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Quote: Originally posted by nelmo on 22/7/2009

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One person's 'fortune' is another person's 'budget' (deep, man <IMG alt=17 src="https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/forum_images/smiley16.gif" align=absMiddle>).

Our full camping setup cost me about £1000, less than I would normally spend on a weeks holiday abroad (with 2 kids).

No, you don't have to spend that at all - if you can wild camp with only a piece of tarp and an old sleeping bag, go for it but I can't.

 

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Also, I think many of those with the more expensive stuff have built it up over time, got stuff for birthdays etc.   My lovely Aquaroll was a birthday present, other bits and bobs have been bought with money that we have been given for birthdays/Christmas.

We have been going camping now for six years, and have managed to build up quite a bit of stuff.    We don't take all of it with us every time, but what we take will depend on how long we are going for, is Richard joining the kids and me at any point in the break, and are we using the tent or the camper,

Buying your kit to start will inevitably set you back a few pounds, but if you shop around and look for value then it should cost no more than an average package holiday to start.

After that it's cheaper as you already have the basic kit.   But if you buy well it should then last you years.

How much you spend while away is very much up to you.  Cook onsite and it will cost you less than eating out and takeaways.  Often it's the entertainment and day trips that add to the bill.

It can be as expensive as you want or as cheap as you want.

Is there a correlation between cash spent and comfort?

Does camping have to be expensive? Simple answer is no but if people want the latest model of whatever tent is trendy with all the matching accessories (only to replace it all the following season when the new model is released) then the bank balance is bound to suffer.

Lots of things can be used from home and although it is true that good quality gear costs more, there are always bargains around and a little searching can save alot of money.

Instead of spending months and alot of money on tents, gear etc, the time and money could be spent on doing what camping is all about, camping !

Shopping for camping stuff is fun but camping is much better :)

Angie

Quote: Originally posted by weeblewobble on 22/7/2009

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We're new to camping, we've bought a tent a Vango Tigris 800, Air beds, Sleeping bags, 2 fold up chairs, already got small ones for the kids, lantern, kettle, fold up water bottle.

We just buy a large 4 ltr botte of water from Supermarket, the one with the handle. This we just refil from the campsite tap when empty. I used to have a collapsable camping water container, but found it too much trouble to steralize it between trips.

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It's a balance for me, between camping being about simple pleasures and being comfy enough to enjoy it even when it rains, because I don't have time to drive down France looking for warm sunny weather!

last year I spent £400 in total to kit us out, this year I have spent nothing, except campsite fees, so to my mind, that kit has cost me £200 per year, if I use it all for another 7 years then just £50 per year plus the campsite fees (usually less than one night in a hotel to camp for the week)

you can't put a price on the fresh air and outdoors life!

No, it does not have to be expensive. For several years we travelled by motorbike and that limits to what you can take so it can be done without lashing money around.Just get a decent tent and sleeping bag is the first priority.No need for loads of plates or crockery just a plate,bowl and a mug each. Trangia for cooking and that is all you realy need if want to travel light.Done it for a few years.and enjoyed it

WG

There seems to be a firm agreement that starting with the basics and building from there is the way... I introduced the idea of camping to my city girl partner and we bought a fairly cheap small dome... the bog standard rubber air bed and a couple of sleeping bags. My cunning plan worked and the Gal was hooked!!

We have all we need for a long comfortable week on a site... we upgraded the tent after the first year working up to new stove and cupboard/stand; through many ideas and wise advice on here, we now have a great system. We have earmarked a newer, larger tent as we have gained two dogs last year..but that is for as and when.

Due to lots of reasons we are pretty bereft of cash at the moment, despite this we still get away for one weekend a Month.... so to finnaly answer the question..no camping neednt be expensive.

no it doesn;t have to be expensisive , the first set up we had cost us under £200 for 6  of us  had a large cheap tent ( argos and we never got wet) cheap blow up beds, took duvets from home , my grandfather gave us an elecric hook up lead so we took the kettle , toaster , george forman grill and steamer from home and a couple of cheap folding chairs and a tables . and that was us , we had great times in that tent - only got rid of it to upgrade to a trailer tent but that wasn;t as much fun.

this time we were lucky to be in a situation where we were given a lump sum for a holiday so we invested it in some good quality gear and bought everything we wanted  and yes it did cost a fortune but that was only becuase we had the money then and we will use it for years so over the course of the holidays we will have with it it will be cheap as chips.

No camping doesn't HAVE to be expensive - it will cost as much as you want to spend!

We started camping in a Sunncamp APS3006+ which I bought off eBay for £87. The only other things we bought were airbeds and sleeping bags - everything else came from home - BBQ for cooking, plates, cups, bowls, cutlery etc.... Total cost of stuff on our first trip (excluding site fees) was less than £250.

We had many happy trips away until the mice got the the tent and airbeds.

As we enjoyed camping, we decided to "upgrade" our camping gear and bought the Ontario 8, a cooker, EHU, porta potti etc....(not all at once I might add!) until we have the set up we use now.
I

Well we are off on our first trip this weekend and havent spent that much to get started.  We have bought tent, beds (one from camping mag) cooker, chairs, table, lights, sleeping bags etc, no ehu and just the basics really. 

Got some great cooking utensils from wilkos this week 25p each!! 

The whole kit and kaboodle including site fees for a week in Scotland has cost less than we would normally spend on a cottage somewhere so we are really pleased. 

We are planning some more time away in the Summer and many more weekends/weeks to come so over all it really has been a total bargain.

Sassy