fulltiming with children

My husband and I will be buying our first fifth wheel and setting to go full time within two months or sooner. I am trying my hardest to condense to the simplest of things we will need. I have two little girls, ages 3 and 7months. My first question is how to handle season changes and wardrobes? I was going to put anything we want to have when we finally settle down in a small storage unit. Should I also keep clothes? I honestly don't know how often we will get back to our hometown. We might not for a few years. Is it worth it, if we have the extra space in storage? Wont the clothes take up a lot of space? We wont have too much space but we are looking at the bunk house trailers that have the extra room in the back so they have a room. ANY advice is appreciated. This is going to be a huge change and fun, new, exciting, and I imagine stressful change and adaption.

My opinion is to not take anything with you that you don't absolutely need and are planning on using. Otherwise you end up using all your storage space for things that are unnecessary, and storage space is at a premium in an RV. The sad truth is that you won't really know what you will really need until you start doing it. At seven months and three years they will be growing out of their clothes on a regular basis so I would wait until you actually need different outfits before buying any extra clothes then get the sizes they need at that time. Thrift shops sell clothes fairly cheaply so I wouldn't worry about expense.

Will you be settled in one spot for months at a time?  Or moving around regularly?  Consignment shops, garage sales, and Craigslist should become your best friend.  Kids clothes are really cheap at all those locations (and can be re-sold via the first two avenues), and they can easily be found all around the country... assuming you'll be somewhat near populated areas, and have a reliable internet connection wherever you go.  Depending on where you settle, you might even run across other fulltiming families with kids and you could swap stuff depending on their kids' ages.

A storage unit would be okay for some stuff, but wouldn't seem worth it to pay a monthly fee to store clothing.  It might get musty or mildewy sitting in hot storage, and you could be hundreds (thousands?) of miles away from what you need at any given point.

we would both be staying for months and traveling a lot. My husband is a crane operator and we have decided to follow contracts. I figured we could do thrift shops and classified for things kid related. Specifically for the baby since if we are somewhere 3 months, she will grow past that stage, so just resale. I am hoping to be slightly more prepared then first hand learning experiences. Those sometimes suck. We are excited but trying really hard to realistic.

We have been full-timing for 5 years and we have 16 and a 19 year old girls...and I have got to say that CLOTHES take up good 90% of our storage space.

About every 3 months, the missus takes the girls thrift-shopping and they buy all new wardrobes, usually for less than about 30 bucks a head.  The old stuff usually gets donated back to the same thrift shop.  It is like a revolving closet that always gets restocked with new/different stuff, so the clothes stay fresh and the girls get to flex their shopping bones regularly without breaking the bank.  Its a win-win all around.

Find the thrift stores in the area you are visiting and go early on whatever their regular "sale day" is to get the most bang for your buck.  That is what my wife and girls do.

In the interests of being realistic (and hearing my wife's voice in my head with her degree in early childhood development and 14 years teaching experience), I would speculate that a larger problem than clothes would be toys...where most kids have boxes of toys and a yard to play with them in, your children will be more noticeably limited by the amount of room their toy box, and their "backyard" is about to become a parking lot..  Quality toys and manipulatives (duplo, erector, tinkertoy) vs quantity toys (happy meal giveaways and action figures) will need to be weighed heavily against one another if you expect children not to get bored indoors on stay-inside days and learn from playing.

To give yourself a preview of what RV life is about to be like, move into the RV for a week while it is parked in your driveway (before the house goes away) and let everyone get used to it while all the comforts of a stick-and-brick home still exist.  It will make the transition easier and give you a very good idea what lies ahead of you.

Cheers!

That is a great idea. I was thinking something similar but wasn't sure. As far as toys go we will try to keep a tub underneath of toys so we can revolve them in and out. Plus legos and crafts so it can grow with them. Outside toys are a must but I have a carpet in mind that is great for outdoors and I was going to use the classifieds and yard sales and thrift shops to try to find an outdoor play equipment that we can resale when we move. We are going to be in a place for months or weeks so it will depend on our contract.

Also we are getting a fifth with an extra bunkhouse so the kids have their own space. We just need to make sure we will keep in control of their room and toys. It will be hard since I love buying my kids toys but that is another expense we will save on.

We are living full time in a travel trailor w/ bh / 4 little kids.. 3 girls ages 6, 5, 3 and 10 mo boy) my husband is a traveling electrician and we, too, travel from job to job.... I get the thing with clothes and toys lol. I do have a storage unit back home to keep stuff in and hope to at least go 2 a year, or more if possible.  I brought in season clothes (about 7-10 play outfits and a few "dressy" outfits.)  As for toys, we brought 1 bigger item (barbie camper) because that's what they're into right now and a few barbies etc.  I basically bought a filing tote to put the barbies,etc in. And a seperate tote for books.  It works out very well.  They enjoy their toys so much more now! It will take some time, but I think you will really enjoy it.  Good luck!!

Thank you. We are in the process of cleaning out of stuff. We had a significant death in my family and things got put on hold for a few weeks.