Date: 2009-09-16
To: Finances
Miles today: 0.0

Dear readers,The big factor. That socially awkward topic that nobody wants to ask about, yet everyone wants to know. MONEY. How much does it cost? Did you carry cash? Credit cards? How frequent are ATMs? The questions are endless, everybody has them, but people feel weird asking such a personal question. So, here I am spilling the 411 on my finances, to help all you future thru-hikers who are wondering the exact same things about money and the AT.I always had cash, just¢¦ because, it¢s good to have. But, for the most part, just about everywhere took credit cards. I used my credit card most places, simply because I have an REI credit card and get 1% back to REI on all purchases. ? If I did need or want to get cash, I tried to get it at larger grocery stores where it was possible to get cash back. That way I wasn¢t getting nailed with the $2.50 fee my bank charged to use other ATMs. Just assume your bank won¢t be found along the trail.I set up all of my bills to be electronically deducted from my checking account on the 1st of every month. That way, I didn¢t have to worry about them, I just had to make sure there was money in my checking account. This is easily done online, however, nowadays, you need to go through a bunch of extra steps in the login process if you are signing on from an unfamiliar location. Also, I don¢t like going on to important websites, like my banking info, with passwords and whatnot on public computers, like libraries. So, to avoid all of this, I gave my online bank account info to my most trusted people, my parents. With this information, they could log on for me and transfer money from my savings into my checking and tell me what my balance is. This system worked well for me. I started with $1,000 in my checking and only asked my mom to transfer $1,000 twice over the course of my hike.Sooo, if you do the math, you are correct in realizing that I did my thru-hike on less than $3,000. And I didn¢t find it at all difficult. Then again, I¢m not a big money spender. I don¢t demand nice hotels or fancy meals in town. Nor did I spend much money at bars. I often split hotels 4 or 5 ways, stayed in free hostels or ones requesting a small donation. I rarely paid more than $25 on lodging. Also, thanks to friends, family, and trail angels (many from TJ!), many of my zeros did not cost me anything as far as lodging goes. I don¢t think I paid for lodging from NJ ¢NH. Timing days off with where I knew people who offered to host me for a night or two was an important factor in keeping costs down.After a few weeks on the trail and looking at my in-town spending habits, I determined that a $100/week budget seemed pretty accurate/doable for the rest of my hike. I think I was spot on with this amount. At 5.5 months, that put the cost around $2200. This does NOT, however, include having to spend money for new equipment, shoes, or health insurance or car payments in the outside world. My $100/week budget basically took into account resupply costs, lodging costs, food and entertainment in town. I seemed to spend approximately $30 for a typical 4-5 day resupply of food. This cost is lower in large grocery stores (easier to find in the south) compared to tiny general stores/gas stations that charge you an arm and leg for stuff. We hit a lot of these in the north, it seemed. Oh, and at large grocery stores, always ask the cashier to scan their savings card for you! And, of course, it will seem like you are spending more money on food the further north you get because appetites are increasing and you are buying more. Lodging if not free, was often $10-20 if staying at hostels. Hotels were more, but split 3-4 ways often came out to about the same cost as a hostel. Towards the end of the hike, Gangsta and often felt the urge to splurge a bit more on our own hotel room or private room within a hostel simply b/c we were tired of communal living and bunkrooms with snoring people. We wanted our own space, our own bathroom, and own television during our time in town. In Maine, I think I paid $30 for my share at two or three hotels which was the most I¢d spent on lodging the entire trail. Your needs and desires change the longer you are on trail. Also, with so much free lodging in the middle stretch of trail, I was coming in under budget so why not? We¢d usually try to nero into a town once a week and zero once every two weeks (on average). I¢d say I usually got a bed once every 5-6 nights, it seemed. Town stops were more frequent, but often just to do a resupply. We wouldn¢t stay overnight.   Obviously, the less time in town, the less money spent. Again, thanks to many wonderful people opening their homes (and refrigerators) to us, lodging, and usually delicious home-cooked meals were provided, allowing the town stop to cost next to nothing, not to mention wonderful company! Be open to trail magic, be flexible with your schedule so it if comes your way, you can accept it. Finances aside, it leads to the meeting of many incredible people and wonderful, memorable experiences. Much of the AT experience is about what happens off the trail, not just the hiking. The people you meet and will form friendships with are not always just the hikers, but often the trail angels who will cross your path. And, you will encounter them when you need them the most¢¦ They aren¢t called trail ¢angels¢ for nothing, but that is something you need to experience yourself, because I can¢t put into words numerous instances where my worst days on trail turned into the best, thanks to the kindness of strangers.So, yes, the actual hiking portion of my hike ended up costing about $2200. Add $100/month for health insurance (short term, through Assurant Health), $300 for car insurance while gone (that was annoying- you can probably get storage insurance that is cheaper?) and I guess you have my total expense of my hike. Like I¢ve mentioned in other entries, I didn¢t replace any of my gear. I added a pillow, went through three pairs of shoes total, and bought a couple bottles of bug spray, but that¢s really all, as far as purchasing gear goes. Some people spend $500-$1,000 replacing all of their gear with ultra-light stuff, usually at Neel¢s Gap 30 miles in, haha. I recommend being sure of your gear before you leave so this doesn¢t happen to you. Outfitters don¢t always have the best selection either and will charge you an arm and a leg for stuff.Heading into my hike, I figured I¢d allow $4,000 for the entire experience. Pleasantly surprised, I came in well under this. I think the average person should be able to easily/comfortably complete the AT with $4,000 as their budget. But, obviously, the longer you are on the trail, the more money you will spend. 5.5 months is on the faster side of average.   It was a priceless 6 months that costs a few thousand dollars. But with friendships and memories that will last a lifetime, consider it a good investment. Happy Trails, Wagsps- stay tuned tomorrow to hear about the adventures of Gangsta and I this weekend. Yup, you read right. Our adventures are not over- I donned my red and black and flew down to GA to surprise Gangsta and experience some SEC football. And, of course, we day hiked on the AT on Monday together. More to come in my next entry... probably tomorrow?