Author Topic: Mustachian tips for living in Jackson Hole? Or anywhere that's far from a city?  (Read 4038 times)

Fuzz

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Hi MMM Community -

I'm moving out to JH for a new job and am curious if anyone has any frugality tips specific to the area. I'm definitely planning to get rich with nature, per MMM's instructions. So I'll be spending a lot of time outside. I've never lived in the Rockies or in a place that's a 10 hr drive to a big town.

I imagine that transportation costs are embedded in everything, so I'm thinking about getting an Amazon Prime account for things like toilet paper. Other ideas include doing Craigslist shopping for used goods when I visit my family in larger cities. Not sure if it's possible to do mustachian skiing at a resort, but would love ideas on how to score cheaper tickets for all the places around the area.

One of the longer term mustachian ideas would be to have a condo that's easy to rent out in the high seasons. Maybe plan my own vacations around when I can rent it easily.

Pretty pumped for the move.

Jamesqf

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Don't want to puncture your illusions, but you are not going to be leaving civilization behind.  You can, in fact, buy toilet paper in Jackson Hole :-)

For cheap skiing, go cross-country.

unitsinc

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I work near Jackson Hole and travel through there fairly often.

It's actually a really nice place.

Quite touristy, so don't expect much cheap. It's actually really expensive. Harrison Ford lives there, so you can sometimes see him around town.

There is a saying that the billionaires are pushing out the millionaires, if that gives you any idea of the pricing of the place.

But really, you can get anything you need there. It's not very backwater at all.

Fuzz

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Thanks for the replies. I'm sorry I wasn't clear. You can certainly get anything in Jackson--in fact it's probably easier to get luxury goods there than almost anywhere else.

I was more thinking about ways to minimize the tourist/transportation premium at the grocery store. For example, a 6 pack was $10. My sense is that it would be worth it to get Amazon Prime for things that you can get anywhere but would be a little more expensive because it's Jackson.

I like the idea of cross country skiing. I can't believe that didn't occur to me. I love to snowboard so downhill is what I picture when I imagine world sports.

Thanks for the replies.

SpendyMcSpend

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Depending how advanced you are, you can get a guide to go hiking as a group of friends instead of buying lift tickets.  Not sure how that would work out (if it's cheaper) but worth a look.

grantmeaname

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How far is it to civilization? Could you go to Costco like twice a year and stock up on beer and toilet paper that way?

capital

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Are you moving to the town itself, or to an outlying area? It looks like the town is small enough that, so long as you're living and working in town, you'll never actually need to drive, and there are nice side streets and trails to bike on. Isolated small towns often have a driving culture, but you can easily opt out when the whole town is three miles wide at its broadest.

If you're in town, things aren't that different from a neighborhood in a bigger city-- you have a grocery store from which you'll buy your fresh foods, and it looks like there's a dollar store in town too-- figure out what you can get good deals on there, and generally shop around for the best prices in town. If the grocery store is dramatically overpriced on nonperishable items or you need other sorts of goods, it looks like there's a Walmart 80 miles away, so occasionally make trips to stock up on nonperishable stuff, share trips with a neighbor if you can, or use Amazon. But for fresh stuff, it probably doesn't pay to make 160 mile round trips regularly to save $1 a pound or whatever.

Oftentimes in a small town, you'll find used stuff for sale on a bulletin board in a grocery store or coffeeshop, rather than on Craigslist.

You'll have plenty of free outdoor recreation options, and I'm sure there are various mountain biking/hiking/camping/etc. clubs around town you can make friends with. You can probably buy rich people's cast-off outdoor gear cheaply at local thrift stores and on Craigslist, especially at the end of various seasons.

Once you get to know the area, you might well be able to set up a side business doing selling ski tours or mountain bike tours or whatever.
« Last Edit: October 26, 2012, 02:42:57 PM by ehgee »

zoltani

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There is an absolutely wonderful separated bike path that goes from JH to Tetons NP.  The Tetons are some of the most amazing mountains I have had the chance to experience, and I am quite jealous you will be able to bike right to them from your new city.