I am at the end of my college semester and apparently haven't written enough papers yet.

There is no one way to save money for a backpacking trip, or any kind of trip really. For me, I go by the following method because I do not have a lot of income. I live simply and can survive off very little in order to get to my little vacation. A little effort goes a long way.

The first thing I do is figure out how many days I will be gone for the trip. My example would be my week long trip coming in may. I will be out of work for an entire week. That means I will be losing an entire week worth of income for AFTER the trip.

This is extremely important because you may be able to afford your trip, sure, but can you pay your bills without the time spent at work due to your trip?

Example: For my job, a week out of work will cost me about $250 bucks of income.

But wait...What about work costs, and being home costs? Gas, Food, General entertainment.

I like to always factor in your daily expenses to help offset the cost of an income loss.

Example: (I go extreme)
- Divide your electric bill by four weeks to get how much a week costs you to live in your house. I shut most of my electronics off when I am gone on long trips for safety reasons. For me, I spend about twenty bucks on electricity per week. Add a few dollars because you can never really just turn all your electronic off, and I get about 10 bucks savings back from that week.
- Heat, and Air: Take that into consideration as well.
- Food: Do you normally eat out for lunch or work? How well do you eat at home? I usually eat out once a week at $8 and then spend about $20 in groceries. (I am cheap)
-Gas: How much does it cost to drive to work? I drive FOR work and work five days a week at $10 bucks a day in gas. Add another 10 added for trips non-work related during the week. It comes out to- $60 in gas per week.

Total: $-250 + $15 + $28 + $60 = $-147
For a week long trip, I need to save $147 over top of my camping expenses to offset the week off work.

The next thing you need to do in the saving process is figured out your travel expenses for the trip.

Example:
-Food: How much will it cost you to eat? I am planning to eat out at the beginning and end of my trip at $20 tops. I also will be spending about $20 for snacks, and camp foods.
-Travel: Gas to get there and back? My guess: $60
-Sleeping Arrangements: Staying in a hotel somewhere? Camping for me, $5.00.
-Extras: Just add about $60 on to your savings for anything extra you might not know about. This number may go up depending on the trip. My trip is small, so $60 is perfect for me.

My trip expenses: $40 + $60 + $5.00 + $60 =$165 in trip expenses.

Now that you figured out your expenses you have to combine the two and figure out exackly how much you are going to need in order to afford your luxury trip away from home.

$165 (Trip) + $147 (Work) = $312 (Needed to Save)