Live intentionally with less in a Skoolie
Living with less is a way of life that many people are choosing for themselves these days. When you live in a
- Avoid single use items & packaging
- Reassess areas prone to clutter frequently
- Make a place for everything, and everything in its place
- Build a capsule wardrobe
- Buy concentrate and dried food items
Avoid single use items & packaging
Single use items are just that – one time.
- If you need to use a plastic bag, try using it as many times as possible.
- When you purchase groceries, have them put the groceries directly into the cart instead of bagging them.
- Remove cardboard boxes around foods like cereal to reduce the waste inside your tiny home later.
- Instead of buying paper towels, use dish towels and reusable paper towels.
Reassess areas prone to clutter frequently
Purge your closet and pantry regularly so nothing has room to build up and expire. If I decided I didn’t like the cut or style of a piece of clothing, I just got rid of it – why keep something that doesn’t flatter you?
Do you have a junk drawer? Be brutal on that space.
Do you have a habit of collecting paper mail or receipts? Scan them into your phone with GeniusApp (free PDF scanner) and toss the paper. Log onto every account and request paperless statements.
Make a place for everything, and everything in its place
Clutter stresses our family out, even more so when living in a small space! We make a habit of putting things away right after we used them, like instead of putting the milk on the counter when you’re done (because someone else will want some), we put it straight in the fridge until someone wants some.
We have a designated area for shoes as you come in the door. Coats and bags go into a designated basket behind the driver’s seat or on a hook on the wall. Dirty laundry goes straight into the hamper.
On days when the clutter builds up, we take 10 minutes to clean up our space. Sometimes this happens a few times a day, but we all participate and it goes by quickly.
Buy concentrate and dried food items
Try shopping for foods that are shelf-stable and do not need to be refrigerated. One of the biggest generators of trash in our
JOI Plank Milk Concentrate
Ingrid loves oat milk, so she stumbled across a shelf-stable option that she has fallen in love with. JOI Plant Milk Concentrate is such a wonderful example of shelf-stable food choices. The small jar can make over 100 pitchers of plant-based milk, without any of the packaging. It’s so tasty too because you can make it how you want.
Get 10% off your first order with the code: Destination Unknown on JOI’s website.
Fresh Fruits & Veggies
When you do shop for fresh foods like fruits and vegetables make sure to properly store them in the crisper drawers in your fridge! That way they will not go bad prematurely. Battling fruit flies isn’t fun!
Choosing to living intentionally in a Skoolie
The one thing to think about with intentional living – is intentional planning and design for what you want your home to look like and how your home will serve you while you live in it. If you are intentional about what things and items will be in your home, it can go a long way.
There is a certain beauty and skill with living with less; however, there are headaches that come with it. It can definitely be overwhelming thinking of how you “have to get rid of ___” because there isn’t space in your tiny home.
You really have to flip your mindset instead to be “I can design my home to tailor to my lifestyle today.”
Ingrid Poole
In my opinion, living intentionally with less in a
My mental stress was less because I didn’t have a huge space to clean up every night; on laundry days, we would do “wash & fold” (a luxury) so laundry came back to us folded. I would spend 10+ hours a week on domestic labor when we lived in a traditional home!
Thanks for following our journey. – Ingrid & the HildeFam
