Camping is supposed to be a cheap holiday, but if you step into any campground in Australia, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s the domain of the uber wealthy. Some of the high-end caravans have nicer fittings than my house, and even some tent set-ups seem to have so many modern luxuries included I sometimes wonder why the campers don’t just stay home and drink a beer in their garden.
It’s definitely possible to have a great camping trip with just a few affordable basics
Personally, I’m in a phase of life where any holiday I take needs to be extremely cost-effective. And while some of the luxury set-ups may be far from that, it’s definitely possible to have a great camping trip with just a few affordable basics. Here’s how I created my low-cost camping kit.
The tent is, of course, your home for the duration of your trip, so you’re going to need something decent. But the cost of tents can range from a terrifyingly low $20 or so, to well into the thousands. We started our camping journey with an Aldi cheapie that buckled under the first strong wind and leaked copiously during the first shower. It proved to be a total waste of money as we will never camp with it again.
We’ve found that the sweet spot is to buy a good quality, basic tent secondhand on Facebook marketplace. We picked up our nine-person, two-room Oztrail tent secondhand for $120 (retails for $450), while my sister nabbed a similar model on our local Waste Not, Want Not group for free! While there are certainly more luxurious tents out there, we basically just use our tent for sleeping and keeping our bags safe and dry, so we really don’t find ourselves wanting anything bigger or better.
We’ve found that the sweet spot is to buy a good quality, basic tent secondhand on Facebook marketplace
I also highly recommended picking up a couple of small USB lights to attach to the ceiling of the tent so you can find your way into bed. They cost about $10 a pop online and are worth every dollar.
Deflating the air beds is fun for the whole family.
While our Aldi tent was a flop, our Aldi airbeds have been an absolute bargain – purchased on clearance for $40 per queen, we’ve been lucky enough to pick up a portable power station for an absolute steal which allows us to inflate them even on unpowered sites.
Before we had the power station though, we still managed to inflate them by taking them into the nearest camp amenity (laundry, camp kitchen etc) and pumping them up and carrying them back to camp.
Slightly obnoxious yes, but a good workaround if you don’t have power on your site.
If we didn’t have the blow up beds, I’d probably opt for some second-hand camping stretchers which are often available very cheaply on Facebook Marketplace.
Sleeping bags, chairs and some type of table are the bare necessities for a decent camping experience. You may also want some extra bits and bobs designed to make camping easier.
For all of this kit, my number one tip is to head to the op shop. But not just any op shop. Ideally, visit a big camping town and you will be amazed at the camping stuff on offer. I personally picked up a lot of gear in some of the giant op shops in Port Macquarie. In some cases you could have been forgiven for thinking you were in one of the big camping stores, with walls lined with near-new sleeping bags, rows and rows of camp chairs and gazebos.
Communal items
For me, camping isn’t worth doing unless I’m heading there with friends. Every trip we’ve been on has been with either friends or family. The great thing about this is everyone has different camping gear and much of it can be shared.
If you have another family you plan to go camping with frequently, consider making an agreement on who should invest in which items. For example, we purchased an extra large, high quality gazebo from Facebook Marketplace that always makes for the perfect communal area for everyone to share. But we’ve yet to invest in any cooking stuff, so we will piggyback off my brother’s great gas cooker and kitchen setup, or throw our drinks in our friends’ extra large esky.
For die-hard campers, it’s all about going off-grid. And while the untainted beauty of some of these sites really does appeal, the fact of the matter is you need a lot of specialised gear to camp comfortably without any amenities (especially if you have young kids). And the cost of all the gear really adds up.
Cheap campsites can still be in amazing locations.
Equally, camping in some of the popular chain parks and other places with special attractions like waterslides and kids clubs can end up being more expensive than staying in a hotel.
For us, the sweet spot is camping in small beachside town caravan parks that have basic amenities like barbecues, toilet/shower blocks and maybe a simple camp kitchen. An unpowered site at one of these campgrounds generally costs us about $50 a night, making a long weekend getaway pretty darn affordable.
The other benefit of camping in or near small towns is that you can buy food from the local supermarket as needed, so you can get away without an esky – just bring a big bucket if you want to throw your drinks in with a bag of ice to keep them cold.
Get money-saving ideas and DIY tips from our in-house thrift queen
Grace Smith is a Content editor, she creates and edits content, stories and feature articles for CHOICE magazine and digital platforms.
Grace writes on a diverse range of topics, from money-saving and consumer rights, to product safety and household goods. Previously, she worked as a verifier, reviewing lab data and written content to ensure all information was accurate and rigorous, and also as a Content producer for the Household team.
Grace is the writer and producer of CHOICE Cheapskate newsletter, full of money saving ideas and tricks.
Grace has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney. LinkedIn
Grace Smith is a Content editor, she creates and edits content, stories and feature articles for CHOICE magazine and digital platforms.
Grace writes on a diverse range of topics, from money-saving and consumer rights, to product safety and household goods. Previously, she worked as a verifier, reviewing lab data and written content to ensure all information was accurate and rigorous, and also as a Content producer for the Household team.
Grace is the writer and producer of CHOICE Cheapskate newsletter, full of money saving ideas and tricks.
Grace has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney. LinkedIn
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