It’s Like Summer Camp for Money Nerds: My CampFI Review

Last weekend I attended CampFI Mid-Atlantic. I enjoyed myself so much that I had to tell you about it, because I think a lot of people would benefit from this kind of thing. It may seem a bit counter intuitive – paying money to hang out with frugal people??? – but hopefully by now you’ve learned that I focus on value, not just price.

Just what is CampFI? Let me explain…

CampFI is a 4-day, 3-night retreat for people interested in financial independence. Yep. That means it’s a bunch of people who get together to talk about money. Not just money…but it did come up a lot.

But of course, financial independence isn’t just about money. It’s about having the freedom to do what you want, when you want, how you want. And what better way to celebrate that than by gathering a bunch of us together for a few days of relaxation and common thinking?

What I did at CampFI

I relaxed! This part was great. I literally stopped for 2-3 minutes during a run to snap a photo of this guy and make sure he got across the road okay. Do you know the last time I stopped what I was doing to make sure an insect lived? Or really just —stopped—? It’s been a long time. It was nice to have some quiet time with no responsibilities beyond getting to lunch before the food went away.

I went rock climbing! This is not me – it’s a good friend – but I went too. I didn’t ask how high it was, but I’d guess maybe 40 feet? We also went ziplining and canoeing. There was a high ropes course, plenty of hiking, and some dock sitting, too.

We played board games…a lot of board games…and sang karaoke and roasted marshmallows around a campfire.

And there may have been a teensy bit of drinking and staying up late.

Oh yeah…and we talked about money.

In fact, a big part of the schedule is sessions where popular names in the community put on presentations. Our schedule included:

Hunter Post talking about optimizing your fitness and diet (and then everybody gleefully eating carbs in front of him for the rest of camp – he was a good sport to put up with our shenanigans)

Karsten from Early Retirement Now scared everybody with stories of not-so-safe withdrawals in retirement

Justin from Root of Good spoke about how to develop a retirement budget

J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly (one of the very first blogs I read!) and Money Boss taught us about finding a personal mission statement (maybe I’ll tell you about mine sometime soon). We’re Facebook friends now. NBD.

Joel from FI180 told us about his former six-figure spending lifestyle and how he/his wife turned their life around

And of course, the main “celebrities” (are money bloggers/podcasters celebrities?) were Jonathan and Brad from ChooseFI. Jonathan hosted a roundtable the last night with some surprise(d) guests!

We also had more bloggers in the crowd:

• Miss Mazuma (FI and travel)
• Reaching for FI (achieving FI on a lower income)
• Guy on FIRE (FI and real estate)
• Teal Collar (real estate)
• Aardvark Advisor (FI and life optimization)
• Rethink The Rat Race (FI)
• Jazz and Lee (round the world travel) and their more current Flicker account Jazz and Lee
• FIology (lessons in FI)
• The Give and Get (meaning and money)
• Clackapedia
• Seonwoo Lee
• Money Letters (raising your financial IQ)
• College Factual (helping students get education for less)
• Richmond Savers (famous for their article on how to travel hack Disney! For military tricks, check out my posts too)

And two brand new blogs that are just starting as of this weekend – I Love FI (intersection of FI and work life balance) and Ms. Fiology (redemption and FI).

Update: This one is about to start. As of this update (May 1st, 2018) it’s still in works: Rewire Behavior

Hopefully I didn’t miss anybody!

Not a blogger? Not a problem. While there were plenty of bloggers there, the group was mostly comprised of non-bloggers who were there just to be with “their people.” We had about 70 people at CampFI Mid-Atlantic. That clearly isn’t a list of 70 blogs.

Value

So how much did all that cost? Here’s my breakdown.

I paid $300 for my ticket. This gave me a shared room in the lodge, with a real bed and an ensuite bathroom. There were also $225 tickets available, but they were for chalets (basically a screened-in porch) in the woods, and you had to hike a short distance to the bathrooms. I’ve done that kind of living in the Middle East…I didn’t particularly want to do it in Virginia.

Transportation is pretty self explanatory. The Ricola and allergy medicine, though…

Stories from previous events always include at least one person losing their voice, either through getting sick or just talking too much. And we heard there was a lot of pollen in the air down at the site (and there was!!). So I picked up some Costco packs of each to put on the community table. Other people brought everything from board games to chips to liquor. It was quite the table!

The Ricola was a brilliant contribution. Between 3-5 of those every day and many cups of tea, I managed to walk away with only a slightly hoarse voice. Without them, I would’ve lost my voice entirely. Much like Brad did last time!

Overall – $340 for almost exactly 72 hours of fun, friends, and some much needed sunshine. Some pretty good cupcakes and tacos, too. Not a bad price to pay at all.

Why I Recommend Attending a CampFI

I met so many amazing people!

I was able to chat with dozens of people from all walks of life. We had engineers and professors and landscapers and people who were already retired. Not to mention quite a few military members! There were singletons, married couples, and even a few kids.

I learned something from everybody I met. We talked about investing, and keeping busy in retirement (can’t let those stories of early retirees dying young come true!), and health and healthcare.

I also learned about a potential investing opportunity in my future 🤔 and I talked to several people about my thoughts on opening a non-profit when I retire.

Future CampFI and similar events

Who should attend CampFI? Anybody interested in financial independence, geeking out over board games, relaxing, and enjoying a cheap vacation should at least consider it.

If this sounds like you, there are still plenty of opportunities.

Stephen, the guy who runs the CampFIs, is hosting two more this year: Southwest and South. Those two are more expensive than CampFI Mid-Atlantic, but still a bargain considering how much you get out of the weekend.

Military: the next two CampFIs are being held very close to military bases. CampFI Southwest will be held in August in Joshua Tree, CA. That’s just down the road from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at 29 Palms. And CampFI South is being held in Little Rock, AR – just across town from Little Rock Air Force Base. Consider it!

I’ve purchased my ticket to CampFI Southwest…now I just need to get settled into my new job so I can turn around and request time off. That’s how it works, right?

If you can’t make it to CampFI this year, keep an eye out for 2019 dates (Stephen announces them in the ChooseFI Facebook group).

There are also other, similar events you may be interested in.

• Camp Mustache is super popular – the last one sold out in 40 seconds. You’ll want to follow the Facebook page for that if you are interested.
• FI Chautauquas are even more extensive and immersive. The 2018 events are also sold out, but that link will take you to the waiting list. These are much more expensive, but are held in beautiful locations, last longer, and really let you get to know the people you are with. I’ll go…someday.
• FINCON: this is really more for the bloggers/podcasters/money media types, but anybody can attend. If you want to hang out with all of your favorite personal finance nerds in one place, this is it. I’m going this year to the event in Orlando. I missed out last year and I regret it, so I bought tickets to the 2018 event literally within minutes of them going live. That wasn’t necessary – there are plenty still available. But I did get a good deal, heh heh.

Local events

If you can’t/don’t want to attend a CampFI (whether due to cost, proximity, or another reason) then find out what local events are happening near you.

There are ChooseFI local groups around the world. In the DC area, we meet up about once every six weeks.

If not that, you might be able to find a local Mustachian group online. I’ve also had success finding groups of fellow money nerds on Meetup.

One of the really surprising things I’ve learned since becoming a blogger is that while few people want others to know they are interested in personal finance, many people are interested. So if you are interested – go meet people! You might discover 70 new friends.

More Reviews

Check out these other CampFI Mid-Atlantic reviews from fellow attendees!

• I went to money nerd camp (aka CampFI Mid-Atlantic)
• My Experience at CampFI
• CampFI Mid Atlantic: Recap of a Great weekend
• Camp FI 2- Mid Atlantic Boogaloo

Lastly, some inside jokes/moments for my fellow CampFI Mid-Atlantic campers:

• “So FI!”
• ERN singing
• Kevin performing
• Dominque and Declan
• The neverending box of wine…how????