Thru Hiking on a Budget & Taking Advantage of Prime Day Deals!

Thru-hikers come from all different backgrounds. Not all of us need to hike on a budget, but if you’re interested, these are some tricks I’ve used while on the AT to save myself money.

Originally posted on The Trek

Saving Money on Trail

• Stay in hostels, not hotels. You can typically stay in a bunkroom for ~$30 in a hostel, whereas hotels often range above $70.
• Eat hiker box food. If you are okay not being picky, you can often get a decent percentage of your resupply filled from food left in hiker boxes. Yes, this means you’ll likely be eating A LOT of ramen, but it saves you from buying that ramen in the store! (I know this isn’t possible for everyone, especially if you have food restrictions)
• When you get into town, instead of going out for all your meals, buy food at grocery stores. Lots of grocery store have hot food buffets. I’ll admit THIS ONE IS HARD, and I did not always stick by this one.
• On a similar and equally hard note, another way to save money is to not go out to bars in town. If you want a drink, you can buy single beer cans from grocery stores or gas stations. Alternatively, split a 6 pack with fellow hikers. Now you’ve saved even more money!
• Nero in and out of towns so that you don’t pay for hostels. I used this trick a lot. I would hike until I was only a few miles from town, so that I could get into town the next day bright and early, then stay in town all day before heading out before sunset to find myself a stealth spot just outside the other side of town. This is also called a “HERO” because you’re a Hero is you’re strong enough to resist a real bed for the night.
• Before you go into a grocery store, write out how many breakfasts, lunches, and dinners you’re going to need for your resupply. I used this one A LOT. It really helped me not to overbuy and resist my cravings.
• On that note, eat before replying; never shop while hungry.
• ASK FOR THRU HIKER DISCOUNTS. You’ll be surprised how many stores/merchants along the trial offer them. And it never hurts to ask!
• A great gadget that lets you save lots of money on trail is the Flip Fuel Transfer Device, which allows you to take the fuel from the cannisters left behind by other hikers and put it into your own! A money, time, and stress saver. You can get for 20% off with the code Rover20
• Do you enjoy listening to Audiobooks? Well did you know you can get your audiobooks FOR FREE using the app Libby, instead of Audible?
• Buy gear from brands that offer good warranty’s. This way, if something breaks on trail, instead of having to go buy a whole new one, you can get it replaced. To try and help, I’ve written an article discussing which backpacking brands have some of the best warranty’s.
  • Backpacking Brands with Great Warranty’s

Creative Ways To Use/Get More Money on Trail

(please note that I am NOT A FINANCIAL ADVISOR)

• Store all liquid cash in a high yield savings account (HYSA). Rates are high right now, many earning around 5.00%. If an average thru-hike takes 5-6 months, and you set aside the money you expect to spend on the trail in an HYSA, then think of the money you will make while you’re hiking!
  • Personally use WealthFront, but I encourage everyone to DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. To get you started, here is Nerd Wallets list of the top HYSA’s of 2023.
• Pay for everything on a credit card, but then make sure to pay off your credit card—treat your credit card like a debit card, but build up points you can use later to do things like buy yourself a flight home.
• Utilize apps that pay you. I use a variety, all the ones I write out below are ones I am currently using on trail:
  • Cashwalk pays you for your steps. You get “coins” for your steps, max 10,000/day which on a thru-hike you will max out every day. You can then exchange those coins for gift cards. I have paid for all my Dunkin’ Donuts on trail with gift cards I’ve exchanged for on this app.
  • I scan all the receipts I get using the apps Fetch and Pogo. Both give you points for your receipts. In Fetch, you can exchange these points for gift cards, while Pogo will send you money on PayPal. I have over $50 in Amazon gift cards now thanks to Fetch.
  • Lastly, I’ve already written an article about it because I love it so much, but I recommend all hikers download Treecard. It plants trees for the steps you take, plus gives you points you can exchange. At this point on the trail, I’ve enough points to exchange for a National Parks Pass!

Take Advantage of Gear Sales, like Amazon Prime Day Coming Up!

Speaking of budgeting, one great way to do so is to buy your gear when it is on sale! For many thru hikers, gear is probably the most expensive part of the entire cost of the trail, so I encourage all of you to take advantage of upcoming Prime Day Deals (Prime Days Deals are already happening, but the “big deals” are October 10-11). For those of you still figuring out what you need/want to buy, I’ve written a couple of posts as I have hiked the Appalachian Trail highlighting gear I have used, found useful, etc… hopefully you can learn from my experiences, mistakes and the lessons I have learned along the way!

• 15 Small Items That Make a Difference When Backpacking
• The Best Electrolytes I Have Found for Backpacking
• How my gear has evolved halfway through hiking the AT
• Gear I Love