How I Saved Money for My Hike

Besides hypothermia, bears, Lyme disease, and sprained ankles, one of a thru hiker’s biggest concerns is money. Running out of funds is a big reason many people end up having to cut their thru hikes short. If you ask former thru hikers how much to budget, the answers will be all over the map (pun intended?). That said, from what I’ve read it sounds like $1,000 per month is a good estimate. That means $4,000-$6,000 for a 4-6 month hike.  

Where does the money go? Food takes up a fair chunk of the budget. Thru hikers consume a massive amount of calories to fuel their bodies during the ~2,200 mile trek. Lodging, gear replacement, shuttles, and other smaller expenses make up the rest. In my case, I also need to factor in my car and health insurance and my monthly storage unit fees. I also wanted to save up enough money to live comfortably for a few months while I search for a job after I finish the trail. So how did I do it? Here a few ways I saved or earned money to fund my trip.
 

Moving in with the ‘Rents

This was a huge one. I am fortunate in that I moved back to my home town a few years ago and have a great relationship with my family. When my apartment lease expired, I put my stuff in a storage unit and moved back in with my parents. When I leave for the trail in March, I will have lived with them for about ten months. That’s about $10,000 saved that I would have been dumping into rent. Plus, I had the added perk of getting to spend some extra time with my family before I’m MIA for six months. Thanks, Mom and Dad!
 

Selling My Stuff on eBay

This wasn’t a huge source of income, but every dollar counts. It also served double duty since I wanted to get rid of stuff I didn’t need before moving out of my apartment. Most of the funds raised from my eBay sales went to buying my gear. Buying gear is so addicting…
 

Using Credit Card Rewards Points

I try to use my credit card for purchases whenever possible so that I can rack up rewards points. Most of the time, I forget I have these points so they really stack up! Last year, I was able to get $1,000 worth of Visa gift cards using my points. I used half for a trip to Hawaii and half to buy yet more gear. It’s like free money!

I also signed up for an REI Visa card. I received a gift card for signing up and get a bigger dividend as a cardholder.
 

Shopping Sales

Because I decided to do a 2014 thru hike back in the summer of 2012, I had plenty of time to research purchases and search for good deals (shopping online is key here). I created a spreadsheet of all my purchases and marked how much I saved on each item. Also, because I started planning so early, I had two Christmases and two birthdays on which I could ask for gear as gifts. That helped me save money as well and allowed my family to feel like they were contributing to my journey.  

Because I was able to save up a good chunk of change for my hike, I’ve had the luxury during these past few weeks of swapping out prior purchases with newer, lighter weight options. I plan to sell my “old” gear and make some of that money back. Once I had all of my gear purchased and put it onto my back, I realized I wanted to shave another pound or two off of my base weight. I’ve recently replaced my puffy jacket, rain jacket, cookpot/mug, and sleeping pad. Altogether, that helped me shave approximately two pounds (or about 10%) from my base weight. Not too shabby!