Why We Decided to Live in a Fifth Wheel

As you may know, we decided to move from a 4,200 square feet home outside of Indianapolis to a fifth wheel parked in central Illinois. 

So why would a family of four leave their large home in a big city to move into a fifth wheel parked in the middle of pretty much nowhere?  I would love to explain.

SAVE MONEY

Our first reason for living in a fifth wheel is to save money.  Not only are we hoping to save money in general, we are hoping to save money for a hefty down payment to build a house.  We anticipate saving money three ways.

• Reducing our monthly bills
• Spending less money in general due to space
• Less interest paid on student loans due to paying them off early

By living in a fifth wheel we reduce our monthly bills significantly.  We will no longer have a rent payment, which was $1750 per month for our home outside of Indianapolis.  We will be using well water so we will not be paying a water bill.  We will not have cable so we will no longer have a cable bill.

We will spend less money in general due to the lack of space.  For example buying clothes and shoes will be limited because we don't have space for more clothes.  Right now I have a very large closet and I tend to buy shoes and clothes even though I don't really need them.  I have tons of clothes and shoes but I don't wear most of them so when space is very limited I will not be buying as much as I have now.  Another example of spending less due to lack of space is not buying as many toys for the kids.  The kids have plenty of space at the house for toys in their rooms and closets however space in the fifth wheel is not as ample. I plan on putting most of their current toys in storage and having them go every few weeks and switch out toys so it's like getting new toys to play with every few weeks without the cost and without taking up space in the fifth wheel.

Another way we will be saving money by living in a fifth wheel is by having the ability to pay off our student loans quicker which means less interest that we have to pay on the loans in the long run. 

LIVE CLOSER TO FAMILY

Currently we live about an hour and a half from our families.  Both of our parents and siblings live in central Illinois so that is where we are going to move.  In fact, the location we are parking our fifth wheel is on Cody's family farm.  It is 20 acres and his parents' home is there as well as the farm headquarters.  We will be living right next to his parents while my parents and siblings live about 15 minutes from there. 

START PLANTING ROOTS

This reason is not necessarily why we decided to live in a fifth wheel; it is more why we decided to park it at Cody's family farm.  We have a seasonal campsite, also located in central Illinois about an hour west of the farm, however we did not want to park the fifth wheel there to live.  Although out seasonal site is in the campground that made me absolutely love camping, or some would call "glamping", it is not the location where I wanted the kids to go to school.  Since we plan to eventually build a house at the farm it makes sense to live in the fifth wheel at the farm so the kids can start going to the school that they will go to when we build our house (which is the same school Cody went to). 

Another benefit of parking it at the farm is that Cody will have the opportunity to help his dad around the farm.  He already talks of all his big ideas to make the farm better and grow the farm.  So not only will he be happy to help around the farm, I'm sure his parents will appreciate the help.

Coming from living on a busy street in a city, I never thought I'd have any interest in living in the country but Cody's love for the farm rubbed off on me and I couldn't even image moving back to the city I grew up in.

SIMPLIFY

Lastly, living in a fifth wheel will help us simplify our lives.  Sometimes life gets so busy with doing things and crowded with actual things that life starts to seem chaotic.  Chaos is the opposite of peace and God is a peaceful God so if we want to be like God we need to have a sense of peace in our lives.  I know getting rid of possessions and being away from all the hustle and bustle of a city is just a step in simplifying our lives but it is our first step towards having a simpler life.