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Mad Max
Trad climber
Bakersfield
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Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 29, 2015 - 11:19am PT
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Here is the chance for all the dirtbags to come out of their camps in the boulders and give us their sage-like insight on saving money (or at least spending less of it) while out and about traveling and climbing/adventuring.
My Personal Favorites:
-Don't buy food, cook it (that includes coffee, for all you mildly gluten-intolerant folks out there).
-Buy your groceries in a major town on the cheap, and avoid stuff that needs to be refrigerated or cooled with ice, that stuff is insane in the parks. Bacon is a form of currency when camping in America.
-Take a bike with you or walk everywhere possible once you're parked.
-Come prepared with everything you need before you arrive, it's cheaper wherever the hell you live versus the destination.
-Plan your trip so you can bum it in your truck/van/vehicle/in a tent/on the ground for free instead of paying to camp.
-Don't go outside, just stay indoors and play World of Warcraft instead (Thanks Taylor).
Please inform me, I'm eager to hear your insight about all things frugal. Or just chew me out for being insensitive or something like that, either way I'm all ears.
Cheers,
Max
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Nov 29, 2015 - 11:21am PT
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Go business class rather than first - much better value.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Nov 29, 2015 - 12:20pm PT
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When climbing in Yosemite I always stay at the Ahwahnee, sure rooms are $400 plus, BUT if you stay over Saturday night the Sunday Grand Brunch is included....sumptuous!
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Mad Max
Trad climber
Bakersfield
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 29, 2015 - 12:25pm PT
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Perfect! I'll book for 2017 right now!
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Nov 29, 2015 - 12:37pm PT
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Yeah the lead times are getting outrageous! That friggin bouldering guide is bringing droves of twentysomething trustafarians to the Valley.
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thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
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Nov 29, 2015 - 01:21pm PT
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I use both sides of the toilet paper, usually.
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Mad Max
Trad climber
Bakersfield
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 29, 2015 - 01:47pm PT
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I heard offering to pay your boss to use his private plane is pretty decent too! It's only around $3,000 round trip from San Diego to Fresno in a KingAir!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Nov 29, 2015 - 05:11pm PT
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Good thinking, Max, the KingAir is good value! I'm still trying to convince
my friend to talk his boss into loaning us his B-737BBJ for a week. No, it
doesn't mean that. I think if we got a dozen friends together we could
afford the gas for a week.
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Nov 29, 2015 - 05:24pm PT
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the offer was a few years back, but I'm still tight with my high school climbing buddy, who married into corporate America Wealth.
When his wedding was scheduled, he called and shared that we now had unlimited access to the corporate jet.
He suggested a possible jaunt to Ecuador for a volcano or two with another couple friends. I encouraged him to share more corporate jet details.
After a minute or so of talking about how great it would be to skip the whole airport checkin scene, he did mention we would have to pay $1,000 a hour for the use of the plane and crew, plus fuel charges.
What a bargain!
Strangely, I've done three international trips with him since then, but we both flew commercial, not corporate jets. Although he, of course, saved money by flying Business Class, while I wasted my earnings sitting back with the rest of the peasants, in Tourist Class.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Nov 29, 2015 - 05:49pm PT
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Save money at home. Spend it when traveling.
Trip time is worth so much more than any other time you can't even put a price on it.
Finding a place to camp, setting up camp, cooking dinner, cooking breakfast, and packing your sh#t to leave in the morning all takes time.
Find the cheapest room in a joint that offers a free breakfast, and you can be gone with a shower, food and coffee in the morning in under a half-hour from the time you wake up. If that saves just an hour a day - no real trick - then it's well worth the extra fifty bucks.
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Mad Max
Trad climber
Bakersfield
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 29, 2015 - 09:10pm PT
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Randisi, very true about more time than money, I have some money but I don't want to needlessly spend it since I am also lucky enough to have a job that allows me plenty of time off, necessitating a reduced expense rate if I want to enjoy longer trips (5+ days in my hobo-converted Ford Expedition).
The relative pricing of goods in certain regions is also a case by case scenario but for this post's sake, I live in California and am only interested in California climbing trips, possibly some road trips out of state to Zion, Wind River Mountains, Yellowstone, and the like (please suggest more, I'll listen), so the prices in a town will be cheaper than IN the park/in the boonies.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Nov 30, 2015 - 08:39am PT
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If you own a ford expedition you have plenty of capacity to tow a medium size 5th wheel. They are quite inexpensive. The bag in the dirt lifestyle is attractive to some but the ten years of extended hiking/climbing trips I've done with my Winnebago have been fantastic. Way more comfortable and convenient than camping or a hotel.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Nov 30, 2015 - 08:45am PT
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phylp, how you gonna tow a fifth wheel with an Expedition?
You gonna break out the torch? That would be rad! :-)
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Nov 30, 2015 - 08:58am PT
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Hi Reilly,
All I know about the Expedition is that it's a big vehicle. If you don't have a factory installed tow hitch, yes welding would be involved. Both subarus I have towed behind my Winnie had tow bar set ups installed after purchase , to match the tow set up that was installed on the motorhome.
Phyl
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Nov 30, 2015 - 12:11pm PT
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phylp, just messin' with you. An Expedition has an enclosed back end so you
would have to cut that off to hook up a 'fifth wheel'.
A fifth wheel will only work on a pickup. ;-)
Now, an Expedition will tow a fairly good sized 'travel trailer'.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Nov 30, 2015 - 12:12pm PT
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Know your cars fuel capacity and plan accordingly. Fuel prices can vary by a dollar a gallon or more.....DO NOT show up at El Portal or Wawona with an empty tank. A five gallon gas can might even be a consideration. Lee Vining is another gas trap....top off before getting there.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Nov 30, 2015 - 01:15pm PT
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Lol Reilly, that went straight over my head the first time.
Phyl
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Nov 30, 2015 - 01:25pm PT
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$2 tab, best bang for the buck when you're thinking about going on a trip.
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Moof
Big Wall climber
Orygun
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Nov 30, 2015 - 03:25pm PT
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Freeze water bottles instead of buying ice. Less soupy groceries, and you can leave the water bottles out at night when it hits below freezing. I have managed to gain ice over time in Jtree at Xmas.
Depending on your friends, beer can make you money. Get a decent low stakes spare change poker game going. If your friends are light weights, pass around the booze. Quickly the level of play will drop and the stakes will grow and you can clean'em out.
Trader Joes dumpsters can be a gold mine. Choose your spouse accordingly.
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Bluelens
Social climber
Pasadena, CA
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Nov 30, 2015 - 05:59pm PT
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A Yeti Roadie or a Pelican cooler is a money and time saver. The smaller Yeti Roadie fits inside the cab of a pickup truck behind the driver's seat, and is more versatile than the more popular larger sizes.
It violates Max's principle re no iced food.
It keeps ice for up to six days, if the lid is left open as little as possible. It saved many repurchases of ice inside the National Parks.
Set aside and freeze a portion of your next batch of home cooking to use as ice/road food. Saves prep time in camp.
Use only one shape of plastic containers. Square is good. Packs tight in the cooler and freezer.
Time saving tip to all - use only one shape of plastic food storage container. Give away the other shapes. A cabinet of mixed shape plastic containers is a time waster.
Freezer safe ziploc bags. Use, reuse, wash, reuse, good for saving the extra breadbasket items in a restaurant to enjoy for breakfast.
Starbucks VIA instant coffee is worth the extra pennies.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Nov 30, 2015 - 06:11pm PT
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If you have trouble urinating, disposable self catheters are way cheaper then going to the emergency room. They may seem a little intimidating...that tube goes where? Not to worry, you'll get the hang of it. If space is a problem you can tape them to the back of the window visor and, you'll love this, they don't have a sell by date.
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Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
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Nov 30, 2015 - 08:50pm PT
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$50 dollar motel rooms and free hotel 'food?'. Sounds like a recipe for 2 week vacations. For that $1500 a month I could practically road trip forever. Not to mention that they don't put those motels anywhere near where I want to experience the universe. Motel rooms are gross.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Nov 30, 2015 - 09:20pm PT
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Ditch the vehicle and hitch hike
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Mad Max
Trad climber
Bakersfield
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 30, 2015 - 09:49pm PT
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How about this? 4' by 6'4" and plenty of storage, everywhere!
Would this be considered redneck?
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tripmind
Boulder climber
San Diego
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For those who basically live in their car, if you don't have something setup where you can get *free reliable auto service on the road then being able to do things yourself can make or break a trip, because even if you do come across THE mom and pop auto shop that can get your ride back on the road in a jiffy, you're still going to pay a few hundred bucks, often for something that would cost you a few twenties at a part store, and that's less fuel for your car and your belly.
Some basic tools i would recommend: a good socket wrench, a full set of deepwell metric sockets,universal joints + extenders for the socket wrench, a breaker bar, a torque wrench, an oil pan and an oil filter wrench (for coast-coast drives), a spare jug of coolant,jumper cables, magnetized screw drivers, a hammer (because sometimes things just need to be hit), a tire patch kit, a small aircompressor that can plug into your car's accessory outlets, some vice grips,a haynes manual, the jack that came with your car (make sure it works), also a jackstand or two might be a good idea.
If you drive an older car you should always be prepared.
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Mad Max
Trad climber
Bakersfield
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 1, 2015 - 09:30am PT
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The nice thing about the 2003 Ford Expedition is it can actually be worked on without running diagnostics software to see what part of the software is kaput. Parts are cheap, I have spare belts, along with all the things you mentioned. I also have a savings fund to make sure i can afford any repairs up to a transmission replacement.
Synthetic oil helps with longer trips, I use Mobil 1 and it still looks good after 8,000 miles *must be magic*
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Bluelens
Social climber
Pasadena, CA
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I've been using Yerdle, an app for swapping stuff. Patagonia was an early supporter. Offered gently used items for swapping. It's good for clearing clutter. Must have a printer for shipping labels and weekly access to UPS to drop off items.
Join me for #unshopping! Disclosure, use my link and I get a free shipping credit. If I get more than one I'll use it for donation items to animal shelters or a hospital.
http://www.yerdle.com/i/laura-moser
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