Frugal Camping Tips & Ideas, FREE Camping Fire Starter & more

Pretty soon the weather will be warm and we’ll be thinking about summer vacation. For many of us we’ll take our family out for long weekend or a week long camping vacation in the great outdoors. Well I have some great frugal camping tips and ideas for you including FREE camping fire starter and more….

Camping is such a great family fun activity! Did you know that when adults were asked to recall a memorable family event over 85% of them recalled an event that took place outside? Its true and its easy to see why. I know I just love the great outdoors and I want my children to have fun and share that passion too. Who wouldn’t benefit from a week without your cell phone, game boy or lap top right Well, if you’re on a really tight budget then you’ll need to know how to go camping on the cheap because for many families this will be the only vacation that you can afford. Here’s are some tips for ‘ya!

1) Look for camping supplies at yard sales and consider “google alerts” for camping supplies for sale. Google alerts will allow you to have key terms (like “tent for sale”) in a query and get notified when they terms are used on the world wide web so you can “search” areas for items listed for sale.

2) Use things around your house that you already have. My favorite is collecting dryer lint from all of the winter laundry. Its a GREAT free fire starter for your campfire & we’ve been doing it for years ever since my son learned this neat little tip in Boy Scouts.

3) Keep it small and portable. Check out these spices that easily go into a Tic Tac container. You could just as easily keep spices in a small portable Tums container etc. (thanks Starling travel for this one)

4) If you think you’re going to go camping for the next 5 or 10 years with your family then you may like to purchase a used camper. We purchased this camper for just $1,500.00. Its a base model so the tow weight is VERY low and can be pulled my my mini van – no truck needed – just a hitch. We camp every year and each year we say how glad we are to have our little camper. Everything else you’ll see in the image above (like boogie boards etc) was all purchased used at thrift shops, yard sales etc so our out of pocket expenses were very low.

5) Check state and national parks for inexpensive camp grounds. I live in the Mid-Atlantic region and Cape Henlopen State Park is our absolute hands down favorite for camping! Its CHEAP and it has so much to offer! Its directly adjacent to Fort Miles which is an old World War II fort which kept a look out during the war for German Submarines coming up the bay. You can tour the fort, ride bikes through it, go in the barracks and touch the old massive guns that took 15 or 20 men to fire at a sub. Its safe and super family friendly. Plus you can go to the beach and swim, see wild deer, take advantage of the miles of bike trails or go to the free nature center too. To check out the National Park Service for camping go here. You’ll need to schedule your summer camping space NOW (they’re already filling up so act fast). To get the National Park Service Camping Guide go here. You can get it on Kindle or standard.

6) Make as much food in advance as possible. Plan, plan, plan. Make your life easy when you go camping so plan your meals in advance. If you’re planning scrambled Eggs & ham for breakfast then crack your eggs and use a container with a good seal. Cut your ham up in advance and freeze. Make life easy to all your normal kitchen prep work that you’d usually do at home is done in advance. This will keep you having fun and not busy cooking.

Are you living a frugal life? Check out my videos on how to cook bacon mess free or re-using containers. Get creative with your savings! We aren’t just a deal site because we know saving money means more than snipping and clipping and heading to your local grocery store. We teach you HOW to save in every way possible! We have a 12 Month Frugal Planning Calendar here and we offer “Frugal School” here.

Be sure to check out some of my frugal videos that will help you save too! Bookmark this site – to get more tips, ideas and more from Maggie the frugal living expert!