Is Gamping for You?

I miss sleeping in the great outdoors when we used to camp along the lower lakes in Kananaskis Country. We used to drive out every long weekend and stake out a piece of real estate, hang up our tarps to protect us from the rain and setup camp. We would bring the cooler out, stocked full of marinated chicken and steaks, potatoes wrapped in foil and bags of frozen corn. These days, we go cruising on long weekends, at least for the May long weekend coming up.

I hear camping isn’t as popular as it used to. I know for us, we prefer to stay at the Falcon Crest Lodge in nearby Canmore and eat at our favorite restaurants such as Crazyweed and French Quarter, a cajun and creole hangout. We would golf at Stewart Creek and SilverTip and stroll into Banff when we want to go shopping.

Has anybody heard of ‘gamping’? It stands for ‘glamorous camping’ and it is on the rise. For $595 a night, you get a personal chef, a maid to turn up the heated comforter and a camp butler to build the fire. For $110 per person per day, you get luxury food such as bison rib-eye steak for dinner and french toast topped with huckleberries for breakfast. If you’re interested, I hear the Paws Up resort in Big Sky, Montana is the most popular.

If ‘gamping’ sounds good to you but you don’t want to spend $595 per night, you can still add some luxury and comfort to your camping supplies. Buy yourself a heated sleeping bag. Equipped with a 12V DC battery, it will keep you warm for 8 hours. Its rated for temperatures as low as -27 degrees celsius, is waterproof and weighs 11 pounds. To light up your way, lose your Coleman lantern and get a solar tent from Canadian Tire that comes with an integrated solar panel that lights the interior LED lights and can be used to charge devices (such as your iPods, blackberries and laptops) independently. 

There is Life after Budgeting

Sometimes I feel I’m not doing this site justice. I should be blogging about how to save you money rather than to tempt you with things to buy. Lets start off with laundry. To save on buying static sheets such as Bounce, you can buy dryer balls that sell for $15 a pair. Using these dryer balls when you dry your clothes will remove the static and save you money at the same time. I understand that 90% of the energy used in washing clothes is the heating of the water. Based on the US Department of Energy, they tell you to wash your clothes in cold water and use cold water detergents whenever possible. If you check out their website, you can see a list of tips that we can all follow to save money. Since you’re there, you might as well check out the driving and car maintenance too.

 

If you want to go further on my blog about ‘Cheap Eats’ then learn a few recipes and eat home more often. Use Google search box on our site to find recipes of food that you like, download them and experiment with different recipes. You will find that it is more economical if you make your own meals than to go out. Try making a little more for dinner then bring the leftovers to work the next day. Saving on lunches can add about $40 per week to your savings. 

 

Everyone enjoys a nice steak sandwich or a juicy steak on the grill. Next time you’re at the market, try to pick up a Sirloin Tip roast instead of a T-bone steak. With a roast, you can carve your steaks to the thickness you like and you will find that each individual piece will actually cost less than one sirloin steak.

 

Here’s a simple tip to cook fish. If you want a real economical fish dish, buy a package of frozen fish such as cod filets. This should cost you no more than $10 for a package of five filets. Thaw out a serving in room temperature then coat it with some white flour. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on it then pan fry it in a tablespoon of olive oil. Cook for about 3 minutes and slide a spatula underneath it and flip to the other side. Reach for a bottle of salad dressing such as a golden italian, greek salad or my favorite, cuban lime and chili. Pour about an ounce over the fish and let it sizzle for a minute. Transfer to a plate with rice or some cooked vegetables. 

 

If you follow some of these money-saving tips, you can probably save enough for the next cruise that we find for under $34 per night. Think of it as your reward for inconveniencing yourself for a short while. There is life after budgeting.