How do you share camping expenses?

[clikrf8]

My husband and I invited my sister to go on a 2-3 week camping trip with us. We have been to many of the places she and I planned to visit but I thought it would help her readjust to being back home in the PNW. Well, I was distracted about water issues and running a small business so shined on her proposals. Besides, she yells at me and I take the path of least resistance.

Somehow, I agreed to have us pay for a site and she would pay the extra car fee. Yeah, I know, stupid. Her reasoning was that we have a full-sized truck and a pop up truck camper and she has a small SUV plus tent. Essentially, we have a similar footprint. I should have nipped that proposal right away but, I was distracted.

Toward the end of the trip, I tallied up the costs and whoa, there, we were paying 3 times as much. When I mentioned this to her, she blew up and threw money at me. She has been cold and distant since.

My take is that you pay for the site, and it is not based on the size of your RV. If a class A or a 5er or trailer can occupy a standard site (no hookups), they pay the same as anyone else. I have never really thought about the fair or unfair aspects. We are all camping no matter the size or type of RV.

Needless to say, there will be no more camping trips with her. I have learned to say no, now, more often than I used to.

What do you all do when faced with this situation?

[jplante4]

I'm pretty sure the OP has been scared away so I'm going to close this.

A Jack Nicholson/Tom Cruise movie line comes to mind....

CLOSED

[pasusan]

clikrf8 wrote:
Wow, some of you are awfully judgmental. I am talking to you bob. Yeah, we are explorers, not campers nor travelers. I knew there was a reason I do not frequent this site much. Others have had similar experiences here. Mods, please delete.

Your only mistake was telling your story - leaving yourself open to judgement.

I thought it was an interesting question about how to handle splitting expenses. There are some great answers here that may help others. 🙂

[toedtoes]

Lantley wrote:

PastorCharlie wrote:
Some people put a price on their family and friends like everything else they own.

My family and friends are priceless. Money is just a thing. The love of it is the source of all kinds of problems.

The OP is conflicted with which she values the most.

Agreed. I try to never let money ruin a good relationship.
Money is replaceable family and friends are not.

The key is "a good relationship". Not everyone has a family that could even be considered a "not terrible relationship".

It appears the OP's relationship with her step sister is not a good one to begin with. When that happens, all those "unimportant" and "replaceable" things (like money) become that much more important.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

clikrf8 wrote:
Wow, some of you are awfully judgmental. I am talking to you bob. Yeah, we are explorers, not campers nor travelers. I knew there was a reason I do not frequent this site much. Others have had similar experiences here. Mods, please delete.

🙂 Hi, you asked for opinions and got them. I suggest that you read all of these posts. Sorry that you only want posts that agree with you, but that's not how it works when you ask for opinions. I would think that you could learn some kindness from some of these posters.

[Acampingwewillg]

Kind of reminds me of a friend we have been camping with forever. Often his wife's mother comes alone on our trips...she's in her eighties. They actually have her pay for half the gas, food and they expect other considerations. My wife and I just shake our heads and in private we tell each other that we wish OUR MOM's were still around to spoil on our camp/traveling trips. Trust me when I say its not a lack of money issue either on their part.

[Lantley]

PastorCharlie wrote:
Some people put a price on their family and friends like everything else they own.

My family and friends are priceless. Money is just a thing. The love of it is the source of all kinds of problems.

The OP is conflicted with which she values the most.

Agreed. I try to never let money ruin a good relationship.
Money is replaceable family and friends are not.

[sayoung]

clikrf8 wrote:
We did pay. We are half-sisters and not that close. She is too verbally abusive. We did show her an awesome time: Oregon Coast, Highway 138 waterfalls, John Day area, Newberry, Smith Rock,etc. I wasn’t asking about the past. That is done. I am asking what people do when camping with others when sharing a site if there is adequate space. Lesson learned for sure.

You knew what you were getting into. Just pay it and go on. I' m not being critical just that I have one sister that I just won't be near because of her actions similar to your sister. I understand how important siblings should be as I have had 2 of mine pass but one of the remaining is just a very unhappy person that makes a hobby out of making others miserable.
On the bright side, she did pay something, most of my relatives just showup wit 2 things, a bunch of kids and an appetite, nothing else. As we say down here, God bless 'em , they can't help it !

[PastorCharlie]

Some people put a price on their family and friends like everything else they own.

My family and friends are priceless. Money is just a thing. The love of it is the source of all kinds of problems.

The OP is conflicted with which she values the most.

[doxiemom11]

We will be having that situation here with adult grandchildren. We are allowed to let someone pitch a tent on our site. There is no extra charge to us for that to happen but some places do charge extra for the tent. They will have to pay an entrance fee for their vehicle for each day they are here. As far as meals, I am in a class A, retired while they are young raising a family, so I will provide food for meals. They of course will bring snacks and drinks they may want. Have never had a situation like you

[toedtoes]

My work unit goes out for lunch once a month. We all pay for our own. It's not difficult unless you're ordering a bunch of group appetizers or drinks. We even pay using cards - just write on the check the last four digits of each card and the tital amount to charge to it. Never had a problem with the restaurants doing it that way.

[Lantley]

More than once I have paid more than my share to avoid a lot of figuring and dividing to get to some exact number. For me all that nonsense ruins the fun.
$25.00 extra or whatever on the dinner tab doesn't really matter to me in the long run. I'm not rich but I can at times afford to go out to lunch/dinner.
If you can't afford to pay it's one thing.....
However if you are a cheap skate and are unable to sleep at night because you may have contributed to the other guys meal, stay home next time.

[time2roll]

DarkSkySeeker wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
Too bad a lot of folks piled on the OP, but this situation is not unique to them, or camping.
Some folks are cheap, some aren’t.

It is like when you go with 4 people to lunch and that one person is tallying up their portion of the cost to the nickel because they only had a salad, rather than just divide by 4.

Or the couple that shares a $50+ bottle of wine and expect the teetotalers to split the bill evenly.
Seen it both ways.

My favorite is to just pay the tab before the nonsense. Chip in if you like. Otherwise a quick thank you is fine. Not often but the last one was close to $700 in Vegas. Tons of fun that night.

Another time I beat my father-in-law to the bill and he would not have it and made the cashier adjust the charges. Always something.

[mich800]

If it was me...she paid the extra cost. You invited her and you were going to pay for a site regardless if she was there. Not worth ruining family relationships just to defray some of the costs of a vacation that was already budgeted.

[BarabooBob]

My wife and I hosted a 2 week vacation with 2 of our daughters and 2 grandkids. We paid for all camping fees, all meals unless we ate out, and supplied the car/popup that the kids used. They initiated the entire vacation over Christmas dinner and I planned it all. They wanted to offset some of the expenses so I said that they could pay the gas bill for the car/popup. When the trip was about half done, I calculated the total projected costs of the trip and informed them that they would not pay anything.

The girls and grandkids talk about the trip very fondly at every camping weekend and appreciate the trip. So I spent a few extra dollars, big deal. The memories are priceless.