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  1. #1
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    :banana How much cash do I need???

    Im NOBO and leaving in March. I would like to buy as little as possible on the trail, but not be strapped for cash if I need it, and I do not want to run out and not finish!!!! looking for a range of thoughts. Some one told me they spent $6,000. isn't this excessive? I will need a plane Ticket back to Florida when I finnish as well. I don't think I want to fool with too much shipping... seems more expensive to buy it and ship all that food.... also how available is buying any other resupply on the trail? Water filtration? and propane for cooking? should I just go alcohol?

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    Depends. If you want to camp in the rain while the rest of the party is in town drinking, eating pizza and sleeping in a warm, dry motel room then you can go cheaper but it won't be as much fun. I bet I spent close to $6,000 for a 6 month hike.

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    people who have more money, will spend more money, and have more fun.

    Panzer

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    Don't become a town hound or seccumb to the "let's slack pack this section" syndrome and you won't spend as much money.

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Don H View Post
    Depends. If you want to camp in the rain while the rest of the party is in town drinking, eating pizza and sleeping in a warm, dry motel room then you can go cheaper but it won't be as much fun. I bet I spent close to $6,000 for a 6 month hike.
    I spent $2300 on my 2010 thru and had plenty of fun. My tent was warm and cozy, I was not tempted to sleep in a motel room. I have never considered a motel worth the price. I did stay at a hostel several times, but I took a few creek baths and washed my clothes in the creek a few times as well, mainly to experiment, to see how well it would work. I had a few beers, but I never really felt the need to drink on the trail. I was out there to hike, not party. I did hike with others off and on, and enjoyed their company, but I strongly preferred hiking alone, and it did not bother me to keep on hiking when the others stopped in town.

    To answer the OP in short, the more self discipline you have with money, the less you will need. I wasn't even trying to be cheap, and actually splurged several times. If I had cut it to bare bones, I could have did it on about $1500 or so.

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    Some say that a good amount is $3500 plus/minus $1000. I planned on $4500 and spent less than $3500, including worn out gear and transportation to and from Colorado (2008). I did not pass up a single restaurant meal or night's lodging if I wanted it because of funding. I was surprised at how little I spent. I also hiked a fast hike, 3.5 months, and I'm convinced that that saved a lot of money. I have also heard the range lies between $1,000 and $10,000, seriously.
    "Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning

  7. #7

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    First, resupply along the trail is no problem. The pickings can be slim at small town grocery stores or conveniance stores and they tend to be expensive. But it still beats maildrops and going home to 500 left over power bars if you happen to quite early.

    There are way too many variables to predict how much money you'll spend. I'd have at least 4 grand put away. We've all seen many a hiker go home due to running out of money. Either they did not budget enough to start or they spent way too much, way too early by not knowing how to budget.
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  8. #8

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    $3000 should be enough if you use your head and don't "waste" it....just beware, it is very easy to spend too much in the beginning and run out later.
    I stayed at some hostels along the way and 3 motel rooms but for the most part I used the cool and cold weather to "camp" down south and tended to stay in hostels or motels later in the summer when I really wanted air conditioning and a nice shower.

    geek

  9. #9
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    they say 2 dollars a mile minimum... it really depends you could do it as low as 1200 if you dont stay at hostels/ or go into towns and stuff. me personally i plan on spending 5k(which is the average not including gear).. alcohol, showers, hostels.. maybe stay at a hotel to heal and stuff..

  10. #10
    AT 4000+, LT, FHT, ALT Blissful's Avatar
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    $4,000 worked for me just fine. (excluding gear replacement)







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    Quote Originally Posted by Don H View Post
    Depends. If you want to camp in the rain while the rest of the party is in town drinking, eating pizza and sleeping in a warm, dry motel room then you can go cheaper but it won't be as much fun. I bet I spent close to $6,000 for a 6 month hike.
    That included new gear I bought just for the trip. New tent, sleeping bag, pad, shoes and clothing. Also I went through 5 pairs of shoes at $100 a piece. I did see people dropping out due to finances so make sure you have enough. The town stops in the south will drain your money fast if you let them.

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    Few have complained that they had too much cash.

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    I've never agreed with Panzer about anything, so what the heck, I'll go ahead and agree with him that if you have access to some cash, you'll be a little more secure when unknown problems arise. That said, the AT and especially thru-hiking (at least to me) is about living in the woods - living in the woods is virtually free once you have purchased your initial gear and food is (relatively speaking) pretty cheap - I can stock my backpack for $20-$25 for a week and eat well - I can get fuel from hiker boxes and you don't even have to yogi to get fed for free once in a while if you can tell a good story to some boy scouts. I thru-hiked on less than $2,000 and did well (this was 1985 money, so double it) If, on the other hand, you think that the AT is about hiking into every trail town, sampling the local beers, eating pizza and staying in hotels with hot tubs and replacing gear at your every whim, you could easily spend $10K - it's all about your style - I backpack to live in the woods in a simple way and cherish a luxury every now and then - if you just walk from hotel to hotel you spend a ton of $$ and miss the point (in my opinion) HYOH.

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    :banana Wo! 3.5 months?

    Quote Originally Posted by garlic08 View Post
    Some say that a good amount is $3500 plus/minus $1000. I planned on $4500 and spent less than $3500, including worn out gear and transportation to and from Colorado (2008). I did not pass up a single restaurant meal or night's lodging if I wanted it because of funding. I was surprised at how little I spent. I also hiked a fast hike, 3.5 months, and I'm convinced that that saved a lot of money. I have also heard the range lies between $1,000 and $10,000, seriously.
    3.5 is fast... average was 20 miles every day? whats the most you did in a day? I should have $3000 to $4000, I really dont want to spend all of that.. and I think Im looking to do it in five months.

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    Thank everyone for all the advice so far!!&nbsp; To be honest, I can drink and party and be indoors here at home. Some people really like that on the trail, but its not my goal. Im looking to be on the trail as much as possible. Defiantly gonna eat some good meals in town, and no doubt a beer will be nice. But the goal is to see the trail, do extraordinary amounts of thinking, talk and meet people off and on wile hiking the trail, and <u>complete the full length of it.</u> I guess Im gonna shoot for less than $2200, but I will have $3000 to $4000 to spend.<br><br>What gear other than shoes will I need to replace on the trail?

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    Why 5 pairs??? Ive herd of 2... but five? really? what shoes?

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    I'm planning $1000 per month, might be able to go for half that but hard to say ahead of time due to the multiple variables including weather, gear, injuries, etc.
    Lead, Follow, or get out of the way. I'm goin hikin.

  18. #18
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    You are on target - I would suggest that you can get by on a relatively small sum on a weekly basis for food and fuel if you stay out of towns and take a shower once a week. The larger money is spent on transportation and gear. I'm not sure if people who do these calculations assume that you are starting from scratch in terms of gear. I worked in an outfitter shop in high school in the 80s so, I was basically good to go - my guess is that a thru-hike could look like this:

    50% new gear and replacements on trail - shoes at least once $900.00
    Transportation (including shuttles on the trail, etc.) $500.00
    21 weeks at $100 / week - should cover food and hostels* $2,100.00
    Back up funds for emergencies: $ 500.00
    Total: $4,000.00

    If you are careful and frugal, you might have a full wallet on the way home. This assumes that you will ride the train and shuttle by bus where available - certainly fancy airfare, taxis, dinners and luxury hotels are not part of what most would consider part of a thru-hiker's budget. * $100 / week is a lot for food, fuel, and a hostel - assuming the food is $7.00 / day, the fuel, $7.00 week, and the hostel is $25.00, this should leave $25.00 weekly for play money - beer, a movie, whatever.

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    Yep. I wore Brooks trail running shoes, they each lasted about 500 miles. That seemed to be typical for trail runners. Of course PA, NH and ME were harder on them. I really liked these shoes, never had a blister or foot problem the entire trip. I knew from past section hikes how long they would last and planned accordingly.

  20. #20

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    I heard some in 08 spent $1000 but these are the same people that stiffed hostel owners

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