Money?

[queensheila3]

Hi Everyone! I'm a brand new hiker about to start the AT in late March. I'm sort of low on cash; I'm only bringing about $3500 or $4000 for the entire trip. I'm going to try to do the whole thing. Do you think that's enough for food? I have pretty much all my gear already, I'm just worried about food/sheler costs. Thanks for your advice!! :p

Quig

[azchipka]

Quig,

Thats more then enough to get you through trail, although if you want to save even more money go to cosco and do some of your food shopping in bulk and do some mail drops. Perfect example for you. I went to the brocery store and purchased about a 2 months of food, because my cosco membership ahd expired. My friend offered to go to cosco with me and use this card and the same amount and almost the same items i purchased at the grocery store i got at cosco for half the total cost. Granted i had to repackage most of the stuff from cosco but it a very big money saver. In addition alot of hostels do work for stays, means you gotta work a bit but hey it will save you some cash. In addition i wouldnt relay on this or except it but there are alot of thru-hikers just like me that pack much more food then they could ever eat (most common with people using mainly mail drops for resupply) who end up giving out a bunch of food at the shelter. My reason for having to do this is because i have never managed to learn to cook for just one person and always end up with a meal for two after I am done cooking. Find the shelter im making dinner at and you wont starve on the trail. One day i will learn to be able to eat ramen, Mac & Chees and oatmeal on the trail then this will stop, but until then ill just have to deal with feeding other hungry hikers.

I am only planning on about $1500 - $2000 for the trail and i have a number of extra activities on my list for the trail (rafting, and sky diving). But i am also only go to the half way point.

Just watch your budget and hit the All you can eat places along the trail. I am leaving on the 28th of March, I noticed you said your leaving late march, mind me asking when?

[hungryhowie]

Hi Everyone! I'm a brand new hiker about to start the AT in late March. I'm sort of low on cash; I'm only bringing about $3500 or $4000 for the entire trip. I'm going to try to do the whole thing. Do you think that's enough for food? I have pretty much all my gear already, I'm just worried about food/sheler costs. Thanks for your advice!! :p

Quig

I did the AT for about $1700 in 2000. This included every expense from Springer to Katahdin (but not the transportation to and from) and about half of my food. The rest was purchased beforehand and shipped to me.

If you are planning on buying all of your supplies as you go (which is certianly a great way to go), I would break your $3500 into different categories. Some people break it down into pre-planned town stops, or by a quota of miles, or by week, even.

Say you were hiking a traditional 6 month hike (I have no idea, I'm just making an example). This would mean that you would be on the trail 24 weeks, hiking an average of 90 miles per week and resupplying ~24 times.

You could break your $3500 into a limit of $145/week or townstop and if/when you spent that force yourself to leave town.

Going further, I would recommend setting a lower dollar limit in the South, simply because the North is more expensive. You might allow yourself $125/week as a limit until you reach ~NY or CT, which would leave you ~$225 per week afterward.

Of course, you don't HAVE to spend all that money if you don't need to. If it turns out this way, I would simply keep it as a positive balance for later in the trail.

While I would have no problems hiking the trail on a $3500 budget, a limit is still necessary because it will (hopefully) force you to leave town once it is expended to keep yourself on track if need be.

Have fun!

As a side note, I was quite disciplined in my budgeting on the AT. I never set a "limit" per se, because sometimes I just wanted a little "luxury", and new that it was only a once in a while occurance. Pay attention to your finances, and keep the remainder of the trail in focus. If you run out of money, it is very difficult to complete the trail (especially not having any guarantee of food.)

Good luck,

-Howie

[Jaybird]

Hi Everyone! I'm a brand new hiker about to start the AT in late March. I'm sort of low on cash; I'm only bringing about $3500 or $4000 for the entire trip. I'm going to try to do the whole thing. Do you think that's enough for food? ................................
Quig



Yo Quig:

what ritzy hotels are you staying in, anyway?
most folks spend about $1-1.50 per mile... some even less if you tent camp while getting supplies.


good luck on your hike.

see ya'll UP the trail!

[freewheelinmilo]

just watch your money and you will be fine. i had no concept of the whole no income thing, and ended up blowing more than half my budget by damascus. hotels, eating out too much, gear replacement, beer. but when i realized my dream was on the line i made 1200 dollars last me the remaining 1500 miles. also watch the company you keep. some of these cats are loaded, dont try to keep up with them, and furthermore dont hike with them, they will make you feel hungry and poor as you watch them stroll from the hotel room to the mexican resteraunt as you are smelling horrible, wolfing ben and jerrys on the curb in front of the 7-11. but really, you have a comfortable number. have fun.

[Cehoffpauir]

Of course, you don't HAVE to spend all that money if you don't need to. If it turns out this way, I would simply keep it as a positive balance for later in the trail.

It could be very tempting to spend all of your balance if you have it all on hand with you. You could start with a much smaller amount, and access the rest as you need it.

[Peaks]

Hi Everyone! I'm a brand new hiker about to start the AT in late March. I'm sort of low on cash; I'm only bringing about $3500 or $4000 for the entire trip. I'm going to try to do the whole thing. Do you think that's enough for food? I have pretty much all my gear already, I'm just worried about food/sheler costs. Thanks for your advice!! :p

Quig

The trail can be done easily on $3500 or less. But, several people spend much more than that. Hiking is basically free. It's the towns where you spend your money. So, if you like to live big while in town, then you are going to run out of money. If you get in and get out, then you will probably spend perhaps $2000 or less.

My advise is to budget your expences in towns until you see what your spending patterns are. Limit the beer. Limit the meals bought. etc.

[Ramble~On]

A good idea is to put Travelers checks in your mail drops. The South is cheaper than when you get up North. I'd buy a bunch of Travelers Checks and leave about $1000.00 in an account I could access via ATM...for when you need it. $3500-$4000 you should be able to live like Royalty...
If you are including paying for all of your gear out of that 3500-4000 it'll be a different story. New gear eats a good chunk of cash.

[weary]

Hi Everyone! I'm a brand new hiker about to start the AT in late March. I'm sort of low on cash; I'm only bringing about $3500 or $4000 for the entire trip. I'm going to try to do the whole thing. Do you think that's enough for food? I have pretty much all my gear already, I'm just worried about food/sheler costs. Thanks for your advice!! :p

Quig

The key to a low budget hike is to avoid motels and hotels. Use hostels instead. And to learn simple trail cooking. Generic rice, pasta and oatmeal can be purchased for an average of $1 a pound, as compared $4-$6 a pound for instant oatmeal, and Lipton dinners. Freeze-dried stuff is even more expensive. (These are supermarket prices. Add extra for most trailside stores)

The food value is the same. The difference is flavoring, (mostly sugar, salt and boullion) which are easily added to the generics. Cooking times will be a bit longer, but not prohibitively so.

Watch prices carefully, whereever you shop. You'll discover aluminum foil tuna prices run 50 percent ahead of ordinary aluminum cans. The foil savings are mostly in convenience. The packaging weight is insignificant.

Ignore also the smallest sizes. I always buy the six ounce cans of tuna. Three ounce canned tuna carries too much of a cost and weight penalty. My body doesn't really care whether I eat six ounces every other day, or three ounces a day.

My basic meal was a mixture of generic macaroni elbows and quick-cooking brown rice, augmented by boullion cubes, grocery store dried onion flakes, powdered milk, chipped beef, tuna, hard cheese and such. Both the rice and the elbows cooked in 10 minutes. (Five minutes on my Zip stove and five minutes wrapped in my sleeping bag or jacket.

Breakfasts tended to be hot oatmeal (quick-cooking at $1 a pound, vs. $4 for instant) augmented by powdered milk, brown sugar, raisins, salt and whatever else struck my fancy.

When in town I prefer any place with "all you can eat" salad bars. I preferred steak, but pizza would do.

Weary

[Peaks]

Weary,

Much of the savings is not between buying Liptons or Mac & Cheese, or between brands of oatmeal. It comes from the decision to stay in a hostel instead of a motel, or to stay in the woods rather than in town. Likewise, buy food and cook your own rather than have a meal in a restaurant.

(But, with a budget of $3,500, there should be enough for plenty of restaurants.)