Most of the advice you’ll find on 20somethingfinance is geared towards best practices when it comes to your personal finances. Not this one, my friends. Through personal experience and witnessing worst practices from others, I’ve compiled a list of the 5 best ways to destroy your personal finances. Learn what to do through the avoidance of these practices. 

1. Borrowing from the Credit Card Company (and Holding a Balance)

I’ve used credit cards to help establish a credit history and to gain from rewards. Used in these ways, credit cards can be part of a healthy financial picture. Used in just about any other way, they can wreck your financial house of cards. If you carry a balance from month to month, there’s a lot of things you can assume – first of which is that you aren’t saving any money. If you are saving money, you’re doing so foolishly. There are few places that you can get a return (and none without high risk) of over the typical 12%+ that credit card companies charge on balances.

2. Buying More House than you Can Afford

As a general rule of thumb, you should not spend more than 30% of your take home income on your housing. With both houses that I’ve owned, I’ve pushed to about 30%, and when my wife lost her job in January, we were definitely concerned about what a prolonged layoff might mean for our ability to make our house payments without significantly cutting into our savings. If you can, I’d recommend keeping your housing expenses to below 25% of your take home income.

3. Not Funding an Emergency Fund

Before paying off good debt, funding your IRA and/or 401k, or saving for other long-term goals, establishing an emergency fund is essential. If you lose your job, have a serious medical complication, have to fund replacement transportation in the event of major vehicle repair, or run into other unexpected financial hardship, you need to have some cash on hand to throw yourself a lifeline. Unfortunately, those who have not run into one of these situations often think it will never happen to them. This is especially true for twenty somethings. Don’t let this happen to you.

Unlike Dave Ramsey, I don’t think it’s realistic or wise to pay off ALL of your debt before saving more than $1,000. Focus on paying off high interest debt, but when it comes to school loans and mortgages, paying all of those off first before adding to your emergency savings is not a good idea. Once you’ve paid off high interest debt, then shoot for a minimum of six months of expenses, but preferably 8 months to a year’s worth.

4. Wasting your Money on School

Getting a solid BA or BS degree from a reputable university would be difficult to argue as a bad investment. Sadly, this can often lead people astray as they take this fact and convince themselves that additional degrees are going to be the ultimate path to financial riches. Convincing yourself that a second undergrad degree (unless you need it to completely change careers) or staying in school an extra year or two can be downright devestating for your financing.

But surely, MBA’s an other advanced degrees must be a good investment, right? After running the math, I’m not so sure. If I were to leave my job to pursue an MBA at the two most reputable public universities in my state of residence, I would shell out at least $80K for the degree. Additionally, I’d be giving up significantly more in salary over the two years. I figure that it would take me almost two decades to pay back my investment and make up for the lost salary, and that’s only if I were to find a higher paying, higher stress job. That entire time, I’d have the burden of that debt on my shoulders. I’m going to pass for now.

5. Rolling the Dice

No, I’m not referring to gambling, although that certainly would make a top 10 version of this list. I’m referring to not paying for your basic insurances: home, auto, medical, and life. This is another one of those ‘you don’t know how important it is until something bad happens’ necessities. We’ve all seen someone lose their homes, their vehicles, or their savings due to not having their basic insurances covered. ‘It’ CAN happen to you. Don’t roll the dice.

To the Readers:

• What have you learned from your financial mistakes?
• What would your top 5 be?

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The Before you Turn 30 Financial Goals Checklist

Want to get out of debt and start building wealth? Then grab some envelopes and get some cash out of the ATM, and start taking notes. I’m going to tell you about an old-fashioned method of money management that doesn’t get nearly enough respect in the age of Quicken, Mint.com, and online banking, but is in many ways faster, tangible, and more convenient. It’s called (drum roll, please) The Envelope System. 

How it Works

The Envelope System is simple. You decide on categories that will be useful to you, such as groceries, entertainment, gas, or clothing. Decide how much you want to spend on each one for the month (or week, if you prefer). Write the name of one category on each envelope. Put the designated amount of cash in the envelope. Voila! You are now ready to spend. When you buy groceries, pay for it with money out of the Grocery envelope, and put the change back into the Grocery envelope. Ditto for all the others.

When it’s Practical

The envelope system works well for items that can be easily purchased with cash. Food, clothes, gifts, gas, movie rentals, and even larger items like furniture and electronics work well with envelopes. In addition, anything that tends to become an impulse purchase in your household should be put on the envelope system. In my family, that means soft drinks, books, and magazines.

When it’s Not Practical

Some items cannot be easily purchased with cash. For example, it is almost impossible to make a mortgage payment in cash. Luckily, mortgage payments are not usually an impulse purchase! The same holds true for utilities and other bills that must be mailed in or paid online. No worries, just write a check or use your bank’s bill pay service for these items. You don’t need an envelope for every item in your budget, just the ones that make sense.

How to Tweak It

When my husband and I first tried using envelopes, we had a lot of arguments about how to spend the Entertainment money, especially if one of us spent some without us discussing it first. We learned to avoid conflict by having a separate Entertainment envelope for each of us, with equal amounts of money, of course. We also learned never to take the Clothing envelope with us unless we were planning to buy clothes on that trip. It’s too easy to dip into the clothing fund when you run out of fast food money. . .and then have nothing left over for clothes.

Here’s another tip. If you’ve never tracked your spending before doing the Envelope System, estimate on the high side for the first month—especially for food. We ran out of grocery money the first month we tried the system because we had no idea how much we really spent.

We also started using envelopes with our son’s money—one each for spend, save, and give. You will have to experiment with various options to see what works for your family. Good luck!

To the Readers:

What simple accounting systems have you used to stay on budget?

If you found this article helpful, you can subscribe to the 20somethingfinance RSS feed, or sign up for free email updates. You may also find the following article of interest:

5 Easy Steps to Eliminate your Junk Mail

Complete Guide to Effectively Organizing your Paperwork & Mail

WRONG!

Your employer’s match on Traditional 401K’s AND Roth 401K’s is pre-taxed and always automatically put into a separate Traditional 401K account. Your match will be worth the same amount today and in the future, whether you contribute to the Traditional or the Roth. If you thought you were being clever by going with the Roth to get more of a match, well…. sorry.

To the Readers:

Did you think that by contributing to a Roth 401K you were getting a bigger match?

If you found this article helpful, subscribe to my free RSS feed, or sign up for free email updates! You may also find the following articles of interest:

The Complete Guide to Choosing Between a Traditional 401K and a Roth 401K

Choosing Between a Traditional 401K and a Roth 401K, Part II: How will my Choice Effect Early Retirement?

Roth IRA Basics in a Question and Answer Format

Food

1. Do not leave any food behind. Animals will find it and you will create problems for future backpackers as they become more interested in human food and activity. Be conscious of how you are impacting others.

2. Store everything properly. Anything scented, including lip balm, toothpaste, deodorant, and your toothbrush needs special storage consideration. I’ve seen three different types of backcountry animal deterrent systems. Some parks have a large metal trunk that you can store these materials in. Others have a pulley system to pull your bag up. A third system consists of a pole that you raise and hang your backpack on. At night, this is where all scented products and food should go. These animal avoidance systems are also a strong incentive to stay at designated campsites.

3. Keep critters out of your food. Think your food is safe 20 feet in the air? I did too. That is, until I woke up, pulled my bag down for breakfast, and noticed a hole in it. A rodent had eaten a hole in my bag to get to food. I don’t know how the little critter ate everything that he did, but he really did cut into my food supplies for the trip. Lesson learned: store your food in a steel mesh bag or other animal proof container.

4. Keep your food waste under conrol. Pack all of your meals in ziplock bags. That way, when you’re done, you can put all waste in them. This keeps things clean and simple and cuts down on scents that can be picked up by animals.

5. Cook your food at least 100 feet downwind from your tent. Otherwise, you may be encouraging animals to sneak around your tent at night because your tent will smell like the food that you cooked.

Water

6. Have enough water, but not too much. Plan your routes so that you will cross water at least once per day. If you don’t have access to water re-fill spots, you’ll have to carry a lot of it in with you. Water weighs a ton and the less you need to carry, the better.

7. Collect water from flowing water sources. Get water from flowing sources – a stream, river, spring, or lake. This helps to prevent water from being gathered near a bacterial source like a dead animal.

8. Always sterilize your water. Filter your water, boil it, or both.

Bears

9. If you’re going through thick brush, make a lot of noise. This scares bears off. They don’t want to run into you, and you don’t want to startle them without warning.

10. If you do encounter a black bear, be calm and don’t threaten them. Back away slowly, while still facing the bear. Do not turn, and whatever you do, do not run. If you encounter a grizzly, slowly back away and don’t make eye contact.

11. Play dead (or fight)! If, in the vary rare circumstance that you do get attacked by a grizzly bear, cover your head, roll into a ball, and play dead. You won’t be able to fight a grizzly and win. Grizzlies get bored easily. If you get attacked by a black bear, fight back, drop some food, and get out of there. I believe you’re more likely to be hit by lightning, but still, it’s good to know what to do in the unlikely event.

12. Don’t fear the bears, but definitely be conscious if you’re in bear country. Depending on where you hike, you may run into bears. I’ve seen them, heard them at night, and have occasionally smelled them nearby. At first, it can psyche you out a bit. But remember, they are more scared of you than you are of them and want to avoid contact. Be aware of your surroundings, but don’t freak out.

Hiking

13. Keep your feet dry. Wet feet leads to more friction and potential blisters. Always have an extra pair of dry socks with you.

14. Keep your weight on your hips. True backpacking packs have a weight belt for your hips. You want the majority of the weight you are carrying to settle there vs. on your shoulders.

15. Go easy on your knees. If you’re doing a lot of downhill hiking as a result of big altitude changes, your knees can really get abused. Consider using trekking poles or a walking stick to share the weight impact with your legs.

16. Be cautious of blisters. Address blisters as soon as they start to develop. A minor irritation can quickly get a lot worse and really ruin your whole trip. Always carry blister pads with you.

Navigation

17. Always be mappin’. Always have a map of where you are hiking. Other than obviously helping to keep you on track, maps can help you figure out where you are at certain times of the day and plan out where you need to get to.

18. Get an old school compass. Carry a traditional magnetic compass. A co-worker recently told me he ended up hiking 15 miles out of the way because his iPhone compass app was unusable when his phone battery died on him. Don’t trust technology when in the woods.

19. Stay put when lost. If you are significantly lost, get to a visible area where you can send smoke or other signals and don’t move. When you try to find your way out of trouble, you usually end up getting more lost.

And Finally…

20. Have fun! It may seem tough and like a lot of work the first time out, but once you get out there, enjoy the solitude, adventure, and challenge that nature provides!

To the Readers:

• What backpacking tips do you have to share?
• What’s your funniest or craziest backpacking story?

If you found this article helpful, you can subscribe to the 20somethingfinance RSS feed, or sign up for free email updates. You may also find the following articles of interest:

The Beginner’s Guide to Backpacking: Buying Backpacking Gear and Supplies

Choose the Right Backpacking Food and Clothing

How to Train and Prepare for your Backpacking Trip

The “Cash for Clunkers” bill has passed both the House and the Senate and is expected to be signed by President Obama shortly. The bill is intended to boost U.S. auto sales while encouraging people to buy vehicles that have a mpg improvement over their existing ones.

If you have a vehicle that was made in 1984 or after and has an average fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon or less, than your vehicle may be eligible for an immediate tax credit at the time of your purchase. I immediately had the thought of buying a piece of shit car (thanks Adam Sandler) for a few hundred dollars and dragging it into the dealership. After looking into it though, you have to have had the car registered and insured for at least a year in your name. Bummer. 

As I highlighted in the Chrysler Fire Sale post, now might be a good time to get a new vehicle due to dealer incentives, tax credits, high supply/low demand, and zero percent financing. If you have a P.O.S. car that you’ve been meaning to trade in, this “Cash for Clunkers” program might be one of those rare times where you could actually land a new vehicle at a price lower than a used vehicle that is a few years old and has wear and tear on it.

If you’re going to take advantage of this, you’ll want to move quick. From what I have read, the bill has set aside only $1 billion, and once it’s gone, you’re out of luck. However, the program hasn’t officially started, so stay tuned and be ready for when it does.

Cash for Clunkers Incentive Details
New Vehicle Type  | New Vehicle MPG | Trade-In Type | New Veh. MPG Increase | Incentive
Passenger Car           | 22 MPG+                  |       –                 | 4 MPG+ (10 MPG+)           | $3,500 ($4,500)
Category 1 Trucks    | 18 MPG+                  |       —                 | 2 MPG+ (5 MPG+)             | $3,500 ($4,500)
Category 2 Trucks    | 15 MPG+                  | Cat. 2/3 Truck    | 1 MPG+ (2 MPG+)             | $3,500 ($4,500)
Category 3 Trucks    | N/A                          | Cat. 3 Truck        | Similar in size                  | $3,500

Cash for Clunkers Question and Answer

The above incentive details and below questions and answers are based on the latest version of the bill and may change once the bill is enacted.

Q: How do I find out my Vehicle’s Average MPG? Is that the city or highway mileage?
A: Go to fueleconomy.gov, ‘find a car’, and look for the combined ‘Estimated New EPA MPG’. It’s the average overall mpg of the vehicle.

Q: Does this apply for used vehicles that I might want to buy?
A: Only new.

Q: Is there a price limit on the vehicle I’m buying?
A: Yes, the vehicle you buy must be $45,000 or less.

Q: What dates can I buy a qualifying vehicle and get the incentive?
A: At the latest update from July 1, 2009 to November 1, 2009, or the incentive money runs out, whatever comes first.

Q: Is their an income limit?
A: No.

Q: Is this retroactive?
A: No

Q: Is this totally separate from other deal incentives?
A: Yes. If you buy a vehicle, negotiate for the best price, and once you’ve negotiated, tell them you are trading in a clunker. I would not recommend mentioning this prior to your negotiated price, as the deal will probably use it as leverage against you (even though they have no validity in doing so as they don’t pay for the incentive).

Q: Is this U.S. made vehicles only?
A: No. Both foreign and domestic.

Q: What if I want to lease?
A: Your lease must be at least 5 years long.

Q: Is the credit mailed to me? How do I get it?
A: The dealer subtracts the credit from your final negotiated buy price and gets the funds sent to them directly from the government.

Q: Is the incentive taxable?
A: No.

To the Readers:

• Do you plan to cash in on “Cash for Clunkers”?
• What MPG vehicle would you be trading in and what do you plan on getting in return?

If you found this article helpful, subscribe to my free RSS feed, or sign up for free email updates! You may also find the following articles of interest:

How to Benefit from Chrysler’s Fire Sale

12 Tips on how to get a Good Deal on a New Car

Since this is a finance AND lifestyle blog, I’ve been covering the basics of backpacking lately. You save money over typical vacations every time you hike, get to experience the great outdoors, and challenge yourself physically. It’s the best of both worlds.

We first covered a list of backpacking supplies to get, and then backpacking food and clothing tips. That stuff is all great, but now it’s time to hit the trail. Of course, it’s not wise to go straight from REI to the backwoods – you’ll need to train first. Whether you’re a first time backpacker or a backpacking veteran, it’s essential to get out, test your gear, and train appropriately to avoid later problems. 

Step 1: Test and Take Stock of all of your Gear

You’ll want to give everything a visual inspection and some of your essentials a test run. I would recommend:

• checking your pack and tent for holes and tears
• filling your water bladder or container and applying pressure to test for leaks
• running water through your filter to make sure it is working properly
• testing out your stove – this is a big one as I learned from having a fuel pump leak that resulted in a melted pump – check your o-ring!
• make sure your first aid kit is stocked and used products from your last trip are replenished
• check batteries on all battery powered products

Step 2: Load your Pack and Weigh it

• make sure everything fits in your pack properly, including clothing, food, and water
• weigh your pack. Everyone is going to have a different max out weight that you’ll want to make sure you are under in order to hike comfortably. Somewhere between 25-35 lbs. is a general weight guideline for a 3 or 4 day trip. Lightweight die hards shoot for under 20 lbs., but in reality, it’s hard to do.
• cut down on any excess weight that has no true function

Step 3: Break in your Boots

This could really be step one or two, but you’ll definitely want to do a lot of hiking or just plain walking around to break in your boots. I’d recommend at least 50 miles or so on your pair before you actually get out and backpack. Wear them to work, around the neighborhood, or on a trail – it really doesn’t matter.

Step 4: Get Out and Hike!

Finally. You’ve got your stuff, you’ve tested it, and you’ve got the boots worn in a little. It’s time to get out there and condition yourself to carry the weight. Before your first backpacking trip, it would be to your benefit to get at least a month and preferably more of training in. Why train so much? You will want to make sure that the weight you are carrying is not too much over a long haul. Additionally, your muscles need to get use to the weight and your boots. Here is a recommended training schedule:

• Week 1: Hike half of your maximum daily trip distance with half of your full weight load in your pack. Do this twice, a few days apart.
• Week 2: Hike the maximum daily trip distance with half of your weight load in the pack. Also, twice.
• Week 3: Hike half of your maximum daily daily trip distance with your full pack load. Do this twice.
• Week 4: Hike the full maximum daily trip distance with your full pack load. Twice, again.

I would recommend giving a full week’s rest in between your last training hike and the start of your backpacking trip, so take this into consideration when planning when you want to start your training.

If you found this article helpful, you can subscribe to the 20somethingfinance RSS feed, or sign up for free email updates. You may also find the following articles of interest:

The Beginner’s Guide to Backpacking: Buying Backpacking Gear and Supplies

Choose the Right Backpacking Food and Clothing

How much do you make? $50K a year? OK… how much do you really make? The answer may surprise you. When looking at the larger personal finance picture, it’s important to figure out how much you truly make when all benefits, compensation, taxes, expenses, and hours worked are considered.

Calculating your real hourly wage is not always an exact science. You can’t always predict promotions, random out of pocket expenses, or an office move. But you can get pretty darn close. Here’s how to do it. For sake of standardizing, let’s look at everything on an annual level. 

Why Figure out your Real Hourly Wage?

I recently discussed with a friend who was looking for a new job what salary she was asking for in her interviews. She was asking for $70K. Her previous salary was $55K, on the surface, a $70k offer would seem like a respectable salary bump. However, when adding in stock compensation, 401K match, and bonuses in her previous job, it actually turns out she was making over $90K in compensation to my (and I think definitely her) surprise. Suddenly, a $70K salary offer didn’t seem so appealing.

This may seem like an extreme example, but I’m sure many of us have seen cases of friends driving 20 miles and spending an hour in commute to make $10/hour when they could have made $9 with much better benefits and virtually no commute. Calculating your real hourly wage can be a great way to figure out which job to take when there are no other qualitative factors at play.

1. Add up all Compensation

Compensation is everything that you get that you can put a monetary value on. It includes:

• Your salary. If you get paid by the hour, multiply your hourly wage by the # of hours you anticipate you will work in a year.
• Bonuses
• 401K match
• Stock compensation
• The market value of your insurance benefits
• Vacation/holiday time
• Any other subsidized benefit you receive that has a value

2. Subtract all Taxes

You won’t actually see this cash, so it’s not ‘real’ money to you. Subract medicare, Social Security, state, federal, and local taxes.

3. Subtract Out of Pocket Work Related Expenses

This is anything that you wouldn’t be paying for if you didn’t have the job. This includes:

• Commuting expenses
• Out of pocket clothing expenses
• Cost for food/drink that you wouldn’t be paying for if you didn’t work there. For instance, if you spend an average of $8 a day on food, but would only be spending $5 at home, figure that you’re spending $3 for every day you work in a year.
• Child care expenses
• Insurance co-pays

4. Figure out how Many Hours you actually Spend at Work and Time Related to Work

This is the real game changer here. If you put in 8 hours a day/52 weeks a year you work 2080 hours in a year. But how many of us work exactly 8 hours on average, have zero commute, and spend zero time outside of work enhancing ourselves for our jobs? Nobody. Figure out how much time your job really takes.

5. Run the Math

Real Hourly Wage = (Total annual compensation – Taxes – Work Related Expenses) / Total hours worked in a year

The result might surprise you.

To the Readers:

• Have you ever calculated your real hourly wage?
• Is it an eye opener for you?
• What is the difference in your nominal hourly wage and your real hourly wage?

If you found this article helpful, you can subscribe to the 20somethingfinance RSS feed, or sign up for free email updates.

In the last post on buying backpacking supply gear, there were two noticeable things left out by design – food and clothing. Why? It’s hard to survive without either – but almost equally as challenging to find the proper balance between function, comfort, and the associated weight. Backpacking light is key to the overall enjoyment of your trip, but lightness usually comes at the sacrifice of comfort. So what is the happy medium between the two? 

Backpacking Clothing

One general rule when piecing together your backpacking wardrobe is to avoid cotton. Cotton tends to be very heavy when wet and can take longer to dry than synthetic fibers.

• Rain Jacket/Pants: A pair of lightweight, waterproof rain and wind-breaking jacket and pants are essential when backpacking, in just about any climate. Avoid heavy-weight rubber materials unless you plan on doing any hiking through rain forests. I prefer a ‘packable’ jacket and pants that stuff down into one of their own pockets and zip up, making them easy to transport.
• Boots: Boots were covered a little in the last post, but generally, I would recommend getting a heavy duty pair that have a hard sole that does not bend. A backpack can add a lot of extra weight that your feet are not used to, which can apply a lot of extra pressure on the balls and heel of your feet. A hard sole prevents your feet from flexing, limiting the amount of pressure applied to any one area. Waterproof is another necessity here.
• Socks: Synthetic hiking socks with reinforced heels and toes are strongly recommended here. Many hikers like wool socks for their ability to wick away moisture, but they can get pretty itchy. I generally pack one or two pairs in addition to the one that I’m wearing. You always want to have at least one dry pair ready to go.
• Sock liners: I don’t know exactly how these little miracles work, but they really do keep moisture away from your feet (even though you would intuitively think that an extra layer would make your feet hotter and sweatier). Sock liners have prevented many a certain blister.
• Hat: Keeping your head warm when unexpected cold hits or at night when temperatures get lower than you thought they would is very important. Again, avoid cotton, and find a synthetic that is waterproof.
• Long shirt/underwear: A wicking synthetic material here is what you want. It’s amazing what these in addition to a hat and rain jacket will do. If you’re hiking in the middle of winter you may need more layers, but I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve needed more warmth than what this combination provides.
• Shirt/Undies/Shorts: Stick with the synthetic, lightweight materials here again.
• Gloves: I bring a very lightweight pair of stretch gloves that easily fit in my pockets.

That’s really all the clothes you would ever need!

Backpacking Food:

I learned this lesson very well on my first hike – do not bring food that contains water. Water is very heavy and very unnecessary weight. I’ve mostly opted for the dry stuff since.

Breakfast: I put together oatmeal packets and mix up some walnuts and dried fruit to mix in with them for breakfasts. Very light, filling, and a little warm food in the morning is always good for morale.

Lunch/Dinners: Take your pick, but any dried meal packs, dried soups, or other dried food that is high in protein and carbs will do.

Other Food Tips: I’m big on placing all meals in their own large ziplock bags. This is a great way to contain all of your trash and keep your bag relatively odor free. Also, nothing beats some good ole’ trail mix for in between meal snacks.

In the next post on backpacking, we’ll get into the fun stuff – training for your big hike!

To the Readers:

• What are your favorite backpacking meals?
• What’s the heaviest/lightest meal you’ve ever packed?
• Have you ever been in a situation where you packed too much or too little clothing? What lessons did you learn?

If you found this article helpful, you can subscribe to the 20somethingfinance RSS feed, or sign up for free email updates. You may also find the following articles of interest:

The Beginner’s Guide to Backpacking: Buying Backpacking Gear and Supplies

How to Train & Prepare for your Backpacking Trip

Whether doing a week-long trek through the Grand Canyon, or a two night weekend hike at a nearby state park, backpacking has a number of great benefits and is relatively cheap in comparison to typical hotel-based vacations. I started backpacking four years ago and have enjoyed the physical challenge, natural beauty, relationship building opportunities, sense of adventure, and financial savings.

Each backpacking trip I make has resulted in hundreds of dollars worth of savings – and I’ve never looked back on those trips and said “boy, I wish I had stayed in a hotel and laid around instead”. Interested in learning more about this rewarding hobby, the lessons I’ve learned, and what gear to buy? Read on! 

Before you Commit to Backpacking

I won’t lie, getting all the right equipment for backpacking is certainly not cheap – and this is one time where you’ll be thankful that you spent a little more for the high quality stuff. Before you make that big commitment, I’d recommend doing a trial run (or two) with an experienced backpacker who has all the pre-requisite equipment to share.

Backpacking is not for everyone. Some personalities just don’t jive well with the trail. There’s nothing wrong with that. Don’t force it if you’re hating every minute of it. There will most likely be bugs, sore feet and knees, a few blisters, body odor, and let’s not forget the hole digging. You may even want to simply try a few nights out in a tent in your back yard. Not scared off yet?

Backpacking Gear

By this point, you’ve already done a trial run or two with some friends. You’ve decided you want to commit to this rewarding hobby and get your own gear. There are some hardcore backpacking minimalists out there who daydream about ways to lower their total load weight by 2 ounces. Let’s hit on the essentials first, and then get more into the optional stuff. These are truly all items that I have used personally.

Three General Rules of Thumb when Buying Backpacking Gear

1. When comparing items to buy: lighter is almost always better unless you’re sacrificing necessity.
2. Opt for high quality stuff. Your life might be at stake, after all.
3. Get stuff that packs nicely. Avoid anything that is boxy or has exposed sharp edges.

Backpacking Supplies List – the Essentials

• Backpack: it would be hard to backpack without one of these. You need a backpack, you need a good one, and you need one that is fitted by someone who knows what they are doing. Packs with a internal frame molded back panel are the standard these days vs. those with an external frame. I have an internal frame, which are known for more flexibility and a closer to the body feel and can’t testify to what, if any, benefit an external frame pack has. I would definitely recommend getting a backpack that has a waist and chest belt. Another nice feature to have is a pack that holds a water bladder in a special compartment. I have a Lowe Alpine internal frame backpackand it has served me well.
• Sleeping Bag: A necessity, even if you think it might not be in the climates you plan on hiking in. It can get unexpectedly cold at night, and when you’re out on the trail in the dark, miles from anywhere, your life may depend on keeping warm. Mummy bags trail rated for 0 degrees F are recommended. I have a bag similar to this Coleman mummy bag.
• Tent: You’ll want to keep critters away from you. Spiders, mosqitoes, mice, raccoons, bears, it doesn’t matter. A thin sheet of nylon in between you and them is a necessity. You’ll want to get a very light tent specifically made for backpacking – under 4 lbs. if possible. I have a discontinued 2 person tent very similar to this 4 lb Eureka tent.
• Tent Pad: You will also want a tent pad that is made of a waterproof material to keep ground moisture and sharp objects away from the bottom of your tent. Many tents will come with one. You’ll want one that fits at a size just smaller than your tent so that water doesn’t seep between the two if it rains.
• Water filtration: Forget the iodine tablets. I’ve never gotten sick from water that I’ve filtered through my Katadyn Hiker PRO Water Microfilter. When filtering your water, make sure you are getting it from moving water that hasn’t been stagnate or just downstream from a source that would cause it to be potentially impure (dead animal, etc.).
• Water storage: I use a CamelBak bladder that fits conveniently into a storage compartment in my backpack.
• Knife: Knives have so many expected and unexpected uses when backpacking that they definitely make the necessity list. Many like to have the multi-functionality of a Swiss Army, but I prefer a knife with a serrated larger blade. I’d like to see a Swiss Army knife stand up to a bear.
• Fire: There are a number of ways to make a fire – matches, a lighter, a flint, or some ole’ fashion knowledge and elbow grease. Just make sure you have at least one of those methods covered so that you can cook, stay warm, and make smoke signals in a rescue situation, if need be.
• Boots: Shoes may suffice on short flat trips, but when you’re carrying 30 lbs. and over, trekking over rocky terrain, or encountering wet/muddy conditions, you’ll probably want a good pair of waterproof boots. I love my Merrell boots.
• Compass: I’d recommend getting a good ole’ fashion high quality magnetic vs. a digital version. I’m sure the digitals are efficient (when they work).
• First Aid Kit: Essentials for backpacking include band aids, antiseptic, pain reliever, rubber bands, sewing kit, blister pads, and a snakebite kit.

The Near Essentials:

Some of these things are considered to be essentials by many people and just extra weight by others. They become more or less essential based on on the terrain, weather conditions, experience level, and length of hike – so it’s often a judgement call by the hiker.

• Head lamp: you don’t want to get caught out on the trail in the dark (or get up in the middle of the night to tinkle) without a headlamp. They are very efficient and light. I’d argue essential.
• TP: make sure to get the biodegradable kind. You’re truly hardcore if you don’t want to carry the extra weight of TP.
• Stove & Fuel: A light stove is essential if you want to eat anything warm. Cooking anything on a wild fire is not easy, especially for a beginner. I prefer the MSR Whisperlite for its lightweight qualities.
• Watch: I think a watch is essential so that you can scout out where you are and where you need to get to by certain times if you are in between campsites. Also essential for determining when you need to start setting up camp.
• Soap: You can get dirty now and then on the trail. You can find special environmentally friendly soap for hand washing and dish washing.
• Bug Spray: Not a necessity if you are backpacking at the right times. Essential if you’re not.
• Sun Block: Sun block is definitely essential in certain geographies. Not so much if you’re in the forest for the majority of your trek.
• Toiletries: For longer trips, I bring deodorant, toothbrush, and toothpaste.
• Bandana: I don’t pack a towel (too heavy), but I do pack a few bandanas to dry things. They are extremely light, but do the job nicely and you can tie them to the outside of your bag to dry.

Next Steps

That’s it! Well…. not quite. You may have noticed there are a few essentials missing from this list – clothing and food. Those two are worth of their own post (upcoming). We’ll also get into training and getting out on the trail. Stay tuned in!

To the Readers:

• What backpacking gear would you add to or remove from these essential items lists?
• Any particular brands you highly recommend or have terrible experiences with?

If you found this article helpful, you can subscribe to the 20somethingfinance RSS feed, or sign up for free email updates. You may also find the following articles of interest:

Choose the Right Backpacking Food and Clothing

How to Train & Prepare for your Backpacking Trip

If you’re like me you shiver at the thought of paying hundreds of dollars for major vehicle repairs. Well, the dreaded ’service engine’ light came on in our Pontiac Grand Am this past week. Even more, you dread paying $100 just to have your mechanic take a peek at your vehicle to tell you that nothing is wrong with it – but that’s what you get for being a reponsible auto-owner. Or is it? 

There is an alternative to those annoying ‘take a peek at it’ vehicle labor expenses. And it costs nothing. The service engine light comes on in your vehicle because the computer has diagnosed that something ain’t quite right. When the light comes on, a code is stored as the reason for triggering the light. When you take your car in to get it checked out, the mechanic hooks up a little diagnostic computer to your vehicle’s computer. They will then get a code and description that tells them what the issue is.

The Mechanics Dirty Little Secret

What your mechanic probably won’t tell you is that you really didn’t need to shell out $100 just for them to hook up their little machine. You can get that for free at most auto-parts stores. I’ve had this done at Napa and Advance Auto Parts. It costs nothing. The auto part stores carry these to cater to DIY’ers in hopes that they, in turn, buy the auto parts at their store to make the fix on their own. It takes them 1 minute to do this.

I was relieved to find out that the cause for the light to go on in my car was a possible vapor leak coming from my gas cap, caused by a weak spring in the cap. The gas cap costs $10. The store can also reset the computer so that if the problem persists, the light will come on again. If it doesn’t, problem fixed.

There probably are some honest mechanics out there who won’t charge you for this. But good luck finding one.

To the Readers:

• What clever techniques have you used to avoid vehicle service fees?
• How much were you charged to have your car ‘looked at’?

If you found this article helpful, you can subscribe to the 20somethingfinance RSS feed, or sign up for free email updates. You may also find the following articles of interest:

How Old are your Tires? Your Safety May Depend on the Answer

How to Find a Good Mechanic who will Save you Money