Cheap Camping: Top 10 tips for family camping!
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Food Preparation Tips
1. Pots and Pans Get pots and pans from thrift stores or get a few good cast iron pans that will last a life time. Cast iron pans do amazing over the fire and once seasoned will last forever so you won’t ever have to get new ones. The are cheap and work great for family camping.
2. Durable Dishes Invest in reusable dishes and save in the long run. It’s great having reusable dishes so as to not always use paper. Even thou paper products can sometimes be so easy. But eating on real dishes is cheaper and so nice while camping with the family. I’ve even seen some couples using beautiful wine glasses while camping by the Lake. I might have to find some good camping wine glasses sometime soon. As it looked so relaxing and fun!
3. Cutting board and knife Bring a cheap but good cutting board and knife for meal prep. This makes meal prep time so much easier and quicker too. Then I can move onto to helping Cody cook food over the fire, always the fun part! It’s always cheaper while camping to cook and prep your own food for the family.
Water and Cold Storage
4. Large water jug This one pays off big in the long run from using water bottles and is so much less waste. I can’t even tell you how useful this has been. When camping or road tripping it’s so convenient to always have good water. We have road-tripped before and it was a struggle on not buying so many water bottles but having plenty of water to drink. Now we just fill our 7 gallon container with good water and are good to go. When we come to a good water source again we fill it up.
5. Ice: Fill up on ice at home or at your hotel before heading out to camp. This has been a great saver as Ice can add up quick. Oh and the blocks of ice do work really good. I had always wondered, and then we saw some. We tried it out and it kept our cooler cold for days and the block did not melt completely for about 6 days.
Campfire
6. Chairs Having quick easy chairs for camp is perfect. It’s the bomb to be able to sit around the fire and roast s’mores. And to chill and unwind after a long day hanging out with the family, swimming in the lake or visiting a National Park.
7. Fire starters Fire starters are the bomb. A good fire starter is a life saver to have. And these little buggers are safe for cooking over as they are made with pitchwood sawdust and food-grade paraffin wax. We have been using them for months now. They save you time and the frustration that your matches don’t stay lit long enough. Even thou now we like to have matches on hand too, just in case we need them.
8. Fire wood If allowed gather firewood on site. It will save you space and money. It’s also a great activity to do with your kids. Gathering wood is like a fun game of hide and seek. Little sticks for kindling to start off and then onto the bigger logs. Max and Eliana have even happened upon a good stock pile and then will bring multiple loads.
Campsite and Storage
9. Waterproof backpack This is great as it saves you money in the long run by protecting all your expensive items. Being able to bring our devices and cameras and know they are safe from rain or water is so much less stress. Cody always makes sure we bring it and we have had no water damage yet. Thanks Cody for always thinking ahead.
10. Camp in BLM (Bureau of land Management)or on National Forest Land. Which is normally right near National Parks or borders them. It’s normally cheap or free and it can be just as beautiful as the Parks. We have had some great experiences in the National Forest and this has saved us thousands of dollars. Yay for cheap family camping. Just remember to pick up after yourself and leave it as you came. We have been packing our trash out. Whenever we head out for the day we bring our garbage with us.
If you have any tips or recommendations for cheap camping, we would all love to hear them. Thanks in advance, it’s always nice to learn more tips and tricks for camping.
