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Saving That Money
One of the first things a potential hiker of the PCT gets excited about is gear, and for good reason. The gear you choose to carry with you can make a HUGE impact for better or worse on your overall hiking experience. If you haven’t done so already, be sure to check out some musings on ultralight philosophy here.
So you’re all ready to run to REI and drop big bucks on the 2017 everything that sheds .1 oz. off the previous model. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing at all, most people will realize that if you do this for every piece of gear it adds up to a massive expense FAST. And that’s just for gear, not even factoring in all of the semi-predictable purchases that you will make during the course of the trip like hotel rooms in town, food for every resupply, replacements on things like shoes, and countless other things that go into an intimidating thru-hike budget.
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BUT HIKING THE TRAIL IS ABOUT FREEDOM, NOT STICKING TO SOME BUDGET, RIGHT?
Unfortunately that intimidating budget needs to be taken VERY seriously. I saved a significant amount of money up before the hike, and ended up burning through it sooner than predicted because of unexpected gear costs, as well as normal payments back home that didn’t take the summer off with me. I was endlessly fortunate to have my dad as my hiking partner, someone with a stable retirement income and one of the most generous outlooks of anyone I’ve met. Others weren’t so lucky. During the course of our adventure we met a depressingly high number of great hikers who had to get off the trail simply because they ran out of the funds to continue. They were able hikers who weren’t able to continue their dream.
Now that we’ve pumped the brakes on the initial compulsive purchases, let’s talk about how to save some money during all of the preparation for a thru-hike, as well as saving some money while you’re out on the trail. If you’re like me, you do a significant amount of your shopping online, so let's run through some services and strategies that can stack up to stellar savings.
Services and Strategies
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What It Does: After signing up for the service, Paribus will comb your email inbox and look for any online purchases you have made (like my bomber ABC watch). If the price of that item has dropped since you paid for it, they will reach out on your behalf and get the difference that is owed to you under most retailers’ policies.
What That Looks Like:
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Why We Loved It: Not only is it effortless once you complete the sign-up, Paribus also gives you the peace of mind and flexibility to pull the trigger on a purchase knowing that you’ll be getting the lowest price possible. This is great on-trail for ordering that next pair of shoes when the ones you just tried didn’t hold out as long as you thought they would…
What It Does: After you sign up, you can tag items online that you are interested in. The service then tracks that pricing and let’s you know when it is anticipated to be the lowest it will be based on past pricing and future projections.
The Best Way to Use It: In conjunction with Paribus! When you use both of them together, Camel Camel Camel will tell you when the price is supposed to be the lowest, and if it does happen to drop in the near future, Paribus will get you that difference back.
What to Buy from Where
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While you can usually find cheaper prices and use the above strategies on Amazon to get the lowest prices, it’s not ALWAYS worth it. For gear that there is greater risk for error on, like shoes, it’s well worth it to pay a little more to buy from an outdoor retailer like REI with a kick-ass return policy.
*You should actually support the company too if the shoes / whatever work for you. AKA don’t wear the shoes for 1,000 miles because they worked great and then return them because you want that money back. That being said, buying shoes from REI does offer some peace of mind with their return policy that you shouldn’t be afraid to take advantage of if you need to. If you try a pair of shoes that you thought would work, but end up resulting in pain and discomfort for you, take those bad boys back and try again!
What It Does: Finds deals on last minute hotel rooms for you. They partner with local hotels to fill rooms that haven’t been filled yet for a way cheaper price. This price can be reduced even more if you’re checking for those hotels while in the area.
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Support the Site: Use promo code “ DMCINTOSH11 “ when you’re signing up for an additional $25 off your next booking.
What That Looks Like:
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Why We Loved It: We ended up staying in hotels in town quite a bit more than we expected. While not every town will have eligible hotels on the app, it was always worth a check, and saved us quite a bit of money when there was one.
***AND BY THE WAY***
Most of these services and strategies don’t just apply to outdoor gear. So use them year round to save money on any online shopping or hotel booking you’ll be doing! The more you can save on all of this throughout the year, the more you’ll have to put towards your adventure.
Be sure to follow us on social media or sign up for our mailing list to get the best new money saving tips as we discover them. As always, if you have any questions or comments, let us know below!