How do you "finance" your camping trips

[2manytoyz]

For those who aren't blessed was wonderful jobs, there are other alternatives.  Even with my current job, I have cut yards on the weekends.  That's about $20/hr.  Good exercise, good pay.  Pure play money.  Not a good time of year for that though...

An easier alternative is Ebay.  I made $140 this weekend selling stuff on Ebay, with more sales pending.  I expect to make $500-$800 this month.  I'm clearing out my attic and hobby room.  Just stuff I haven't used in a while, or no longer need.  Some people actually do this for a living, but they have mastered the technique of hitting garages sales, and reselling items online.  Takes a good eye to know what will sell and what won't.  For those wanting more info on how to make some spare change this way, contact me directly and I'll try to help.  FWIW, my wife is selling her old stuff too!  Don't think you have stuff to sell?  Think again.  I have sold an old 70s style 9V battery (dead of course), and empty boxes to Pillsbury ceramics.  My fastest sale was today, I made $100 in 7 minutes (buy it now option).

[Acts 2:38 girl]

We're in just about the same boat as Julcav!  A few exceptions, but basiclly I stay at home with the boys and my baby girl!  Except they are almost all in school now! 2nd DS went into Kindergarden a few months ago, and today DS #3 is off to Pre-school!     So now the plan is to wait until this summer or fall anf take some courses at college for Paralegal work.  We really want all the boys in a Christian school, but that cost $$$, so I'd have to work.
 DH is an independant Auto appraiser, which was pretty good until this year.  It's been a slow year, and pretty hard since we bought our house.  Plus we found out that since we live in CT now, the health insurance we had isn't valid!!  :eek:   They only cover businesses in MA.  We might be able to get some other form if DH makes BELOW a certain amount, but it won't cover us. As long as the kids are covered for now, it's OK.  

I had NO idea we were camping with such well acomplished people!  

[Trlrboy]

I've been a purchasing manager for AT&T Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies and now Tyco Electronics for the past 20 some years.  Job security is a relative term in the telecom business but I've been lucky and have not been affected by the layoffs seen in this industry.  

I don't see camping as a big expense at all.  The only difference between staying at home and going camping is the cost of the gas to get there and the campsite fee.  DW and I have camped together for the past 27 years and have always considered it a way to have a "movable backyard" that was an inexpensive, relaxing way to get away for a weekend or more.

[SheBantam]

Raymond and I both have very secure jobs with the State Of Delaware. The downside is that we are State employees, so we make a lot less than a comparable job in the private sector.

They changed life insurance plans/companies last year and out life insurance skyrocketed. We have not had a raise in 2 years, we now have higher out of pocket expenses for our medical(co pays now on surgeries and medicines are getting more limited everyday).

We are thankful to have jobs that give me 18 vacation days and 15 sickdays per year plus holidays (he gets 21 and 15 as he was working before me).  The people I work for allow me to flex hours during the week to take off early on Fridays on camping weekends. Raymond, because he has client contact, does not have the flexibility I have.

I pay for campouts as I schedule/book them. Starting now, I have most campouts paid or mostly paidfor already. That way I can book a trip for the summer, on a payday in the winter. This leaves only the impromptu ones to pay for in the summer. We gotta eat any way, and I am out extra gas.

[LKaskel]

I work for Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI).  We are a hospital/institute for children with developmental disabilities with a little over 2000 employees.  I work as a project manager but I'm not sure what that means  I've been a director in information systems for years but recently I have managed the construction of a few buildings for KKI.  I work directly for the C.O.O. and he asks me to manage the jobs we do not staff to handle.  The truth is all I really do is make sure every one involved in the projects I manage play welll in the sand box together.  I find humor and patience help me love what I do!  As far as camping goes my wife and I put a portion of our tax return away as a camping fund.  We generally only camp for three or four days at a time so we can camp more times without eating up my vacation on one big trip.  I get a few weeks a year and I use them carefully!

[luvourjayco]

My dh works in a chemical plant that manufactures plastic resin. This allows us to pay our bills. I work at a church cleaning and do data entry for a rebate company from home. This gives us our play money. Because dh has been there so long he gets about 4 weeks vacation if we time things right (his schedule is based on a 12 hour shift and vacation time is given in hours not days) and my time is totally flexible as I planned it that way to enable me to be home if kiddos get sick or something is going on that requires someone to be there. We too like the others prepay all our trips as we book them to ease the crunch during peak times and that way when its time to go all we need to put out is gas money and a few bucks for playing, site and food are already covered.

[whitestar505]

cam,

   Well cam, I would say there are a lot of campers out there who are not happy with there jobs, or pass jobs. As for myself, I am grateful for just having a job. It just so happens to be a good  paying  job and I do  work for the largest Research Lab in the country. I also have at my access one of the fifteen largest computers systems in the world. Being a network engineer I had to work my way up the grades for 35 years and still working at it. Schooling all the time when not working. Having a long time in the company you might say, I have a lot of vacation time each year which allows me to do my camping all season. I am not rich and work at not being rich, if you get my drift. I spent a lot and remember when there were days there was not a lot. I was lucky to find a good job and stay with the company even when the pay was low. This has something to say about longevity. I have worked hard at keeping the job, but will say that it gets harder every year.

[hbfc6]

I worked for Bethlehem steel for 24 years. Bethlehem went bankrupt last year. I was a Blast Furnace foreman doing a job which I liked. ISG took over Bethlehem assets. A week before ISG took over my boss called me in and said they did not have a job for me in the new commpany. My family had worked there for 103 years. I was lucky in that after I graduated from college I had hired into Bethlehem's "coke ovens" as an hourly worker. I asked if I could go back to the union they said yes and I now make my living in the coke ovens.  We work 12 hour shifts four days in a row with four days off. I just finished my last 12 hour shift and have the next four days off. I pay for my big camping trips by putting away money from my tax return. I worked a lot of overtime to pay for my pop up.