Ultra Budget Camping - part 1

I've read lots of blogs and watched lots of videos on Youtube on ultra light camping.  It's a pretty hot topic, and yes there's lots of people out there posting ideas on how to make your own gear out of items that are incredibly affordable alternatives to expensive options you'd find in an outfitter.  Making a twig stove out of an IKEA cutlery stand for $4.99 rather than spending $70-100 for a Vital Stove or BioStove for example.  Sure you have to put a little effort into it, and it won't charge your cell phone, but still, for $4.99...

Anyway, the point of this post wasn't to talk about making cheap gear.  On a recent trip to my parents, I was flipping through a book called Wildly Affordable Organic. In the introduction the author talks about how she decided to do what is called a Food Stamp Challenge.  This is where you try to feed yourself for a week on the amount of money a person in the US, in a low income situation would get in food stamps - on average $3 a day per person.

The point of the challenge (and the documentary called Food Stamped) is apparently that it's impossible to eat a healthy diet and not starve on what you can buy for that amount of money.  The authors of the book disagreed and set about to prove you can eat a healthy, satisfying diet on such a little amount.  I thought, "huh, lets see if I can plan a menu for the four of us, for a week, using that as my budget."  Turns out it wasn't that hard, but I have a good supply of things like rice, beans and lentils on hand.  Still, using the flyers and picking sale items to help decide our menu, I managed to put together a weeks worth of healthy food.

Then I got to thinking about how to incorporate a tight budget into our camping trips.  Chris's biggest complaint is that I spend too much on food for each trip, and he's not wrong.  Even when I have 95% of the things we need already on hand, that last shopping trip always ends up being stupidly expensive.  We walk through the aisles, filling a buggy with chips and cookies, 4 types of granola bars (because we can't ever agree on one kind we all like), a case of water (even though we brought a big jug...because little bottles are easier to take on hikes...and yes we packed our reusable ones, but sometimes the water is kinda dirty looking and we'll probably use the big jug for cooking...yeah, I know.  We can talk ourselves into anything.) By the time we've left, we've gotten enough stuff for a few extra days worth of camping...and none of it ever gets used.  The packaging gets all mangled...sometimes wet, and usually anything inside gets crushed a bit.

I've never been too good at sticking to a menu...

With the economy the way it is, it's getting harder and harder to take a family vacation, and even when we can afford a week of fun, it's probably not going to happen more than once a year.  Some things we can't really control - gas prices for example.  Towing the Boler to Pog Lake in Algonquin last year cost us $160 in gas, round trip. But in other areas, you can totally pinch pennies and make your trips fun without draining the bank account or running up your credit card.

Maybe I'm greedy, but I want to get as much fun packed into our summers as possible.  See, if I can make sure our camping trips are inexpensive, I can convince Chris that we can take more of them each year.

So this is going to be a series of posts exploring how to have a week long camping trip for as little money as possible.  We'll see how just how cheap we can manage to make a 7 day/6 night camping trip for a family of four. I'd love to hear your ideas, advice or stories about how you budget a camping trip.

Having fun without blowing your budget

Every spring, I make a vow to get the kids out doing lots of fun things during their summer break. Lots of swimming, hiking, geocaching, and camping, with some visits to places like the zoo or the science center. My plans usually fall apart when reality hits and I realize, after our first trip, just how much gas it takes to haul our camper any distance, or how expensive it can be to stop at the grocery store to grab a few things for a last minute picnic lunch.

Compared to a lot of other trips, camping is fairly inexpensive. If you look at the cost of spending a day in an amusement park with a family of four, and how much it costs to spend a day hiking, with a picnic, the difference is significant but it can still get pricy.

Two nights of camping in a provincial park costs about $100 for the site. On a trip to Algonquin last summer, where we didn't do much extra driving, we put about $160 worth of gas in our SUV (keep in mind we were towing a 13' fiberglass camper) and food wise, we probably spent another $150 (including a lunch at the Visitor Center cafeteria.) Compared to 2 nights in a hotel, dining at restaurants three meals a day, it's still cheaper, but it was still a good chunk of money for us at the time.

With the price of food and gas rising, a summer full of even day trips to places that don't charge admission can tax your budget. Then there are the times unexpected expenses crop up that leave little for fun trips. I know it's advised to have an emergency fund to cover those costs, but lets face it, not all of us do. If you plan ahead you can enjoy lots of outings without dipping into your normal grocery budget, or taxing your normal gas budget.

1) Start a summer-fun-fund
By putting money aside every month, all winter long you can cover the cost of gas, at least some it, for those times when money is tight.

2)Book campsites early when possible.
By booking early (Provincial Parks let you book up to 5 months in advance of your arrival date) you aren't paying for reservations while also covering the other costs of your trip. Not only that, but you get a better range of sites to choose from. Those beautiful sites on the water, with lots of privacy? They go fast, so plan ahead. If you want to arrive on July 13, you can book that site as of 7am on February 13th. It doesn't always mean you'll get the site. Since you can book a trip for more than one night, (up to 23 nights I believe) it's possible someone has already booked it as part of a longer trip.

3) Create a camping stock pile
When pancake mix comes on sale, grab an extra box. Make a list of foods you usually take with you camping, or items you usually pack into a picnic. A lot of them have long shelf lives, so when they come on sale if you grab a few and set them aside, you'll be reducing the amount of money you'll have to spend last minute. We tend to be really bad for this. We stop at the grocery store on the way to the campground to buy our supplies. Not only are we paying full price for things, we tend to add impulse items that we don't really need. Also, keep in mind the things you tend to pick up at the campground's store (if they have one) the prices tend to be a bit higher there, so if you know you'll probably end up buying candy or chocolate bars, it makes sense to have bought some before hand for a lower price. If you can get them on sale, and add some coupons, you'll be saving a lot of money. The only issue now is not to eat them before hand. Try keeping these items in a storage box, or hidden somewhere. If you can't see them all the time, you'll be less likely to dip into them.

Keep in mind expiry dates, and don't go overboard. This isn't Extreme Couponing, you don't need 150 boxes of granola bars, or 800 bottles of sports drink. Don't buy things you won't use.

4) If you do a lot of back country camping, consider dehydrating your own meals. There are a lot of good videos on youtube with recipes and how-to-advice. There is a bit of a learning curve, but it can save you a lot of money compared to buying the dehydrated meals sold in stores. Think drying your own food will limit you to basic, boring fare? Think again. There are some fabulous books full of recipes that are anything but boring. Think Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Soup, Shrimp and Herb Pasta, Blueberry Pancakes and so much more. You can also make your own fruit roll-ups and know that your kids aren't getting a bunch of added sugar and preservatives. I'll be writing more on this topic in the future.

5) Find local trails and destinations. I bet there are more options close to home than you might think. Check out Ontario Trails for your region and see what you can find. Also, there are still some places where it's possible to backpack or canoe camp on crown land, so there is no permit required and no fee.

By planning ahead, it's possible to enjoy a summer full of exploring and adventure, without hurting your budget.