Author Topic: $$ in the camping fund!  (Read 4405 times)

socaso

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$$ in the camping fund!
« on: May 31, 2014, 12:10:16 PM »
We have a couple of camping trips coming up at the end of the summer and I have been trying to save money out of our monthly cash expenses (we budget the same amount every month) I had been feeling kind of low thinking there wasn't going to be very much to go in this month but we ended up with $82. It may not seem like much but I felt great knowing I was able to save it out of our monthly money to go toward a luxury we are looking forward to. I will be able to enjoy the trip more knowing that we had the money saved in advance and were still able to put the same amount into savings every month.

sisca

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Re: $$ in the camping fund!
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2014, 02:51:38 PM »
Scraping together extra cash from an already fairly tight budget is not that easy, so congrats for accomplishing it.
I plan on doing a bit of camping this summer as well, with my oldest son.

Jomar

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Re: $$ in the camping fund!
« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2014, 01:24:41 PM »
Awesome. I like that you refer to camping as a luxury, a word normally reserved for 5 star resorts and high end restaurants. But there truly is nothing as luxurious as enjoying nature in all its glory.

SingleMomDebt

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Re: $$ in the camping fund!
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2014, 11:04:25 PM »
Yay! Money for Camping is Badassity! When I was re-doing the budget and tossing out all the fun categories, the one that hurt the most was tossing out the camping fund. I long for camping every year. Then I learned about sinking funds. While the sinking funds are still bare bones, I added a camping category. It's not as much as I used to spend camping, but it still enough to enjoy a luxurious time in the the Eastern Sierras during the summer and stay within my income (I used to spend 117% of 100% - if not more. Oi!). And by luxurious, I mean in a tent in a beautiful campground, enjoying frugal dinners, tossing a fishing line in the lake and hiking many miles in the Eastern Sierras. Amen.


El Limon

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Re: $$ in the camping fund!
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2014, 03:26:18 PM »
Just a tip.

Keep an eye on Craigslist for free firewood. I recently had someone very local give me three large cross beams they tore out of their house which burned for 3 nights. Saved over 60 bucks in store bought.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: $$ in the camping fund!
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2014, 08:32:47 AM »
Nice! I'm hoping to end 2014 with a surplus in the travel budget after visiting the spendy pants in-laws over the holidays, so that we can maybe afford a fun just the family vacation.

We just discovered a couple really cool campgrounds in state parks but don't have the $ this year, even with as cheap as camping is.

SingleMomDebt

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Re: $$ in the camping fund!
« Reply #6 on: June 22, 2014, 11:01:02 PM »
Just a tip.

Keep an eye on Craigslist for free firewood. I recently had someone very local give me three large cross beams they tore out of their house which burned for 3 nights. Saved over 60 bucks in store bought.

Thanks for the tip! firewood is always my biggest expenditure.


bmiles62

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Re: $$ in the camping fund!
« Reply #7 on: June 23, 2014, 04:45:12 AM »
My wife and I work for a high school and we have two months off every summer. Camping has allowed us to travel within our budget for sure. We did a 7500 mile loop around the country in about 21 days last summer. We loved it and are heading out again this Saturday to do another loop for 30 days. By the time you add up all the costs, it can still average close to about $85 a day. This is offset by the fact that we have very little expenses back at home while we are gone. We can use our monthly grocery budget since we will not be home to use it. We also suspend the internet for a month. And our electric bill will be under $20. Also all family members know that throughout the year for birthdays, Christmas etc. they can give us gas cards and know that they are given us exactly what we want. We usually end up with $500 in free gas. I have so many friends that want to see all of the places that we went to but say there is no way that they wold ever camp so they end up never going because they cannot afford to stay in hotels. They have no idea what they are missing out on. Here is a blog from our trip last year if you are interested in reading. http://benandlynsusaadventure.blogspot.com/

SnpKraklePhyz

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Re: $$ in the camping fund!
« Reply #8 on: June 23, 2014, 10:08:52 AM »
bmiles52 - I just read and enjoyed your blog from your trip last summer!!  Our family rented an RV for a trip through Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and had a wonderful time.  I've never been to Arizona, so I enjoyed reading about your time at the Grand Canyon and Prescott.  It sounds like a great place.  I've also had your experience of finding iffy campgrounds and deciding to go elsewhere. 

I'm setting out on a four day trip to Ohio soon - just packed the tent in the car!  Thanks for the link to your blog.

bmiles62

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Re: $$ in the camping fund!
« Reply #9 on: June 24, 2014, 03:43:44 AM »
bmiles52 - I just read and enjoyed your blog from your trip last summer!!  Our family rented an RV for a trip through Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and had a wonderful time.  I've never been to Arizona, so I enjoyed reading about your time at the Grand Canyon and Prescott.  It sounds like a great place.  I've also had your experience of finding iffy campgrounds and deciding to go elsewhere. 

I'm setting out on a four day trip to Ohio soon - just packed the tent in the car!  Thanks for the link to your blog.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy your camping trip. We will be coming through Ohio on our way back from Glacier Park in about three weeks.