Cutting costs

RestlessRick said:

Hola everyone. I registered here over a year ago as I planned to walk the Camino del Norte and Camino Primitivo last summer, but ultimately I had to put it off. I'm now hoping to do it this year. For the record, I'm a US expat who has been living in Madrid since late 2013. I plan to leave Spain this upcoming autumn but I really want to walk the Camino (it would be my first) from Irun before I go. That said, there is some financial advice I'd like to ask...

Does anyone have any particularly creative tips on cutting costs and saving money while on the Camino? I already plan to get most of my food from grocery stores instead of restaurants and stay in the cheaper albergues when I can (perhaps camp outside?), but I want to know if there are any other ways of saving that past pilgrims have done. I really want to challenge myself and do this walk all the way from Irun but times are tight for me and of course I've got to save some money for my one-way plane ticket back. Any advice would be appreciated.

Click to expand...

You can spend your money only once so your idea's are okay. Food from supermercados , groceryshops, junta albergues,camping but the cheapest camino is no camino ! The average costs per day are in between 20 and 30 € normaly spoken. ¡ Buen camino y mucho suerte !

Once you are on your pilgrimage, the major costs are food, beverages and accommodation. You already plan to keep these to a minimum.

If you are already in Spain, the other major cost driver is equipping yourself. You might want to search out second hand equipment to reduce your costs. It might have some limitations in terms of the variety of equipment that is available, but otherwise there may be good costs savings there too.

One last bit of non-camino advice: even though you only need a one-way ticket back to the states, look at round trip fares as well. Air fares often make no sense and it might be possible to buy a round trip ticket for less than the cost of a one way ticket.

The main extra costs, that add up over time, are those cafe con leches here and the odd cerveza there. Follow the advice already given in this thread and avoid all wayside temptations and a frugal camino with a budget of 20Euro/day or less is perfectly possible. Buen Camino! SY

I was on a tight budget on the Norte, so trolled ebay before I left and bought equipment cheaply, and made do with what I could beg or borrow for a pack, sleeping bag and hiking clothes. When on route I saved money a few times by cooking up what was in the free sections in alberge kitchens, people often leave uncooked pasta rather than carry it, so a tin of tuna and some tomatoes and an onion added to it made for a cheap and filling meal. Carry your own instant coffee, tea and sugar, and brew up when you arrive which keeps the caffeine cravings at bay cheaply. I formed a camino family and quite spontaneously we started cooking meals and eating together, which meant we had good meals with the economy of scale of buying for several people. Staying in Donativo alberges helps, but do try to leave a few euro. Some alberges have fruit with the meals, save it for the next days hike. Bread is cheap and filling, local cheese is expensive, but there are mass produced ones which are cheaper, carrying some bread, cheese and fruit, means you will not go hungry if you arrive and the only option is an expensive meal. I tried to stick to 20 euro a day, and provided I didn't spend too much at the bar in the evenings found that this was manageable.