Ok, so I thought it would be sweet to consolidate peoples low budget doofing survival tactics.

What are the essentials, how to make it on a budget :). This is just the tip of the ice burg... Everyone add your thoughts and we can make a good informative thread for this and take advantage of your well learned methods. Also can add stuff you get for festivals that cost nothing or not a huge amount, that you wouldn't want to live without anymore :).

Main expenses:
Entry: Well allot of people just sneak in and I can't really condone that. I like supporting events, especially the circuitree ones!. So the two ways that come to mind to get into festivals on a budget are:
Early birds of course
Doof duties... Yeah, many festivals have the option to enroll for duties like cleaning up, manning the gates, checking people for glass at entry points etc.

Transport: Its so unavoidable :P. Small cars, LPG cars... good stuff. But car pooling for sure. Sadly I only have one seat (who needs a ride to rainbow? lol). But that is the best way to save on juice. Keep the suggestions rolling :)

Food: Let's face it... its important stuff. Here is one area I am hopeless with. Constant food availability has spoiled me or I often don't eat much at festivals which is not good. So what are your best food supply recommends for the people, storage tips for stuff that spoils, keeping your ice as long as possible etc. One trick is to bury a bag of ice in fallen plant material (spare bag). This seemed to keep most of an ice bag going for three days for when it was needed. Keeping in mind that many festivals are total fireban... I might like to split this section in two. Fire and fire ban.

Some things that seem to be good.
Fruit, almost any form. Fresh, tinned or preserved/dried. Yum and good for energy. No elaboration needed.
Yogurt is ok if your ice is in check :) they stay water tight in the esky so the smaller 6 packs are a good choice.
Dried meat and sausage for the carnivores. Salami and peperoni rocks and does not require cold. Some bread rolls and cheese... dude your set. Or, jerky if your a total slacker (no cheese WTF?).

BEER!: My favorite summer bevvie, my second fave winter bevvie (sorry beer, coffee is too damn good). Ok, so bottles are generally banned and create hazard if broken. This sucks because there are some nice cheap and apparently low carb beers like Holllandia floating arounf for about $32 a carton. Only low carb beer I know of in a can if Pure blonde and lets face it, it's not that cheap at all. From observation it would seem Amsterdam is the way to go. can't quote prices but the 500ml cans seem to be quite popular and very drinkable when cold.

Addition 1: Good find!: http://www.boozle.com.au/ find cheapest beverages

Addition 2: http://www.motormouth.com.au you can find the cheapest petrol prices. Might not be a huge help since interstate trips your at the mercy of remote petrol station prices.

So gather round and bring thy wisdom to the thread :)

Cmon' guys :)
If we get this well refined and your mates are saying they can't afford to make it to a festival then you can refer them to the Stingy doofing guide! - no excuses hehe

When nearly all of Astral Lotus' gigs are free, and the rest of the gigs here are ridiculously cheap. ($55 for 3 days compared to $150 for a 1 day festival) I don't think money is that much of a hindrance.

How about a guide on how to convince your boss that time off + recovering time is needed :)

Nice little write up though... if I was going to add something it would be that shoes are optional :P

I was more referring to interstate gigs. Like the big ones :)

Cheese rice cakes... Creds to sparky :) good survival food!~

Oettinger are another good cheap beer... and they come in cans- Rainbow, here we go.

I think the most obvious for interstate parties is to carpool- save $$ and emissions in one.
Even if you don't know anyone else going, there are always plenty of people looking for lifts.

Volunteering is a great way to contribute without coughing up cash.

Really, though, doofing (at least just attending one) is one of the less expensive ways to enjoy yourself anyway- you can get cheap booze and food by byo-ing, share the cost of petrol with friends and the only real expense after that is the ticket. A whole weekend is cheaper than a night on the town.

hmm, I seem to blow through cash like no tomorrow at weekender doofs.

For rainbow I want to have a budget of $500 for the trip in total inc ticket. Thus why I started this thread... see how people survive on a budget. Hopefully the ball starts rolling... maybe I should get this going on a bigger forum and transfer the ideas to here. Sounds like the way forward

fuck yeah your on too it bro

How'd ya go with the Budget?

Personally I think I spent about $450 all up this year- including the ticket. I didn't go excessive on the booze and other party supplies (unlike other years) which made a big difference. Pacing, it's all about pacing! (Although I got slightly worried when I drank half my beer before the music even started )