We are currently renting a house with land and have our own land out a ways on the other side of town. The plan is to move a modular home out to the new place next summer/fall.
Right now as it is, we are torn between the upkeep & rent of our current, rental property, & putting in new fences/fixing up the land we will be moving out to. It is too time consuming and expensive to be putting $$$$ into both places, so our solution would be to move out to the land and live in a camper for a while. The place has a large, insulated out building that we could make somewhat homey and use for storage so we’d technically have more than just the camper to be in.
How are they to heat? Our winters get pretty cold and I don’t want to freeze to death!
Any advice? Are we crazy to think it’ll be fine and we won’t kill each other? haha!
We lived in one for 2 yrs.......while we basically rebuilt a house on our property.......it was a 28ft motor home.....a little different but we survived.......I would look into getting a propane gas tank hooked into for the winter months it doesn't take long to need propane in the colder months.......that way you can have the tank filled hopefully once a season and not have to move you camper......... |
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
| veintiocho - 2015-09-09 4:34 PM lindseylou2290 - 2015-09-09 3:54 PM We got ousted from our rental situation and literally had 4 days to move (long story of landlord's selling without our knowledge). So, we bought a used, older travel camper 5th wheel and plopped it at my boarding barn that had a spot .... for 10 months.
The BAD - We live in KS, so the temps can get cold but the wind and ice are what'll kill you here in the winters. Get one with heated tanks and that is made for -10 temps. Ours was, but at times it was still kinda difficult to heat - even though we made our own skirting with plywood and insulation. In the summer, the AC worked really well and it was great in there.
The space is SMALL ... it may seem fairly large when you start, but after MONTHS you'll want your own space. Thankfully we had the run of the farm place; we used the shop and horse barns to get away from eachother when needed.
The refridgerator space is never enough and the ovens are always TINY. I LOVE to cook real food from scratch. I also bake quite alot. I bought new pans and cookie sheets as NONE of my bakeware would actually fit in the space allowed.
Most of the time you'll have to do laundry off site, the super expensive ones have laundries ... ours did not.
The GOOD - We saved money like CRAZY!!! We literally saved enough to flesh out our downpayment for 80 acres with a house and barns on it. If you're disciplined, you can do it too.
The small space was darn quick to clean. Even with 2 Border Collies living in there with us, once a week was plenty.
I learned much more about my DH than I ever thought possible, good and bad. But, I truly believe we're stronger for it.
By sacrificing short term, we were able to put ourselves in a position to chase our dreams.
ADIVCE - Get a permanent LP/propane tank dropped wherever you choose to place your camper. We did this and rented the tank from the company so we didn't have to refill literally every other day.
Enjoy a more a simplified life! It's not that bad and can totally be a step up in some areas too.
Good Luck! Thank you!! We have a 500 gallon propane take that we would hook up to and I think we can get a washer/dryer hooked up in the shop. My cooking skills are still about 3rd grade level so I don't think we'll be missing too much there.  Everyones replies are quite helpful and making me feel better about this 
I also forgot to mention ..... think about how you'll empty the spetic. Often, we kept ours in the tank (where it was heated) and then emptied it when the temperatures allowed .... |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | When I was young we lived in a camper in AZ in the winter. We were outside all the time roping and doing stuff with the horses and jumping on the trampoline....we also stayed with someone so meals were cooked at the house and all we did was sleep in the camper. I think I would go nuts as an adult and in the cold winter. Could you find just a really cheap, small apartment?
Edited by hammer_time 2015-09-11 7:38 PM
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Meanest Teacher!!!
Posts: 8555
Location: sunny california | I think I would put up a garage with a small 3/4 bathroom and laundry area in one corner. then the opposite corner would have a wood stove and a very small kitchenette. then I could have a livingroom area and bedroom area.in the other corners. later when I built the house I could just attach!
things I need:
Heat/air
taking a regular shower
full size fridge
sink to wash dishes
a counter/table
stove/oven & microwave
desk
regular bed with a good mattress
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 Banjo and Baby
Posts: 7259
Location: South of Canada and North of Mexico | My husband has lived all most fulltime in ours for the last 8 years. Many do (check out the FB groups). We have been where its cold and where its not so cold, ours does NOT have a winter insulation package (polar, 4 season, arctic etc) but do have an enclosed heated underbelly. Living in a camper during COLD can be a challange but is doable. You need to insulate like crazy, run a dehumidifer, space heaters under and in the camper. I can give better specifics if you want. Most hot water heaters are 6 gal, some are 10 or 12. We have a 6, it takes getting used to but you have plenty of time to wash face, hair and condition.. shaving might need to be done at a later time. If you are able to put a camper in a shop that will help even if not insualted just keeping it out of the wind.
My hubby's home :-)
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Banjo and Baby
Posts: 7259
Location: South of Canada and North of Mexico | Forgot, we have 50amp which allows us to have a W/D Combo. LOVE my little washer, we have a small 8cf fridge but have a small deep freezer as well, helps not having to go to the grocery store every other day. |
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