my sister and i are planning a camping trip for the memorial weekend. there's a total of about twenty five people going. we are trying to figure out what's the best way to charge for the cost of the campsites/including food. should we break the price down per person or per family. some families have two adults three kids some have no kids. we want to make it fair for everyone.
any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Quote from: maddawg04my sister and i are planning a camping trip for the memorial weekend. there's a total of about twenty five people going. we are trying to figure out what's the best way to charge for the cost of the campsites/including food. should we break the price down per person or per family. some families have two adults three kids some have no kids. we want to make it fair for everyone.
any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
iv found the best way to do it to do it per person so nobody can complane about paying to much. oh and one more thing you cant please everybody
What we've always done when camping with family is each family is responsible for their own camping fees. Last time we were 12 sites of family (and not everyone made the trip), way to much $$ for 1 person to dole out.
For food we buy in bulk and divy it up at a per person cost and no charge for the little ones under 3, they don't eat alot. then at the end if any food is left we just split it. All the plates/plastic ware, napkins, zipper bags,plastic wrap and foil gets packed in a box for the next gathering.
When we do big gatherings, we do seperate breakfast and lunch and then do combined supper.
per person is what i had in mind,my sister thinks per family is better,i guess i'll have to convince her. thnx everyone for your input.
Quote from: xjcrawlerWhen we do big gatherings, we do seperate breakfast and lunch and then do combined supper.
This is the way we do things also. We found breakfast to be a problem because everyone gets up at different times. Some don't do breakfast at all. Lunch then becomes a problem because everyone ate breakfast at different times. Supper is a group thing and we break that down per person. Everyone takes care of their own camping fees. As someone else said you won't please everyone and you will be stressed if you think you will. Relax and have fun!
Quote from: maddawg04per person is what i had in mind,my sister thinks per family is better,i guess i'll have to convince her. thnx everyone for your input.
That's a tuff call. Every family has different needs.
Charging by the person seems logical but then someone with a lot of kids may not be able to afford it. I'd say that only you and your family will know how to handle this one. In our family, the ones with no kids at home try to take up a lot of slack for the ones that can least afford it. The important thing is to be sure that everyone shows up and has a good time. :sombraro:
As someone with 4 children, I have to agree with your sister.
Our 12 year old is a fussy eater, and will bring his own Mac & cheese, and not bother with all the other food at the potluck, so I would resent paying for him.
As a comprise, all children under 18 are half price, and all kids under 3 are free.
In these types of situations it seems someone always comes away feeling as though they got screwed on the deal. I would tell everyone going, here's what it's going to cost you for a campsite and you need to plan on doing your own grocery shopping and cooking. Then there can't be any complaints.
CajunCamper
Our last group outing was 13 families ~ somewhere around 45 people. We have a mix of families with kids, couples (no kids) and even a single or two. We get together with a lot of the same people twice a season ~ sometimes more. We plan it all the same way every time ~ works for us.
Each camping unit is responsible for making their own reservations and paying for their own site. We do our own meals with the exception of one potluck dinner. We will also do communal dining ~ everyone makes their own, but we eat together. Last outing we did have breakfast together on the last morning, but that was a potluck as well.
I agree with your sister and 6Quigs (Hey Kevin!) I'm a single mom with 4 kids and if I had to pay per person, I'd be a little put out ...
Quote from: Kelly
Each camping unit is responsible for making their own reservations and paying for their own site. We do our own meals with the exception of one potluck dinner. We will also do communal dining ~ everyone makes their own, but we eat together.FONT]
That's how we do it. Sometimes a family or two will form a meal "sub group," nothing planned in advance, just "hey, I'll trade you this extra steak for a couple of those fish you caught today."
I am on the side for charging per person. I often camp alone and would hate to pay as much as someone that has five or six people eating. If you are camping on your own and even at home you have to buy food for everyone, so why would you expect to not have to pay for their food on a camping trip?
We always have everyone make their own reservation. That way no one has to pay out for all of the campsites and if there is a problem with a reservation no one is going to be pointing their finger at you. Officially we have a pot luck dinner and everyone brings a dish (or two). That way there isn't a problem of charging for a meal. We do a catered meal on some trips and then everyone is charged per person, but there is the option not to attend if you don't want to. We often have spur of the moment group meals. They just sort of happen. Good luck with the trip.:)
We do some group get-to-gethers annually, the main one is in June and we most always do a group camp site in the Nantahala Nat'l Forest, North Carolina. We rent the group camp site for six nights, which means you have to vacate the site by 2:00pm on the 7th day. The cost has been $300.00 for that time and then divide cost five ways (which is the usual five camper crowd), and that amounts to $60.00 each, or a cost of $10.00 per night.
I particularly like the group campsites in that area as those sites are set off by themselves and in great surroundings. However, there are no electrical hook-ups but flush toilets and hot showers go with the site. Not to worry about AC as this is in the mountains and that means warm days; but you had better put on a sweater or jacket come sundown ... AND, you'll be sleeping under the covers for sure!
As for the food, we do potluck breakfast and suppers; and your on your own for lunch. This works out great for our group. But I suppose "family" might be a different issue all together! (LOL)
This year, since we will be having a couple of campers less (and families), we are going to do individual sites in the main C/G. We've already reserved some special sites together, within stone's throw of the bathrooms, and with a mountain creek running right behind the sites. In this case the sites are $15.00 a night, howsomever, I get the old cronnies federal discount and that makes it $7.50 a night ... cost wise to me, a better deal then the group site. We'll still be doing the potluck thing.
Fly
Quote from: flyfishermanAs for the food, we do potluck breakfast and suppers; and your on your own for lunch. This works out great for our group. But I suppose "family" might be a different issue all together! (LOL)
Fly
That's close to it when we are with a group that's not family. Breakfast is not a planned thing but it does happen with groups.
With the family, it often ends up the food is there, go fix it when you want it if you're a late riser or want lunch. My FIL has 20 acres. We camp there once a year and make a "kitchen" in the pole barn (there is a full sized fridge in there), we all pretty much take turns cooking
If we're in a campground with family we do more pot luck type things for dinners due to lack of fridge space for some of us. Hard to store food for 50 people in campers.
Aint done it that often,but we pay for the sites individually,preplan what we are gonna eat and bring you own food.
Not that many in our group,me,my wife and son.My brother,his wife and two kids and my mom and dad.
Quote from: maddawg04....what's the best way to charge for the cost of the campsites/including food......
Being recently re-introducted to Scouting with my DS about to become a Bear Cub Scout next weekend, I am very familiar with distributed camping costs.
Many of the suggestions given assume that everyone has their own kitchen amenities and is bringing their own food supply. While this is usually true among RV campers, this is NOT the case with tent campers, hikers, backpackers, mountaineers, climbers, or two sisters inviting a total of 25 people. Based on the way you worded your question, it doesn't sound like you are talking about bringing along folks who have their own food supplies, much less their own kitchens.
If that's the case, simply divide the costs per person, assuming everyone is sharing all the campsites. Yes, larger families will end up paying more, but it doesn't burden the single person to pay the same rate as a family of four.
If a single camper expects their own campsite, then they can pay for their own site, and only share with the food expense.
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On our family reunion camping trips, each 'family' was responsible for obtaining their own site at their own expense. We rotated meals (breakfast/dinner), so no one family would be stuck feeding all of us. There were folks who flew in to join us, and they'd add $5.00 or so to everyone's meal that served them. They also helped out with a few dollars to the hosting family towards the campground fees. There was one 'lead' family and the rest of us followed suit as far as campsites - they'd pick the one they liked best and told us of the neighboring sites that were also good.
beacher's got it right on the money. most of the people going w/us don't have rv's or camping supplies,sure their going to bring their own tents,but for the most part my sis and i have all the gear(stoves,cookware,big ice chests)we have 3 campsites that we're sharing it allows us up to 25 people. we're planning on having breakfast and dinner together. basically i wanted to get an idea of how other people do it. my sis and i couldn't agree on how we should break it down. we're going to put a menu together so that we can get an idea of how much the food is going to cost so that we can add it to the campsite total.
(next year i'm going alone;}
Quote from: beacherMany of the suggestions given assume that everyone has their own kitchen amenities and is bringing their own food supply. While this is usually true among RV campers, this is NOT the case with tent campers, hikers, backpackers, mountaineers, climbers, or two sisters inviting a total of 25 people. Based on the way you worded your question, it doesn't sound like you are talking about bringing along folks who have their own food supplies, much less their own kitchens.
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I don't know what kind of tent campers, hikers, backpackers, mountaineers or climbers you hang out with but the before mentioned groups are the people that are most likely to have the necessary gear to survive in the outdoors. I can't imagine owning a tent and going on a camping trip and expecting someone else to feed me.
I plan a canoe trip once or twice a summer for my friends - and invite anyone along who can take using a bush as a latrine, can paddle a canoe downstream(EASY paddling), and can carry their own canoe to the river (on their car).
I provide the canoes - or most of them - we borrow them from our scout troop.
We get together before the campout to plan food, equipment and the actual trip - I have the detailed river maps that we pour over and decide what to see.
In the past, We have had everyone bring their own food and equipment - but usually, this means the canoes are WAY overloaded and we have too much food.
It works better if we plan breakfast and dinner together - lunches are usually on the river and we kinda snack and munch all day - so everyone brings their own for that.
We have had small sub groups plan their meals together, or the whole group - for example - one family might be perfectly fine with just cold cereal - where the rest of us want a more substantial breakfast. So those who want to join the group, do; and those who have particular tastes, opt out for that meal.
Dinner is usually planned for the whole group, or as a potluck. Usually each person provides their own drinks for all meals (pop, milk, bottled water, beer - lot of cost variation there!)
For Potluck, each 'family' is asked to bring a dish suitable to their size - for example, a single person might bring marshmallows and graham crackers, or an inexpensive salad - whereas a 'family' of 4 (me, my BF, my teen son and his friend) might be asked to bring a more substantial main dish - the equivalent of a whole meal for 4 people, but to share.
But I actually prefer to do 'dinner' the Boy Scout Way - plan the meal, and cook it all together for the whole group or in smaller 'patrols'. Our groups have not usually been more than 15-20 people, so this isn't too bad.
you can either plan the meals, make a shopping list, and divide the cost per person, per meal, OR, you can make the list and assign each person to bring certain ingredients. The best method is to combine the two. For example, if you need just a bit of some spice, or ONE stick of butter, have someone bring it from home. But for the main ingredients, the ones you will use the WHOLE purchase up on, buy those and divide their cost.
This also goes for equipment - on our first 'group' canoe trip we had 4 people bring folding shovels, two or three brought hatchets or saws, and we had LOADS of duplicates in pots, pans, grills, lanterns, etc. This is a big issue since we had to carry everything in canoes - weight and space is a problem - these probably wouldn't be such an issue with your group car camping.
But now we make a list of all the equipment everyone has ( & thinks they might need), and decide who is going to bring what, so we aren't so loaded down with duplicate stuff.
You really never need everything you THINK you need, anyway, and you find there's alot of things you can live without for a night or two and never really miss!
Laura