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Welcome to Frugal Series: Camping! I hope to make the Frugal Camping Series a regular thing, so let me know if there’s anything you’re interested in seeing: a series about frugal travel, work attire, beauty, home improvement, etc. Anything you have a question about, let me know and I’ll try to cover it! First up let’s dive into how much does it cost to go camping?
Why Camping? It’s the Ultimate Cheap Getaway
A few weeks ago, B. and I went camping. He had just finished up school, as a substitute teacher, and I was dying for a vacation/break from work. For us, camping has always been a cheap travel option. Between B and I, one of us already had:
- A tent (me, a hand-me-down from my Dad) you can check out the best budget camping tents here, there’s even a few higher end ones if you want to splurge.
- Sleeping bags (one each) here is a list of some great budget camping sleeping bags.
- A few coolers (both of us, but mostly B from his days in college)
We pack anything non-perishable in plastic bins, which most young people have from moving. We pack our clothes and any toiletries in backpacks, which most people still have from college or even high school. Yes, I still had a high school backpack lying around – Jansports really are indestructible!
Besides the tent, which we got for free from my Dad, the only other big necessities are a stove, which you may not even need, camp chairs (you can get cheap camp chairs for $10, so it’s not really a splurge), and camping food. By the way: camp chairs are a necessity. You can get some nice affordable camping chairs here.
As someone who enjoys camping, not having your own place to sit (the sticky, hot, sometimes crusted in unidentifiable substances picnic table does not count) is hellish when all you’ve been doing all morning is hiking. You will want a camp chair to plop down in and relax, trust me!
If you are planning on driving around the country allot, a car that is very fuel efficient is a must (for example, a Fiat 500L) this will save you money on each of your journeys that you make.
The Camping Cost Breakdown
Below is the breakdown for our most recent camping trip:
- $30 for 2-night space rental ($15/day)
- $40 for camp supplies (stove, more propane, and a first aid kit because our old one was almost empty)
- $70 for food, including drinks (beer and wine). Some stuff was on sale as buy one get one free, and we ended up getting all the materials for s’mores for only $5 thanks to that deal!
Our camping trip came to a total of $140 for a 3-day, 2-night stay.
Camping is Cheaper Than Other Travel
When you add up what it would have cost to stay at a hotel over a long weekend (conservatively $80/night = $160), plus the cost of breakfast/lunch/dinner for those two days (again, conservatively and assuming you didn’t split your meals to save money, $20 per meal x 3 meals a day x 2 days = $120 – and yes, that’s assuming each meal costs $10 for one person).
That comes to $280 for a 3 day, 2-night stay. You can round up or down according to how much you eat and how much it costs to rent a hotel, but the end result is the same: camping is way cheap. Even if you are camping with a dog (which we did and I totally left out before)!
Just with food alone, it would cost us as much to eat as it did to camp, with meals and drinks included. And really, who can put a price on campfire s’mores?
Continued Camping Savings
The best part about camping is, after a certain point, you start accumulating camping things (like sleeping bags, a stove, tent, coolers, etc.), which really reduces the amount of money you have to shell out to camp. The only things you end up needing to pay for are your space and food. It goes without saying that your food could even be cheaper than ours if you chose to hunt or fish and cook your food. If you think camping is too rugged, you can always try glamping on a budget. That way you are still getting a trip away but not roughing.
Here’s a handy visual to keep in mind when you’re planning your next cheap camping adventure:
I recently went on a camping trip and it is amazing how much fun a person can have without spending a ton of money.
Yeah, camping has got to be one of the ultimate cheap traveling experiences a person can have. I love camping!
I can’t wait to take my kids camping! We almost took them this year but the date we chose got rained out =/
Oh no! Will you get to go this year, or has camping season passed for you all? I’ve never camped during a downpour (it doesn’t happen a whole lot where I live ;)), but I’ve heard stories from people who have. You definitely don’t want to be out camping with the kids when your tent is turning into a moat or a sinkhole! I hope you get to go this year or next year – camping is great fun (and very thrify) for kids! (and adults :))
Loved this post! We’ve been talking about doing a quick weekend camp getaway before the cooler weather hits, so this has totally inspired me to get checking on some nearby camping spots! Excited to make real smores:-)
Thank you! Yes, s’mores are THE BEST, and they seriously taste better when you’re out camping. Everything smells (and tastes!) better out in the woods! I don’t know about where you live, but you might want to check out and request a camping spot a few weeks before your trip. Depending on when you go, camping spots near us fill up fast! If you go to one place often enough, you’ll find the ‘perfect’ spot (great view, near restrooms, far from other people, whatever you want) and learn to request that spot before anyone else does. 🙂
I’ve never been camping, but I would really like to try it out. My boyfriend and I want to take a weekend trip to go hiking and explore a really scenic wooded area 2 hours away, and hotels want around $250 a night!! Unfortunately, we don’t have any supplies, and I hate bugs, so I’m not entirely sure I’m suited for it =).
Well, the supplies thing might bring you down, but not by a whole lot – if you live near an REI, they rent out camping tents, pads to put your sleeping bags on, etc. I don’t think they rent out sleeping bags (although I could be wrong), but you really can pick up sleeping bags for cheap (and new) at Target. I don’t think I would be okay sleeping on a used sleeping bag, but that’s totally a personal preference (you can wash sleeping bags).
Also – I hate bugs too!!! The secret is TARP. We have two tarps that we lay out under the tent. I brush them off really well before we set up the tent. The tarp smothers the bugs, and for the most part, they don’t crawl around even on the tarp. Beyond that, keep your tent zipped up. The one and only time we got a bug in our tent (a spider!) was when B left the tent unzipped. Never again. Also: bug spray. All that, and you’re golden! Trust me, I hate bugs too 🙂
I love camping! I need to go a little more often. I forgot how frugal it can be. 🙂
SO cheap, once you have some of the camping gear! Especially if you don’t mind roughing it (i.e. no flush toilets). Then your camp fees are even cheaper!
We love camping, too! That is an especially kid friendly experience and we always travel with the kids! Food, in any type of travel situation, is often a large chunk of the budget. Since we are not foodies at all – we think of food as fuel so we aren’t really picky, restaurants don’t have to be a regular for us. We often stay in apartments which allow us to cook and store food. Even if all we do is buy cereal, milk, coffee, and juice, and microwave popcorn we can easily save $100 very quickly by eating breakfast and getting caffeinated before we head out for the day!! Crashing at night with a bedtime snack of popcorn which is both healthy, easy to fix and CHEAP!
I totally agree! This is exactly my family and I always go camping when we can. It opens up a whole new world of possibilities! Thanks for sharing. I hope this helps a lot of people get into camping.