tight quarters Living on a 25-foot boat was only supposed to be temporary , but Jim Smith loved it so much he stayed there for a year . `` I have lived in a 25-foot sailboat , a 28-foot motor home , a 32-foot sailboat and now an 800 square-foot apartment , '' Smith said in his iReport . `` I was happiest with the 25-foot sailboat . '' While docked in Panama City , Florida , Smith kept his expenses to a minimum . The marina slip rent was only $ 200 and electricity was included in the rent , he said . The boat did not have refrigeration so Smith kept his food inside an insulated ice box . For 79 cents at the discount grocery store , he could buy a 10-pound bag of ice that would last him several days , even during the summer . Air conditioning was n't a luxury Smith had either , but fans and sea breezes kept him cool . `` Sometimes the less you have , the more you like it , '' he said . The portable lifestyle also charmed a father-son duo who set out on a yearlong
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Kate Meinhardt felt like a clown jammed into a Volkswagen bug when she lived in a 21-square-foot room aboard a circus train . Kate Meinhardt crammed her life into a 21-square-foot room while she lived aboard a circus train . Bungee cords crisscrossed her walls once a week to prevent an avalanche of items from raining down . A microwave , mini refrigerator , her laptop and baskets of personal items lined the dorm-like room . Showering , going to the bathroom and even doing laundry became racing contests on the train , Meinhardt said . The 13 people on board shared one shower , two toilets and one washer and dryer . `` It 's a pretty tough life living in such a small space , '' she said . The 23-year-old spent almost a year as an animal handler for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus . While most iReporters have n't run off to join the circus , some have traded in their homes for smaller digs . One iReporter even opted for a floating lifestyle , where he could sail away at a moment 's notice . iReport.com : Living in