Anyone camp for frugal family entertainment? Any tips on how to save money buying camping gear or supplies? Anyone plan on camping when they get to a destination to save money on hotel expenses?

We have some land up in the mountains that we camp on. We use to go every weekend, but as we have gotten older it is less than that now.

We have a camper that we normally take. But I have found some really good camping gear at yard sales. As people up grade or just have gotten tired of camping, they will sell it at yard sales.

Or go on Craigslist in your area. There are some really good deals out there.

Or advertise for some camping gear on Craigslist.

You can rent tents and camping equipment at some sporting goods stores (I know that REI does for sure, probably many others)
Definitely check out Craigslist and yardsales. We bought our huge, high quality tent at a yard sale for $10.
We definitely plan to go camping a couple times this Summer.

I love camping but my husband hates it, so we don't camp together. If I go camping, I go without him. I've had my tent for a long time now, and bought it on sale at Academy years ago.

__________________
When life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt and call me over!
Any time God closes one door, She always opens another, even though sometimes it's Hell in the hallway.
Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or play with it, pee on it and walk away.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, prepare to die. (Klingon proverb)
Don't point. You'll poke holes in the air and all the faeries will escape.

Our 12 year old tent finally died, so we just bought a new one at Costco. It's bigger than the old one that cost us more! It's also the same brand as our old one, so we're confident that it'll last (and if it doesn't, Costco will refund us : )

Since we've been camping for over 20 years, we have accumulated pretty much all the gear we need. But if I were looking for something more, I'd check yard sales, freecylce, and Craigslist, and I'd also just ask around. A lot of people have gear in their garages that they never intend to use again . . .
Oh, and Target has some good sales.

Do a Google search for "frugal camping" and learn a lot!

__________________
Attaining financial freedom is like eating an elephant . . . it takes one bite at a time.

I usually borrow stuff from my neighbors. One time we went to the desert and borrowed an EZ up from them (they have 2). On a more recent trip, I borrowed a small stove because ours had died.

Also, each camping trip we go on, I seem to find something new I need to buy. Last time it was the tent stakes.

We are saving money by camping this spring break. We are visiting some of the California missions and camping in between. It was getting too expensive and stressful to squeeze our large family into a hotel.

We love camping for a frugal family vacation. I don't have many tips for getting cheap gear - we have just watched sales at Target, Dick's Sporting Goods, etc. We do make sure to buy better brand products that we know will last.

We did a huge camping trip 3 summers ago when my husband's cousin got married in Seattle, WA. We live in NYS, so we had to fly out, but we bought a smaller tent that would fit in a suitcase. We packed pillows, a blanket and sheets, and an airbed all in one suitcase. We saved SO MUCH money not doing hotels! Now, of course, your suitcase may be overweight now on some airlines, but we didn't have a problem I suppose maybe you could ship it out?