What with the hideous expense of my jaw piercing and various other unplanned expenses, we’re trying to be somewhat frugal in the donandcarol haus lately. I say somewhat because that doesn’t prevent us from buying essential items such as the kettle BBQ or heading off to see bands and I’m pretty sure that there is a $400 hairdresser appointment in my not-too-distant future.
Anyway, back to frugality. And trying to balance being frugal with the desperate need for some time away. How do we reconcile the two, you may ask (as did we)? Camping!
We’re planning two nights away at an as yet undecided locale.
Don has never been camping as an adult and while I have, it has not been for quite some time. I believe Joan was around 3 when I was last out amongst the extreme wilderness (extreme wilderness meaning no toilets &etc) and when I did venture out it was always with friends who were extremely well-endowed camping-equipment-wise. So we’re seeing the whole exercise as a bit of a challenge.
A challenge in more ways than one. Because we want to keep things extremely simple & because of our frugal, we’ve also challenged ourselves to not spend more than $100 on equipment for this trip. Our view is that if we enjoy the experience, we can easily upgrade our equipment later.
We scored a fabulous tent at Coles for a mighty $30(!), so we’ve $70 left to spend on gear for our adventure. Fortunately we already possess a sleeping bag1 from Joan’s school days (Joe/Frank has a sleeping bag too, but teenage boy sleeping bag is too ghastly to contemplate!)
Food, alcohol, petrol, camp-ground fees &etc are outside the $100, but we’ll be also trying to keep these within reasonable limits.
Updates on progress will follow…
1cue eye-rolls & groaning from the sprogs re requiring a single sleeping bag.
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and here I am feeling like a pioneer trudging across the house to wash my hands in the children's bathroom because the basin in my enormous ensuite is awaiting the attentions of a handyman. I don't know if I could take on the challenge of camping as a pampered adult, although I did love it as a child! Kudos to you, I hope you have a wonderful time! I think I would suffocate in a single sleeping bag.
We're definitely accustomed to creature comforts, which is why I'm thinking it will definitely mix things up a little.
We're more planning to use the sleeping bag more like a blanket, I think we're both a little too chubby to fit into a single!