Every Bit of Space Counts

Living in a car means that every last bit of my 23-square-foot home has to count. No room can be wasted. However, I have to reserve a fairly large percentage of that for a bed area. That includes about half of the backseat area and nearly half of the trunk. So I'm left with the rest (maybe 12 square feet) for storage. I actually have a storage container under my pillow, so even some of my bed area has a dual use.

I bought a set of plastic stacking drawers at Wal-Mart for about $15. I can hold a fair amount of clothes and supplies in those drawers, and the main benefit is that by 'going vertical' with drawers, I use every bit of my available floor space.

Drawers, or any time of stackable storage for that matter, force us to be neater and more organized.

I'm learning to acquire smaller products, too. For example, I used to have a full-size flashlight, but it just took up too much space. I bought a miniature LED flashlight instead, which gives off just as much light and takes up possibly one-fifth the space of the big one.

I used to own a 17-inch laptop computer, with all the bells and whistles. But living in a car, there's simply not space for such a large machine. Instead, I replaced it with an IPad. The IPad, along with a Bluetooth keyboard, takes care of 90% of my computing needs. For anything more serious, I'm able to use a computer at my job after hours.

Big things, such as winter clothing, what little furniture I have left, many of my books, and my CD/DVD collection are left at an off-site storage facility. It doesn't cost me very much to maintain those belongings there. And if I really try, I can forsee a day when I won't even need that storage unit.

Since I've tried to reduce my wardrobe now that I live in my car, I have to wash clothes more often. I make time to do a wash at least once a week at a local laundry facility. And I do store a small amount of laundry soap (the smallest package they sell at the Dollar Tree, actually) in my car, along with a small package of dryer sheets.

Over the last few months, I've tried to obtain the smallest version of everything that I need. Instead of large headphones, I use tiny earbuds. Instead of buying and carrying bulky books, I purchase e-books to read on my Kindle.

Mainly, though, the key to living in a tiny space is being content with fewer material things. Sure, it would be nice to have a TV, but I don't really need one. Besides, I can get my TV fix through the Hulu app on my Ipad. It might be nice to have a kitchen table to eat my dinner, but I can make do by eating at a picnic table in the park. It might be nice to have a stove or microwave to make my own food in my car, but I don't really need one. I can eat dinner quite well with cold food, like salads and sandwiches. And if I need an occasional warm dinner, I can warm something up in the microwave at work or eat at a restaurant.

And in case you're wondering, I don't spend all of my non-working waking hours in my car. I use my car for sleeping and for changing clothes. Sometimes I eat dinner in my car, and I watch videos on my Ipad or listen to satellite radio in the evenings for an hour or so. But other than that, I spend time in other public places -- living around my car, not always in it.