Leaving meals to chance can turn an inexpensive camping trip into a costly experience. You have planned your trip down to the last detail, where you are going, what to take, what you want to see but not what you plan to eat. It is possible to spend an entire months food budget with careless planning. Saving money on food when camping requires the same attention to detail as the rest of the trip.
One of the most common mistakes campers make is shopping when they get to their destination. Buying that one-pound pancake mix at the store is costly when you already have one at home. Decide how much you need and put it into a smaller container with a lid. Many other foods used at home can be broken down into camping sizes and packed. This saves money on food and adds valuable space when packing.
Keeping food cold is another way to save money. Everyone has thrown out food that spoiled in the ice chest. Ice is not expensive but having to replenish it adds up. Before your next camping trip, make up a 1-gallon bottle with ice and salt. For a gallon of water, add one-quarter cup of salt. Freeze it, occasionally taking it out and shaking it to keep the salt from settling. Salt-water "brine" freezes at a lower temperature and keeps regular ice from melting. It is also a good way to insure that frozen items stay frozen. In fact, frozen meat stored in the ice chest with the salt water bottle and regular ice may not defrost in enough time for the evening meal.
If you are planning a camping trip, doubling a favorite meal will give you dinner tonight and one for your trip. Since you already have the ingredients, you save time and money. You simply freeze it in a bag that you can boil at the campsite or pour into a pan and reheat. With fewer ingredients to pack you have more room for other items.
Individual bottles of water are great but you can save money by buying the gallon bottles and actually using cups. Buy plastic cups with lids to keep creeping and flying insects out. Assign one to each person. Kids love canteens so fill theirs up with water too. They will stay hydrated while you save money and send less plastic to the landfill.
Families with kids can save money and have fun letting the kids cook hotdogs over the fire. Skewers made for this kind of cooking are not expensive and should be part of the camping supplies. There is nothing more exciting for the kids then letting them cook their own meal. Even picky eaters will eat camp food that they cooked themselves.
Sitting at the picnic table enjoying a meal, knowing that you did not break the bank, makes the food even tastier. Saving money on food while camping requires planning but then, you had already planned your trip. Adding food to the planning is just another step for that perfect camping trip.