[pct-l] Thru-hike cost: It's not cheap!

[Bob Sartini]

You should also eliminate food. I spend way more food one night a week 
eating out with my wife then I do on the trail maybe the whole trip.

"EVERYTHING is in walking distance,"
    ......Bamboo Bob
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "kcristler" <kerouc at verizon.net>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 4:44 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Thru-hike cost: It's not cheap!


>    regarding rick's assessment of the cost of his through hike: I deducted
> the "i would have spent anyway costs", and came up with a total of about
> 4700. rick mows 2 acres of grass (why? ). He also spent an incredible 
> amount
> of money on motels. If i trim rick's motel bill by one third, and cut his
> gardening fees in half, which would be more in line, but still much 
> greater,
> than any young, apt. living hiker, then his out of pocket total is about
> 3800. If I estimate he saved 500 on gas and 200 on cable, then his out of
> pocket cost is about 3100. that is about 1 and 3/28 dollar per mile. Not
> bad.
>                        kerry
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Rick Ostheimer" <rick.ostheimer at sbcglobal.net>
> To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 6:03 PM
> Subject: [pct-l] Thru-hike cost: It's not cheap!
>
>
>>A while back there was a thread on thru hike costs.  It was cloudy,
>> rainy, cold and just plain miserable here in NE Ohio today, so I got a
>> "round tuit" and loaded up a spreadsheet with all my 2008 thru hike
>> expenses.  I had the statements from my Visa card and my bank
>> transaction history covering the hike period.
>>
>> I don't have anything in for lost wages because I'm retired, though I
>> supposed I could put in about 30% of my formerly much larger stock
>> portfolio since I couldn't mind it and bail out while I was happily
>> walking the trail.  You don't know how much book value I lost during
>> that time frame from April to October.  I don't include taxes,
>> utilities, etc. on my home----my wife has to have somewhere to live!
>> Nor do I include my health insurance expense----I pay for it whether I
>> sit home or hike.  I do include what I paid an neighbor to mow my 2
>> acres if grass while I was gone.
>>
>> Here's the break down:
>>
>> $ 550   Travel to/from trail (base location Pittsburgh PA)
>> 1375   *Food from supermarkets
>> 1050   *Restaurants and visa charges of snack foods
>> 1285   Lodging
>>  450    Postage
>>  225    Contributions to trail angels/gas money for rides
>>  700    *Pocket money (cash otherwise unaccounted for---mostly snacks,
>> but also things like bus fares, etc.)
>>  600    Equipment (2 sets spare socks, gaiters, clothes from REI,
>> Seattle, $100, for travel home)
>>    80    Fuel (alcohol, I often left 1/2 pint in hiker boxes)
>>  250    Replacement pocketmail composer and pocketmail service
>> subscription
>>  250    Other, mostly spending at drug stores
>> 1000    Lawn care back home
>>
>> 7815   Total  (= approx $3/mile)
>>
>> * indicates expenditures that would have been made regardless of whether
>> I was home or not.
>>
>> Offsetting some of the extra expenses:  I spent no money on gasoline.  I
>> put my cable service into vacation mode ($10/month)
>>
>> Hope this helps some future hiker.
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
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