I am planning a year in advance so bear with me, I don't know a whole lot.

I will be just out of college and won't have too much money. I'm wondering why it seems as if it's looked down upon to use mail drops to resupply your food. I am going to try and save at least 4,000 to have on the trail with me, but I'd like to spend as little of it as possible.

To me, it seems smart to use the mail drops to send yourself food rather than to head over to a store that I'm sure is overpriced. I'm also sure that if I ran into a store after five days of hiking I might splurge. I like that I can plan out my food ahead of time, start buying it now, and have it sent out by my parents with postage paid (Maybe that's why I'm biased).

People seem to say that it is impossible to be frugal on the trail--but why? I can't find any good guides on planning a resupply or a menu for the packages because everywhere I look people say not to do it.

That's not to say that there won't be times that I'll head to the store occasionally and supplement my diet, that's not to say that I won't occasionally stop into town for a real meal--but I want to save that as a treat. and I WILL be trying to add as much variety as possible from week to week within the packages.

Is there any help that you all could give me--anyone who has relied mostly on the mail drops? Or anyone who tried to be frugal in general?

Thanks and gig em