Frugal Yankee (or am I cheap?)

[onestep]

Yesterday I discovered that EMS in Portland ME where selling their rental snowshoes. I bought a pair of MSR Denali Ascents for $89. I then wandered down the street to check out the consignments at Maine Mountain Works where I bought a Patagonia Velocity wind shirt for $19. So figuring I was on a roll I bought a lottery ticket... well not really but it crossed my mind!

 

[Artex]

I haven't been to the new EMS yet. How is it? I'm glad it's not in the mall anymore.

 

[Chip]

Around here we are frugal, smart, resourceful ! Waste not, want not.
Elsewhere we are cheap and refuse to throw anything away that might be useful one day.
I bought most of my new gear on ebay new or as-new for probably 1/3 of actual retail.
Of course, the amount of time I wasted doing the research and bidding in auctions might have cost me that much and more, but...

 

[CaptainJim]

Penny wise & Pound foolish....

We New Englanders can sometimes be a bit foolish... like the time I drove 3 hours (150miles) round trip to save $50.00 on a scuba regulator. How much $$$ in time and gas I wasted I don't even want to know

 

[sapblatt]

Captain Jim - You remind me of my grandfather who would drive 30 miles to save a dime on cantaloupes

But...this hobby/lifestyle of all of ours can get rather pricey and all of our various gear fetishes can get in the way of why we like to get outside and hike. Sometimes I feel like I cannot hike (but I do anyways) because my family has other priorities for out money and I should not buy some peice of gear...I know this is crazy and that you do not need every peice of equipment to be the latest model and bomb proof...