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Doctari
05-22-2004, 19:11
So, how did/are you you save(ing) up for a thru hike?
Mostly curious, but I do have a personal interest. This is mostly for you at/near or eventually getting to retirement age, but open to anyone.
“Dad paid for it” isn’t a viable answer, sorry.
I am already getting into investing, & sort of have a budget, but I’m open to suggestions.

I retire in about 10 years, so have a few years to save. Will not be able to retire money wise, but could possibly save enough to do a Thru then.

Thanx :-)

Doctari.

Footslogger
05-22-2004, 19:19
My situation is proabably atypical ...but the wife and I set up a budget about 6 months prior to my departure date that was based on her income. I banked my paychecks during that period, with the exception of necessities, and then used that to finance my hike. I managed to save enough for my hiking expenses and still have some left over to cover a brief "re-entry" phase after the hike was completed.

Not everyone has that luxury but that's how I did it. I have to admit that it helped a great deal having a wife (Bad Ass Turtle) who had hiked the AT (2001) and understood the situation.

'Slogger

Chappy
05-22-2004, 19:40
Doctari,
I don't necessarily recommend the way i did it, but here goes. I've saved enough while being stationed in Korea to fund three thru hikes. Been good on the pocket book, but no family life. At least my wife won't ask, "where are you getting the money to do that silly thing?" :)

attroll
05-22-2004, 19:53
Chappy

If you saved enough to do three thru-hikers and your only going to do one. I will come along with you on your thru-hike and then you will still have enough to do one more after you and me have complete one. That sounds good to me.

Doctari
05-22-2004, 20:18
I forgot to mention:

I'm married, wife only works part time/low pay.
2 kids, still @ home but mostly supporting themselves.
The Job has no retirement plan, "SSI is enough for you" sheesh!


Doctari.

Desert Lobster
05-22-2004, 21:04
Get your priorities straight. kick the kids out and go hiking.

Chappy
05-23-2004, 01:09
Chappy

If you saved enough to do three thru-hikers and your only going to do one. I will come along with you on your thru-hike and then you will still have enough to do one more after you and me have complete one. That sounds good to me.

But what do I do if I decide I want to do multiple thrus and try to catch up with some of my new heroes I've met on Whiteblaze? If I invest right in this growing economy I might stretch that money inot another hike! :D

attroll
05-23-2004, 01:40
But what do I do if I decide I want to do multiple thrus and try to catch up with some of my new heroes I've met on Whiteblaze? If I invest right in this growing economy I might stretch that money inot another hike! :DWell it was worth a shot to try and jump in with you. LOL. I am like a lot of others rigtht now. I am saving money but will not have enough for at least 5 more years.

Remember if you want company I will come with you if you can fund it. LOL.

pvtmorriscsa
05-23-2004, 03:04
Howdy All,
I have been scrimping and saving as much as I can. Course it helps that I am unmarried, have no kids, and have a total living expense of $600 per month. That includes rent, utilities, food, smokes, and gasoline. Than again with the way the cost of gas is going up, that number is going to change. I am planning to save around $3000. Which I hope will be suffiencient to cover the cost of my trip, and than some.
Course the sacrifice has been pretty high. I had to let my gun range membership expire. My Fn-Fal is still someone elses, as is my reloading setup. <SIGH>
Having said all that. I know it will be worth it.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, I am officially 1/3 of the way to my goal. Whoo Hoo! Go Me!

Doctari
05-23-2004, 08:50
Get your priorities straight. kick the kids out and go hiking.

Would love to!!!!!

Wife rather opposed to that, I want to keep her. The kids (23 & 18) have been given hints tho :p

She supports my section hiking so,,,,,,,,

Doctari

Peaks
05-23-2004, 08:51
How do you save enough for a thru-hike? I'd say it's a matter of life style and priorities.

Looking around at hiker gatherings, I'd surmize that many of us live well within our income. We probably don't have the largest house in the neighborhood, and certainly not the newest and fancest car. As an example, I'm told that repeat thru-hiker Baltimore Jack leaves very frugally, and works his butt off during the off season.

Also, the "youngsters" that are out there hiking are not saddled yet with mortgages, loans, car payments, and other obligations at most folks have. The retired people out there probably don't have big mortgages, and are probably empty nested. So, they have the time and money for a thru-hike.

bobgessner57
05-23-2004, 09:03
Doctari:

My wife and I are in similar setup, except 3 kids and I am self employed. Oldest daughter graduates from high school this week, youngest son starts high school in fall. They get to do college on the scholarship and hustle plan.
Daughter is taking year off to work and do some adventure trips while deciding what she wants to do and how to approach higher ed. She will pay us room and board which we will escrow to help with education expenses.

The big items in our budget seem to revolve around taxes and insurance. Strategy: drive older cars that are paid for, lower taxes, and no comprehensive insurance, just a decent amount of liability insurance. My teen drivers also know that they pick up the tab if they get any moving violations.
It helps that I can do most mechanical work on our vehicles.

Our mortgage is paid off thanks to paying extra principal each month and a large chunk from an insurance loss which we repaired ourselves.

The rest is the usual admonition of staying out of debt, buying on sale, separating needs from wants, etc. The gear reviews on this site have helped me focus my hit list for the sales catalogs. Rainy days when I can't work I cruise the thrift shops for gear and everyday clothes. Frugality rocks!

SGT Rock
05-23-2004, 11:13
For starters, I didn't actually start planning the financial end of the hike until about two years ago. I started contemplating everything else about five years ago.

But with the Army, retirement makes for a nice way to go. I assume that I will need about +/-$650 a month to hike comfortably. I probably spend about +/-$500 a month on food, fuel, haircuts, uniform upkeep, entertainment, etc. anyway, so it isn' that different than what I need to survive. So instead of saving money, I have been banking leave from my job to be able to use terminal leave to finance a lot of my expense.

I can save up to 60 days at the end of a fiscal year, and if I play it correctly, I could get up to 90 days that can be taken at one shot as long as I use it all before September 30. Add to that the fact that I can get up to 20 days permissive TDY (free leave) when I retire that can be taken in conjunction with terminal leave. This means I will have anywhere from 80 to 140 days of my thru-hike where I will still be a full time employee of the U.S. Army. After my leave runs out, then I will have my pension which will be about 60% of my base pay. If I get promoted like I hope, then that will be about $3,000 a month. Eventually I will need a job after retirement. Anyone out there want to hike a retired senior NCO and former thru-hiker that makes hiking web-sites as a hobby?

This means I only need a litte extra to make up the difference. I can still support my family in the mannor they will be accustomed to while I am hiking. To suplement this, we have a mutual fund and some savings.