6 Tips From a Dirtbag on Finances

Whether you’re currently living the dream, chasing storms, avoiding them or dreaming to do so and in either scenario find yourself underfunded and dreaming of a lottery win. Well these tips won’t equate to a lotto win and you can keep dreaming on that point but these certainly will keep a healthy sum of cash on hand.

1. 

   Winter time van stoke. Photo by Natalie Noakes

   I cannot reiterate this enough. Know the difference between wants and needs. This will save you more money than you realize if you just ask yourself before big and small purchases alike if you need it or you want it. A new rope because yours is raggedy and has been in the field for years is a need despite it being a rope. Buying a bag of organic kale chips because you’re a bit peckish is a want, do those exist?
2. Never pay retail when you do need to make purchases. There are a gajillion sites out there that will help you on this mission. They sometimes require a bit of patience but they pay off can be awesome. To name a few: Steep and cheap, chain love, left lane sports, the clymb and sierra trading post. Few things will drain your bank account faster than a new pair of full priced skis, a mountain bike at retail or a rack of cams from REI.
3. Accept free things (embrace the freegan lifestyle). Whether things are given from dumpsters, friendship or in exchange for services say yes. Unless they won’t fit in your vehicle they can be of immediate or later use, they can be sold off or bartered with later.
4. Learn as much about vehicular maintenance as possible. What sounds better, $50 for an oil change or $20 knowing you did it right (on most vehicles they’re dead easy) and saved $30? Breakdowns are costly and it’s better to head them off with regular maintenance for cheap when done yourself.

5. 

   Post photo shoot coffee.
   Photo by Dan Holz

   Live for free. Whether it’s rent, hotels or camping costs, spend the extra ten minutes to try and figure out they might be avoided. I figure, conservatively, over the past three years I have avoided many of these and saved easily $5,500!
6. Pay for experiences that last, Forbes agrees. Buy a board game instead of a movie ticket, a plane ticket instead of a new T.V. I guarantee that the memories and relationships formed through the game or trip will far outlast those of the movie or T.V.!
7. Be positive and enthusiastic, good things will come.

Living in Ski Pants and why it's kind of awesome.

Another day up the Fryingpan.

Time and time again this winter I find myself trying urge my body on to keep up with my mental ambitions. Whether it's skinning up multiple resorts a day, venturing out into the backcountry with dear friends or some combination of those and the unknown. With the tally of these days stacking up I find my self increasingly appreciative of my ski pants. I realized recently that I have only one pair of ski pants, they're comfortable and functional and I could not ask much more of them.

For instance recently before work I ventured out with one of the shop's reps to demo some prototype skis in some nearby mellow backcountry. Pants on and it was go time with a quick lap in and a couple descents the pants were warmed up for the upcoming days off.

Day two in my ski pants included a quick skin up Buttermilk (one of the more mellow local resorts that allows uphilling all day) on a demo race setup, which literally allowed me to run with skis on. I must admit that they were a bit squirrelly when taking them off jumps since they weigh only a few ounces but it was worth it for the uphill. After a quick lunch/beverage break I moved over to the next resort, Aspen Highlands for an afternoon skin up to jump on some lifts and ski with some friends. After skinning up a couple mountains my pants had certainly earned a quick beer at the local brewery before hitting the town.

A glimpse of the pants themselves! 

The next morning finds me nursing a headache while climbing into my ski pants trying to get my act together to meet a ski partner to ski a newly discovered backcountry zone. Fast forward a couple cups of coffee and few advil and a bunch of psyche and there we are skinning up the remnants of a prior visit's skin track to score a few crusty and a few powdery, miles from the nearest people. After a lap I found myself in the Glenwood library in front of the computer in my slightly less than clean ski get up for a nice skype date before hanging out with my uncle and an early bedtime.

Day 4 finds me embracing my freegan beliefs in the lift ticket line in Vail where I was able to score a lift ticket and ride the lifts all day with my cousins and uncle, no doubt my trousers and hip flexors alike were delighted to not be bushwacking through scrub oak and conifers and instead to be soaking up the rays on a bluebird day at the resort, slaying crusty bumps and corduroy with impunity.

Freeganism

So for this installment of the van life tips and insights (I think that's what these are) I thought I'd touch on a near and dear subject that my cousin has labeled 'freeganism'. Basically, freeganism is a compulsion or motivation to accept and collect free things in order to better or maintain one's standard of living. This can range from a pair of shoes found alongside the interstate, a meal offered by friends, family or strangers, a hand out from work etc.

I'm sure you can all think back fondly on a time when you got a sweet hand-me-down sweater or found a soda in a vending machine that you snagged. This does not make you a freegan. If, however, those both happened in the last week and you have also chosen a profession you know you'll get free samples from, you visit Costco specifically when you're hungry, you choose to use library internet rather than getting your own or, the thought of a new pair of shoes for free makes you giddy and giggly...then you may indeed be a freegan.

This is a perfectly acceptable way to cut down on costs while continuing to do what you like to do. However, I'm afraid that there is a dark side to freeganism that I only recently became aware of. It is possible to become addicted and blind to the fact that you can collect too much stuff. Eight pairs of free shoes may be too many, a full wardrobe of shirts that you didn't pay for but received fairly, daily trips to the supermarket dumpster for expired veggies and cookies may all be indicators of a freegan overload.

The good news is there is a quick and easy fix! You now have the power to enable and encourage other freegans with your excess. Feel free to gift on some of those things you don't really need. Donate to a local thrift shop (not quite a freegan move but close enough for me to allow it). Ask among your friends to see if any of them are freegans or know one and earn some of those good karma points. A sweet side effect of giving your excess (but usable) stuff away is the awesome feeling of doing good while streamlining your life. Those of you that have done this know what I'm talking about. Those that don't well hop on board and give it a go.

Hat, Free. Vest, Free. Shoes, Free. Pure joy, Free. 

A likely bunch of candidates for freeganism.

You can have fun with free stuff and what better way to not waste a 5lb bag of spinach than with a spinach eating contest.

Photos by Kayla Watson.