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dbrayack
Feb 12, 2007, 3:18 PM
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If I were to quit my job and be a dirt bag, how would I live? Sort of like the OJ simpson book?
So I'm seriously considering banking cash for a while, then quitting my job and hitting it....what is the biggest expense living in your car and climbing? Probably food? How much do you dirt balls spend on a food in a month? I'm trying to cipher out a good budget so I can pull this off.
Thoughts? You guys think its worth it? I'm young enough now, I figure I can work 3-4 years save up a lot of cash and then just never look back.
-Danno
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pancaketom
Feb 12, 2007, 4:31 PM
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Food is cheap. I usually don't spend any money on food, although sometimes I have to. Last year I think I spent under 100$.
If you need a vehicle, that can cost a fair amount (vehicle to start, gas, insurance...) If you can do without a vehicle, that can be cheap, but somewhat limiting in some places.
I would suggest some sort of health insurance. Accidents happen, and you can run up many K in a hospital visit. You don't want to be the one people have to try to have a fund and raffle for.
It is a lot cheaper to go somewhere for an extended stay rather than flitting about all the time.
Good luck. Depending on where you go and your standards, things can vary from very cheap to not so cheap. In general things like free long term camping are disappearing, but there are alternatives if you are willing to make the effort.
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bizarrodrinker
Feb 12, 2007, 4:34 PM
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It depends on what kind of bills you are obligated to pay in your absence.
I have been saving about a year and have accumulated enough money to drive around for about 2 months. But I have student loans and rent to pay in my absence from work, so they are my personal biggest expense.
If its just a road trip, and you plan on returning to your home eventually, I would say gas has the biggest pricetag. Then food.
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br
Feb 12, 2007, 5:01 PM
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You say you can work 3-4 years and save up cash. Things change in 3-4 years. Trust me. Responsibitliy can sneak up on you like a ninja. Do it now. Figure it out along the way. The more thought and preparation you put into it the less likley it is to happen. Go while you still can.
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bent_gate
Feb 12, 2007, 5:14 PM
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pancaketom wrote: Food is cheap. I usually don't spend any money on food, although sometimes I have to. Last year I think I spent under 100$.
You spent under $100 on food? Or is that a typo, did you mean $1000? Even at a thousand, that is only around $2.75 a day.
How do you do it? Do you eat bugs? By robbing pick-a-nick baskets? Seriously though, please share.
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petsfed
Feb 12, 2007, 5:25 PM
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Tons of self discipline can make living cheaply easy. A bland diet, while thoroughly uninteresting, keeps the price low. Chicken, rice, canned vegetables. Buy only what you need. Don't waste anything. Go to events with free food as often as possible. Don't splurge, ever. $2.75 a week is pretty good, that's a lot of ramen, and a can of vegetables. Maybe a pound of chicken once a month. Its not extravagant, but its doable.
Just ask any college student.
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markc
Feb 12, 2007, 5:27 PM
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How much do you spend on food now? If you're serious about this, your budget while you save is going to be just as important as your budget for your unemployment. As for anyone, it's those unexpected high ticket costs that will really hurt. Think car repair or injury. As was said, the most expensive dirtbag item would be health insurance. For a climber (especially a boulderer in my mind), going uninsured is a big gamble.
In terms of ways to keep it going, you can always work as a day-laborer to get together cash to eat or to fill the tank. I had a coworker that went to a day labor agency on his days off. If they don't have work for you, you still have the whole day in front of you.
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pancaketom
Feb 12, 2007, 5:56 PM
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Actually, depending on how you slice it, 100$ is probably high for what I've spent. The accounting gets messy when I am sharing food with others though.
Mostly I get food from the 100% discount bin around behind the grocery store. For example last week I got over 50 lbs of potatoes, lots of cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, oranges, a few onions, and some garlic. Eggs are often tossed with a few busted ones in the carton - good protein. Depending on your comfort with various levels of disgusting, you really can do quite well in some places. Others, not so well, but if you store up things that keep (like potatoes), you can go for a while when the pickings are slim.
The biggest variable cost for me is transport - usually gas. The biggest fixed cost is insurance. And then there are the hits - like when you need a rope or new tires or root canal...
Things are a lot cheaper if you can eliminate the fixed costs associated with non-road trip living (rent, utilities, etc.). If you can have some sort of income stream other than straight living off of savings, that makes things less stressful.
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zeke_sf
Feb 12, 2007, 6:11 PM
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I met a guy who'd walked basically a rikshaw (sp?) from Texas to California with his dog. Dog's name was Decoto I believe. Didn't catch the guy's name  . Anyway, he earned money by fashioning jewelry out of roadkill bones, etc. and selling them at what he termed "gatherings." Anywhere some hippies would splurge on bone jewelry made by some Jack Kerouac in a cowboy hat, I guess. Hell, that probably answers the food question too. At least for the dog. No gas either. Of course, he says it took him two years to get from Texas to just north of San Fran.
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coastal_climber
Feb 12, 2007, 7:18 PM
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Why don't all climbers put $1 a month into a fund for a year at a time. Then every year, a small x number of climbers get the money evenly distributed to them for a roadtrip? When your name gets picked, then you are off the list for x # of years.
>Cam
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deadhorse
Feb 14, 2007, 8:12 PM
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I want to go dirtbag so BAD. Can you imagine the progress you'd make in just the first month, when the only thing youve got to do, all day, every day, is get awesome at climbing?? I'm trying to be able to do a dirt-bag esque extended stay in NRG this summer (camp out of car/tent/ eat?? )
A guylike you danno, if you've got a laptop, you could probably make it pretty easy by just shooting action shots with some of the people you meet along the way, do your editing on the go, and catch a couple bones for the service. I mean shit, if somebody w/ your photo skills (& established photo rep) was like hey- $20 for a ten shot of actions, w/o printing, i'd do it. I think alot of people would. Good luck living the dream!
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bobruef
Feb 14, 2007, 8:25 PM
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deadhorse wrote: I want to go dirtbag so BAD. Can you imagine the progress you'd make in just the first month, when the only thing youve got to do, all day, every day, is get awesome at climbing?? I'm trying to be able to do a dirt-bag esque extended stay in NRG this summer (camp out of car/tent/ eat?? ) A guylike you danno, if you've got a laptop, you could probably make it pretty easy by just shooting action shots with some of the people you meet along the way, do your editing on the go, and catch a couple bones for the service. I mean shit, if somebody w/ your photo skills (& established photo rep) was like hey- $20 for a ten shot of actions, w/o printing, i'd do it. I think alot of people would. Good luck living the dream!
I'll second that. This could be a rest day activity. Been to your site and checked out your photos on here. They're worth cost.
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laurelja
Feb 14, 2007, 9:33 PM
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How about you make that first deposit (and be generous  )
Maybe a international climbing barter system too?!
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miavzero
Feb 14, 2007, 10:36 PM
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Dirtbagging is great for a year or two, but gets to be fucking old. I really enjoy the way that I live now. A sound professional practice with two to three months of vacation a year.
Being single on the road sucks if you have to spend a great deal of time alone. My last year on the road was spent with the companionship of my wife
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porcelainsunset
Feb 14, 2007, 11:10 PM
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A good spot to live very very cheeply for a while would be Smith Rock. There is free camping just a few miles away from the park, and you could easily catch a ride with other climbers. Also, there is a nearby grocry store that you could dumpster dive at. Terrerbone is a ranch town, and i am sure you could find work to do during your rest days as a ranch hand or something. Hell, i am sure you would pick up 10 acres of cow shit to be able to climb for another month. I know i would.
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laurelja
Feb 14, 2007, 11:45 PM
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shoveling cow poop would build some muscles, thats the good thing about male dirt bagging......the opportunities for jobs are just so fun and rewarding!
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JiBs22
Feb 15, 2007, 12:13 AM
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this is the greatest post ever...as soon as I get out of the Army I am rewarding myself with a year or two of traveling and dirt bagging the whole world....(yes almost doesn't make sense)...I will be camping and saving on food and cooking myself, but of course eurorail passes and flights, etc. cost money and are somewhat unavoidable...then when I come back to the states, going back to school, and living off my GI Bill and scheduling classes so I have a 4 day weekend every weekend, and easy ass classes...dirt baggin then in college for years, just climbing and shamming out of school, keep a solid bartending job and come in once a week or something at night....should be a solid 6-7 years of climbing, being poor, and loving life....responsibility is so overrated
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devkrev
Feb 15, 2007, 12:25 AM
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coastal_climber wrote: Why don't all climbers put $1 a month into a fund for a year at a time. Then every year, a small x number of climbers get the money evenly distributed to them for a roadtrip? When your name gets picked, then you are off the list for x # of years. >Cam
Yeah, and communism works....in theory
dev
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wes_allen
Feb 15, 2007, 12:37 AM
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http://www.vagabonding.net is a nice place to start - the book was pretty good, and worth a read.
Budgeting depends on you, I know some people that "live" on less then $100 per month. Personally, when I was on longer trips, I liked to have a nice dinner or drink good beer every week or so. My budget was around $150 a week, sometime a bit more. One thing to do is get all your bills taken care of, so you only have to pay insurance and cell phone per month. It is usually cheaper to pick a couple places with free/cheap camping and stay there as long as you can, rather then trying to hit a bunch of areas.
My friends are on a 9 month or so trip http://taco.knowchaos.com has some stories from the road.
Wes
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namascar
Apr 4, 2007, 8:56 PM
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I can assure you that Tom eats on less than 100$ a year. That was occasionally inviting me.
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desertdude420
May 4, 2007, 12:52 AM
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Two words: MONKEY CHOW!!!!
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Tania
May 12, 2007, 2:44 AM
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I know this thread is months old but ill put my two cents in anyway. I have to agree with you. Do it now, leave as soon as you can. 3 or 4 years is a long time. So much changes. I can barely relate to the person I was 4 years ago, but i guess I am still young-whatever that implies. I aspire to dirtbag after I graduate
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markc
May 14, 2007, 2:28 PM
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Tania, depending on your loan situation, the best time to dirtbag it may be during the summer. As long as you don't take more than six months off at a time, student loans will stay in deferment. Sublet your place, and go to your climbing destination of choice. (Even less of a worry if you live in the dorms.) If you need to work, try to do so Friday through Sunday. You'll avoid the crag on the busiest days of the week.
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theirishman
May 14, 2007, 3:46 PM
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and if you do your photo shooting thing on the weekend, thats when all the people with real jobs and some money go climbing, and thats when you make that money! and your photos rock
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climbingaggie03
May 14, 2007, 4:06 PM
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That's not a bad Idea cause when you are climbing full time climbing on weekends sucks cause it gets so crowded and you are used to having the crag to yourself
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