The Plan...

My Bonnaroo plan is already getting underway.  After dropping $250+ on tickets (that's the price for ONE ticket), there is much more to plan and buy - which in turn makes me want to save some money in every way possible in all the ancillary things I need to buy/bring.

Saving space, the environment, and also $$$$.

Meals:

Last year my friend Cara bought a lot of those meals in a bag from Trader Joes where all you have to do is add a bit of water, stir fry in a foil pan over a small charcoal weber grill, add some spice and voile - dinner.  They worked out great and saved a ton of money from not buying from the vendors.  Granted I got sick - but I honestly believe it's from the vendors handling money then handle my food... yes... gag now.  Everything in those meals are pre-cooked so no need to worry about friends like Salmonella or E.Coli (unless you wipe your butt and then handle food).

Cost of Trader Joes meal in a bag (serves four.. .or in my boyfriends case, two) $4/bag

Plus the cost of the foil pans (totally recyclable by the way).

Meals inside the venue may not happen this year since my experience last year.  I may just bring in Fiber One bars (I lived off of those last year) and Baked Lays which also saves money.  You can count on spending at least $8/meal inside if not more, depending upon the vendor.

We also plan to use regular plates (plastic of course) and utencils and coffee mugs - this comes along with bringing a scrubber and dish soap, but no biggie.

Beverages:

For my daily caffeine fix (I am a caffeine junky) I drank Diet Dr. Pepper all day long.  This year I think I am going to bring a French Press and make coffee every day since that is the most frugal, space saving thing to do.  Although this Coffee Maker is pretty awesome.  Also, we're taking my mom's car which has an AC plug in it so I could run an extension cord and bring a regular coffee maker and make it that way. Hm... idea.

Cost of a bag of coffee versus buying a 24 pack of Diet Dr. Pepper - $4 versus $8

Beer is non-negotiable.  Other than trying to drink more at the campsite versus in the venue (you are not allowed to bring outside beer in).  

ALSO BONNAROO SEARCHES YOUR COOLER UPON ENTRY TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE NO GLASS BOTTLES.  

All glass bottles will be confiscated and thrown away, just an FYI.

This year I am going to bring my Nalgene bottle and refill at the stations inside the venue instead of buying bottled water.  Bonnaroo has commemorative bottles, however they are 20 Bucks.  Yeah..... mull that over... that's what I thought.  I am also going to bring gallons of drinking water from the store.  Those are like $0.50/gallon compared to up to $5 for a pack of bottled water (I went through two packs last year it was so hot).  Putting in a gallon/day/person would save a lot of room and maybe even freezing them before going to Tennessee might work and save on Ice and it will definitly save on trash.

Ice:

Ice is another issue.  Ice is a necessity.  An issue I may not be able to get around without a little creativity.  Ice cost $4/bag last year, and they were the little, puny bags.  I've researched dry ice but that lasts at the most two days.   So I think right now the freezing the gallons of water might be the best bet but by the third/forth day I may have to break down and buy the $4 ice.  

Grocery List so far:

5 Moutain House Breakfast from REI(These are totally expensive but totally worth it at $5/bag), 5 Trader Joe's Meal in a Bag, Granola (hah, a given), Frozen fruit/canned fruit, Fiber One Bars (for me)/Cliff Bars(for him), Pretzels, Chips, Beer (cans), Spices (tapatio, s/p, CRP, soy sauce, ketchup, mustard), Coffee, creamer, sugar/sweetener, Pop Tarts, Gatorade, Gallon Jugs water, Lemonade, Rum/Vodka (in plastic bottles), Margarita mix (plastic bottles), hot dogs, steaks, potatoes (I'll explain this a little more in logistics), hot dog buns, onions, olive oil, bread, peanut butter, jelly.

List related to food/food preparation/storage:

Dish Soap, rags, bottle scrubber, Nalgene bottle, trash bags, ziplock bags, camp utencils, camp plates, camp coffee mugs, foil pans, cooking utencils, coolers (at least two/two people i.e. one for food/one for beverages), extension chord, coffee maker, coffee filters, blender, fold up table, rubber made totes (to hold chips/dry foods to keep from getting wet), paper towels, propane grill, foil, red plastic cups.

So that's my plan so far.  Next post will be about comfort/hygiene at Bonnaroo.  

Love

-L