If It Takes Some Money to Improve Your Quality of Life, Spend It

I learned this by adding one thing to my full-time RV lifestyle

*This story includes affiliate links. I earn income from purchases through this link, which is clearly identified in the post.*

That title should be taken with caution. In no way do I mean that you should go into an astronomical amount of debt to purchase a mansion or a Cadillac because you believe it will “improve your quality of life.”

No, no, no, hun. What I mean is that if you need to budget yourself to spend some money that will make your life easier, then do it!

I’m not one for cliches, but there is some truth to “Money can’t buy you happiness,” but I think it’ll help you get there eventually in some cases.

My husband and I have always been on the froogle-side, but mainly due to feeling like we “don’t need” anything. After all, we are full-time RVers living a minimalist lifestyle. How much do we really need? (Answer: Enough to fit in approximate 400 square feet worth of space.)

Although we don’t find ourselves needing many materialistic things any longer, I realized that there have been a few times our quality of life diminished for the sake of saving a few bucks. There was even a point that I started to feel guilty about spending money.

As a full-time RVer, you learn to change habits that generally accompany a typical stick n’ bricks lifestyle. For example, every few days, we need to dump our black and grey tanks. No problem despite a minor inconvenience that is mitigated since I dump them when I’m on my morning walk anyways. Another instance is the laundry. We don’t own a washer or dryer and I’m going to keep it that way. I use the community laundry mat, and I love it (except for lugging my laundry over there), but I use that time to read and write while the machines do the hard work.

Recently, I have been facing one particular RV lifestyle challenge that made me hit a small wall of unhappiness: Washing the dishes has become the bane of my existence!

I miss having a dishwasher.

I don’t miss having a yard because that’s one thing to maintain, mow, and keep clean. Tub? Forget it. I’d rather use my inflatable hot tub and look up at the stars drinking a piña colada. But, a dishwasher….I miss you mi amor.

I am an avid meal-prepper. I will spend 1–2 Saturdays a month to make enough lunches (and occasional breakfasts or dinners) that will last us a little over 30 days. I find that it is a great way to maintain my health, watch my nutrition, and it ends up freeing more time for me to do other things later. (Like writing on Medium and work on my Kindle Vella short story).

Unfortunately, the pros of meal-prep have one major con: Dishes. Lots and lots of dishes. Although I meal prep all day on a Saturday, I spend all day Sunday hand-washing dishes. Even during the workweek, I have a small pile of Tupperware to wash to reuse for my next meal batch.

Keeping up with dishes in an RV is tough, and I felt that nauseating feeling of unhappiness churning in my gut. I was not going to let some dirty dishes cloud my lifestyle enjoyment.

I didn’t want to hire a plumber to come into my RV and rig up some dishwasher contraption with hopes it wouldn’t leak. Also, weight is a huge factor to take into consideration now and not just space. Our house is on top of tires, after all. The last thing I want to do is drive down I-10 then my axle breaks from too much weight.

After a little bit of research, I found my solution: A countertop dishwasher.

I had no idea these things existed! It’s a game-changer, folks.

No longer am I having to wash my dishes by hand, and it’s another way for me to free up something even more valuable: Time.

No wonder why a small community of boaters, and college dormers opt for this tiny mechanical miracle. It’s small, quiet, and weighs only 36 pounds.

Watching my tiny Faberware Countertop Dishwasher (*affiliate link) doing the hard work for me, I could not help but think, “I should have bought this sooner.” My happiness was skyrocketing. Was I bummed I spent some money? A little. However, knowing that my quality of life outweighs the cost of a few Benjamins, it is worth every penny.

Although it is essential to save, it should not come at the cost of sacrificing happiness or making your life hell. What’s the point of having money if I do not spend it on something worth spending on?

Make your purchases wisely, my friends!

If you are interested to know how I hooked it up, I suggest checking out my Instagram Reel where I posted a video how. 👇‍

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crystalawalker_/

Curious to learn more about the RV lifestyle? I recommend these articles ⬇️

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