campfirejourney

[campfirejourney]

Hi friends! So, I wanted to make a post on how much it cost me to get all my supplies. Now, before we get into it, I want to remind people that camping looks different for everyone. What you need and what you don't will depend on how you like to camp. That being said, my camping is a little extra... I didn't want to "rough it." I wanted to be comfortable, and all the things I got reflect that.

Let's get to the numbers!

Tent- $100 off Facebook marketplace. Realistically, I could have gotten a much cheaper tent. I got my tent because it was bigger giving me more room and I can stand in it which is what I want.

Air Mattress- $50 Walmart. It's a 20inch twin air mattress which i got on sale it's usually 60 and I paid 48 and change and rounded up 😅. Again realistically I didn't need an air mattress... but i wanted one so I got it

Bedding- No cost ! I work ems which means i stay at stations sometimes and have a bed roll with extra blankets and sheets so I just used them !

Lighting - $20ish I got a flashlight from the dollar store it worked great ! And my mother got me a couple of lanterns, which cost about 20 when all combined

Seating- $40 one again from Facebook marketplace! Again, I'm extra so I got a double seat camp chair and the other chair came with it. One chair from a store is closer to $20 so I could have saved money here

Canopy/Shade - No cost ! I borrowed this but I definitely will add this to my list of things to invest in as I really liked having this giving my pale ass somewhere to hide from the sun 😅

Outdoor Rug- $30 Academy is not a necessity, but I found it helpful... gave me a clean place to stand and have my chairs, especially since it rained and the area around the fire pit was muddy

Campstove- $23-45 pawn shop! If you remember I got the stove itself for 23 and had to get a part which brought the total to 45 ... 50 if you count the feul

Cooler-$24 basic Igloo cooler not much to say ... it didn't stay cold the whole trip but i think part of that is my bad as i left the cooler in my car and I definitely shouldn't have done that ( ice packs $17x2 didn't want to use regular ice )

Kitchen Supplies- $40 from the dollars tree. I went to the dollar tree grabbed a storage bin and filled it with all the kitchen stuff I thought i would need, tongs, spoons, cups, plates, plastic silverware, soap, sponge, basic seasoning and other things like that. I also grabbed bungie cords which came in pretty handy 10/10 recommend

Storage- $10 Sam's club i got my main storage bin from Sam's it held 99% of my stuff from the campstove to junies playpen and all the little stuff. I will be organizing better next time though 😅

Picnic table cover - $17 again not a need but I wanted it so I got it ... covered the wooden table kept it dry was easy to wipe off ... reusable and machine washable 😅 plus ... cow print 😍

Extention Cord (50ft) - $20 walmart .... made i couldn't find the one we already had ... pretty sure that one is 100ft so I had to get a cord and I got a like 4ft one for another $5 so I could have more than one outlet port.

Things for Junie!

Play Pen/Kennel -$10 Facebook marketplace! This was the purchase I wasn't so sure about but it actually worked out well! She used it never jumped out was big enough for her to sleep and eat in !

Sleeping Mat ( kindermat) - No Cost ! I got this from junie's doggie daycare they told me they had extras and gave it to me for free!! Shout out to The Blue Doghouse !!! Junie used it and I didn't feel bad having her sleep on the ground !

Food Storage- $25 Amozon it's an airtight storage bin so you can store the food in it and the lid has bowls one for food the other for water the bowls are removable so I was able to take them out and have Junie's water and food out of the tent when we where outside

Leash- $16 it's a handsfree leash ... I had a leash i could have taken but I was needing a new one and wanted a handfree leash ... I found an excuse to get one 🤣

Dog Run - $35 Amazon ( kurgo brand) Honestly , I made it work but it definitely didn't work out how it was supposed to. It wasn't long enough to reach between the two trees like I needed and I ended up just wrapping it to a tree and making it work 🤷‍♀️ Junie was secure and thats what really mattered

SOOOOO grand total without

my food cost 🥁🥁🥁🥁--- $423 ... I know, I know, and some of you just got discouraged to camp thinking you can't afford it. Let's remember this wasn't bought off one check I have been planing since the beginning of the year ! This is 3 months of pay checks. And for some of you it might be even longer and again I bought things that were not needed things that I could have saved on ... and in the case for some of you ... you could borrow or use things you already have that I wasn't able to.

My campsite was at Brazos Bend State Park. It was $25 a night, and I reserved it total camp to like $65 or something. My site had both water and electricity hookups. I liked my site, and Firewood was a donation cost per bundle, so it was a good deal! So, a $600 ( food, gas, and site ) vacation isn't too bad for 2.5 days ! And my next trip will be cheaper as I won't have to buy all this stuff again just things I realize I need that I didn't have before and I could sell things I don't need and make some money back.

[campfirejourney]

Hi again !!!

Just got back from the camping trip today, and so I thought I'd share some pictures and videos from the trip ^^

We went to Brazos Bend State Park in Texas, and it was a great trip. It rained a bit, but we stayed dry ( i was really worried about that😅). Junie had moments where she liked it, and then others where she was OVER it 🤣... to the point when I started to pack up she got in the car and was waiting for me to hurry up and be done

^^ well come on mom let's go ...

I learned alot about how I like to camp and what I need and things I don't need. I also learned I have trouble unplugging so I will work on that for my next trip. Anyway I had so much fun and it was nice to be on a "vacation" without having to spend a fortune. My next post will actually be about how much it cost me to go from zero camping supplies to enough to go for 2 nights.

Bye everyone, if anyone has any questions, feel free to contact me and I'll try my best to answer. 💚👋

[campfirejourney]

So this is the play pen I was talking about.

It is about 4 ft by 4 ft and is easy to set up. I do feel like it's a lot of pieces, but it's made for indoor use with a human child and probably not ment to take down often. That being said, it seems like it will work out fine for our trip. Junie is already accustomed to a play pen as we have one set around her kennel inside, so she has some room to move when we are gone all day. I got this for $10 off of ( yet again ) Facebook marketplace ! It had a bottom, and I am thinking about using a bed sheet to cover the top of it if the sun is getting to be too much for my girl.

[campfirejourney]

So! I've booked my campsite ! It's a tent campsite that has electricity hookups and a shorter walk to the restrooms and showers.The site is at Brazos Bend state park in Texas. Unfortunately, the friend I was gonna go with has backed out, so it'll just be me and Junie.... but I'm gonna make the most of it ! I'm also in the works of buying a kids' play pen so I can have a place for Junie to be when not on a leash since I can't find a tie out I like. So still on my list is camp chairs, and maybe if I'm able to get the other thing 👀 I have on, lay away at the pawn shop.

[campfirejourney]

Welp... the tent fan doesn't work ... well... the light works but not the fan part of it. I live in Texas which is hot for no good reason so ill need a fan. 🤷‍♀️ oh well... I can't win them all. I'll see if I can't trouble shoot it if not I'll just have to but a different option.

[campfirejourney]

Hello again 👋👋👋

A few days after I got the tent, I was on Facebook marketplace and found a campstove for sale at a local pawnshop shop !

It was 30 dollars on the marketplace, but when I got to the store, they had it marked down to $25!!! ( for reference a brand new model is about $70 ) i went ahead and got it plus they offered a warranty for 30 days for like 3 dollars and I used it as I wasn't sure if it worked or if their was something missing. So i got it for like $27 out the door !

After that I was with Junie at the puppy park and was googling the stove to see what common issues it has and how to fix them so I could try to fix anything that was wrong with it. Well ... when I was doing that is when I realized the stove did not have the regulator ( the part that connects the stove to the fuel source ) whomp whomp ... first thing I did was call the shop to see if they had the part in back or something. Unfortunately they did not but they did have something that was to go with it. I went back and got it. Turns out it was a tent fan/light ! So to the internet I went searching for the part.

And as with everything in like Amazon ( which i generally don't like to use but I also understand it can't be helped sometimes) had the part.

This is a coleman branded part, and it cost pretty much what I bought the stove itself for at $23 🤷‍♀️ and I was a little nervous it wasn't gonna be the right part. ( i had seen a few reviews saying it didn't fit their stove, but I took the chance and got it. My stove is the Coleman perfectflow series 5469 ( hehe, 69 ... okay, I'm sorry ) and the part said it was for the 5400 series, so I was hopeful. And wouldn't you know it ... it fits ! No leaks and BOTH burners work !!! So, in total, with the propane, I spent about 56ish to get this stove, which is still under the new stove price ! I call that a win!

[campfirejourney]

This was my first big purchase! I got this Wetzel Klondike tent. I always recommend trying to buy used quality items. Especially if you are just starting a hobby and aren't sure you will 100% keep up with it. This tent i got second hand it was new never opened. The family who got it originally ended up getting a bigger tent for their trip and just never used this one. Is an eight person tent overkill for me and my dog .... .... yes, but also no 🤣.

I want my camping experience to be comfortable and something I enjoy. Since it has been so long since I have been camping and never as an adult I know I'm going to want some comforts of home ... and one of those is going to be space and standing room. I can stand and stretch comfortably in the sleeping room ... the porch i can technically stand in but it does touch my head. I got this tent that has the "porch" where I can store gear and also escape bugs if need be ( which will be needed ) it also is pretty tall and will have plenty of room for me to have my air mattress and my dog's kennel in the sleeping room of the tent.

I was able to set the tent up alone in about 30 mins... granted it's only kind of up not full out as I was just setting it up to spray with scotchguard waterproofing ( can never be to safe ) but it was good practice and now that i know the basics of it i should be able to get it up easier when I do it at the camp site ^^

[campfirejourney]

Hello ^^

Quick intro to me and Junie !

I'm Emily! I've just turned 30 ( as of 2024 ) and want to start doing all the things I said I wanted/would do in my 20s that I put aside for school/work/ life. So I want to start camping/hiking ... maybe ... in a while, I want to try backpacking, but ... that's a big dream/goal ... which mostly depends on if I do enjoy camping. Few random facts about me... I'm an EMT. I use ellipses WAYYYY too much, but I can't ( won't) stop. I live in Texas, but I'm originally from California ^^

Next up is Junie ! Junie is a rescue from my local shelter. They guessed she is a lab/ shepard mix of some kind. She is currently 6 months old. She has a bunch of energy and always pulls on her leash ( despite my best efforts ) Fun Facts of Junie. Junie was probably born in July of 2024. Junie is afraid of everything until encouraged otherwise, lol. I got Junie in September 2024, and she weighed 2.6 pounds at approximately 7 weeks... ... we eat good in my house, so she currently weighs 30ish pounds. Junie is named after Junie B. Jones ... she has the same sassy attitude, and I loved the books growing up.

** Junie is fully vaccinated and fixed. We have a regular veterinarian we've seen since we got her at 7 weeks old. I highly suggest you check with your vet to see if your dog is healthy enough to start hiking and such **