I have written many articles on camping because I love the activity so much. Camping is a great to enjoy nature, the outdoors, quiet time with family and friends, and really be a part of an activity many, or I should say most, do not experience on a daily basis.

Most of my articles have been focused on the basics from campfires to tents and everything in between. Today I wanted to take a different approach to the topic of camping and throw out some ideas that might help save you some money along the way.

Shower Curtains
Before you throw away those old shower curtains get more use out of them in the form of tarps. Shower curtains make great ground tarps. What do shower curtains do best? They keep your shower water from going all over your bathroom floor. That alone should tell you they would make a great way to keep moisture from seeping through the underneath of your tent. You save $15 on a tarp that you would normally have to buy to do the same job.

Waterproof Matches
No I don't mean to go out and buy some; you can actually make them out of regular matches. There are two ways to do this. The first way is take the match and dip it in nail polish to form a coat over the match. The second way is to dipping a match in melted paraffin which is used in candles. Either way will work, just use whichever you have sitting around the house first so you do not have to go out and spend any money, otherwise you would just buy the waterproof matches to begin with right? Right!

Fire Starters
You can make these as well. Take a paper cup and fill it with saw dust then coat the entire item with paraffin. You could also take cardboard egg cartons and do the same if you do not have any paper cups around the house, as do the cardboard tubes on the inside of toilet paper. Also don't forget that pine cones and dryer lint make wonderful fire starters. If you do not have a pine tree in your yard, visit the local park, they are sure to have plenty. Take a small bucket along with you and pick them up as you walk around.

Paper Plate Support
Who wants to do dishes when they go camping? I know I certainly do not, and because I do not I bring along paper plates. When we are done eating we can throw the paper into our campfire since they are harmless to the environment. However most paper plates are very flimsy and because of this what I like to do is use a Frisbee underneath my plate to add support. Give it a try it works great!

These are just a few of many ideas that can be implemented when you go camping. Sure none will win you the Nobel Prize but they will help save you some money and make your experience a little bit better, cleaner and more enjoyable.