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Living a Better Life Frugal Family Fun: Getting Started with Tent Camping
Camping
is a great way to spend quality time with your family away from home, without
breaking the bank. After reading
this article you should be able to gather the basic supplies needed for your
first family camping trip and once you have your basic supplies, tent camping
can be really fun, and really cheap! Our
favorite campground, a state park at a nearby lake, is only $14 a night. More...
When
I was in the girl scouts, years (and YEARS) ago, the council provided tents for
all of us, but I guess things have changed because our son had to bring his own
tent. (Which meant we had to buy one, since we didn’t know anyone who had a
tent that we could borrow.) It
really turned out to be a great blessing though, as we were catapulted into
finally getting started with family camping. Finding
the Perfect Tent So,
off we went to the store to buy our first tent.
We hate to admit it, but my husband insisted on getting a pop-up tent
(the tents that literally just pop up and require very little work to set up).
The problem is, these kinds of tents are much more expensive, and really
not necessary, but since this first camping trip was going to be just for the
two of them, I purchased the least expensive one I could find and it served its
purpose just fine. And now we have an easy set-up tent for future scouting
trips, or whenever we just need more room. In
order to take our entire family (of six) on an overnight outing, we needed a
REALLY BIG tent! Over the next few
months we continued to watch the store ads for tents on sale. Finally, we found a great tent at a reasonable price, a
3-room/6-person Hilary from Sears. It’s
big enough for all six of us and after setting up the sleeping bags we still
have room for most of our supplies, and whatever doesn’t fit we just keep in
the trunk of the car—things like water toys and extra food, which as it turns
out the later is important to keep stored out of sight so critters won't visit
you during the night! Our
3-room family size tent comes with room dividers, which are really just
sheet-like curtains that hang on hooks inside the tent from the roof.
We’ve only used them once though, they make the tent seem so much
smaller. For privacy to change
clothing, we either take turns inside the tent, or take a trip to the bathroom
and change there. (If you have
young children always pick a site that’s close to the bathrooms, but not right
next to them!) One
of the most important things when choosing a tent, is that is has a rain-guard
covering, and yes, ours does! If
you need to purchase a tent on sale or end up borrowing one from a friend that
doesn’t have a covering, you’ll need to buy a tarp to cover the tent when it
rains, and chances are, it will rain. You’ll
also need a tarp for underneath your tent to protect it from dirt and rocks, but
we made several trips without one and our tent survived okay. Though
most of these camping items can be found at garage sales, we’ve decided to
purchase new ones, hoping they will last longer. When we’re done using them, if any of them are still in
good condition, we’ve got four kids to pass them down to. I would recommend borrowing some of your equipment for the
first time though, if at all possible. After
your first outing you’ll probably know if camping is for you or not… for us,
we love the challenge of surviving outdoors with our kids and getting the chance
to spend time with them away from Nintendo, TV, telephones, computers and our
busy schedules... we love it! Sleeping
Bags are Nice, but Not Necessary So
far, we have 3 sleeping bags. Because
we don’t want to purchase the cheap ones, we’re taking our time to invest in
ones that will hopefully last for many years to come.
We still have small children so there's no hurry to have all the sleeping
bags right now, but as they grow older it will be nice for everyone to have one.
The inside of the tent will stay pretty clean so it’s okay to use a bed roll
made out of a comforter and sheet from home (keep an old towel or mat in front
of the tent opening so most of the dirt and rocks will remain outside, you can
also use a cheap vinyl table cloth which will cover a larger area).
Since we have the three sleeping bags we can use them either
individually, as a base for two of the children with a comforter from home on
top, or as a covering over an air mattress or foam padding—that my husband and
I insist on using for ourselves! Just
as you may wake up in the morning to dew on the grass at home, when camping you
may wake up in the morning to a damp tent and bedding.
Just leave the door flap and windows open if possible to help dry things
out quickly. On the last trip we
took (in August), it was a little warmer than usual and we were able to keep the
side windows of the tent open about 10 inches or so (no more than that in case
it rained during the night). We were pleasantly surprised to wake up in
the morning to a DRY tent! Remember
to air dry your tent and sleeping bags really well before putting them back into
storage when you get home or they will mildew; our previous trip was so damp we
had to lay the open bags out on our front lawn for several hours... and a
little bit of sunshine really helps. Staying
Out of the Rain, Adding a Porch Covering Speaking
of rain, the latest thing we added to our camping ensemble, was a canopy
porch… because during the previous trip it rained for several hours during the
afternoon and we had to sit inside the (hot - zipped up) tent until it stopped.
You only do that once, then you buy a porch canopy.
Prices range anywhere from $12 - $120… I found a nice sturdy one for
$30 at Wal-Mart, and it worked just fine. Although since we are a large
family, I think the larger $120 type would be wonderful too.
I just won't pay that kind of money for a tarp! Seating
Arrangements The
collapsible chairs that we purchased for our kids' baseball games are just
perfect for camping, and I highly recommend them.
At first, we only had four chairs
(for six people) so the kids would fight
over who got to sit down in a nice comfy chair... instead of the picnic table
bench (that’s provided by the campground) or on our large cooler.
Really, any kind of outdoor chairs will work... beach chairs, stackable garden
chairs, whatever you can fit into your car, just be sure you have something for
everyone. And
if you do purchase the collapsible chairs, the small cheap ones (priced
at $5.00 – $6.00), won’t hold up as well as the bigger, more expensive ones—but
they work just fine for the younger children.
On one of our trips, our neighbor had a lounge-type collapsible chair
that even had a built in footstool, now that's camping in style!
We also have a small collapsible table that has 4 drink holders built-in,
I think we paid about $6.00 for it, and it comes in real handy for the children
during mealtime. Cooking
with Charcoal, Gas Stove, Sterno and Fire Although we now have a gas camp stove, we are also able to
manage just fine without one. We use the campfire ring that’s usually
provided at the campground, and we bring our own charcoal (in case there is no
firewood available—like when it rains overnight and you forgot to cover any
for the next day), lighter fluid, and waterproof matches (found in the camping
section of your local stores). You
can also use inexpensive Sterno cans, but they don’t provide much heat and it
takes a long time to boil a pot of water for coffee or hot chocolate. You
might want to try the charcoal cooking first, then if you find yourself camping
a lot, go ahead and invest in a gas camp stove (they are great!). Iron
skillets are great for camping if you have one! As a southern cook (with 4 children) I happen to have two
well-seasoned skillets that really come in handy… if you need more information
on this just let me know. The
stores also have special camping pots that work great and aren’t too
expensive, but the iron cookware is worth every penny.
You can also get by with just one good size pot, you don’t need a whole
set. Whatever you do, don’t use
your good kitchen pots, they are not meant for cooking over a campfire! Although
you can use charcoal for most of your cooking, you’ll still need firewood for
the campfire at night (for roasting marshmallows and making S'mores, of course!)
You can purchase or gather your firewood (and starter wood if possible)
either before coming to the campground, or sometimes firewood is available for
purchase at the campground office. Or, if it’s dry, you can hunt for
some seasoned firewood in the woods depending where you are… most campgrounds
are usually picked over pretty well. S'mores Here’s
a quick note about S’mores in case you don’t know how to make them… First,
you roast a marshmallow over the fire with a long stick, or untwisted wire coat
hanger, for several minutes—until it’s all gooey inside and toasty on the
outside-YUM! Then you place the
roasted marshmallow in between two halves of a graham cracker with a small piece
of a Hershey bar. Let it rest for
just a minute so the marshmallow (which should be hot enough) will melt the
chocolate. Warning: Limit intake to
2-3 per person if you don’t want anyone to get sick! *
I'll share some more of our favorite camping recipes with y’all soon if
you’d like, including omelets in a bag and our favorite dessert on a stick!
If you have a camping recipe you’d like to share you can e-mail me at editor@betterbudgeting.com. Additional Items We Recommend for a Successful Camping Trip - If the idea of camping seems overwhelming to any of your family members, just start out with a short trip for one or two nights Things to bring... -
Pillows -
Extra towels (for who knows what might happen, we just always seem to need them) -
Dish soap, dishcloth and hand towels -
Paper plates, bowls, cups and utensils -
Plastic bags, garbage bags -
Picnic tablecloth, for the table (the inexpensive vinyl kind are great) -
Rain ponchos, or at least one -
Lanterns, flashlights -
Cards, 1 or 2 games, books -
Small whisk broom for sweeping out the tent to keep it clean (and for when you
roll it back up to go home—you may need to sweep it out first) -
Camera, writing journals -
Two pairs of shoes, for each person! -
Expandable clothesline (of course you can just use some cording from the garage
but this thing is really great, available in camping section of the store for
about $1.00) -
Special tent mallet for putting in and taking out stakes (comes in real handy,
and the kids love to help because it’s so cool) -
Drinking water, that doesn’t have to be kept in the cooler -
Empty gallon jug for getting wash water if needed -
A little bit of cash, at least $20 -
Your heath insurance card (in case your oldest son falls out of a tree and needs
a quick trip to the nearest E.R.) Okay,
what do you think? Are you ready
for your first camping trip? I’ve
given you the basics to get started, plus several more tips that we’ve learned
so far. Now it’s just a matter of
getting some equipment together, getting your calendar out and calling your
state park or nearby campground to make reservations for your trip. Have
some frugal family fun enjoying the great outdoors!
* * *
Copyright © 2005 by Michelle Jones, author of Dealing with Debt and Frugal Family Recipes. All rights reserved. Want more money-saving tips? Get a FREE Subscription to our monthly newsletter!
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