Okay, we knew our trip to research Alaska's national forest was going to be pricey but we are getting concerned. We really don't want to postpone this work but . . . Suggestions on how we might stretch our dollars would be appreciated. Thank you for your help. - Suzi

A trip like this has 3 major expense categories…Transportation, Lodging & Food. Sure, you can add Entertainment and Shopping to that list, but those are optional factors. So let’s look at those first three and find opportunities.
Transportation: The cost of operating your rig is whatever it is…you can’t change that and you can’t change the cost of fuel. But what about routing? I don’t really know your itinerary but I know you are planning the ferry to Prince of Wales Island. Given the few campsites on the island (31 according to the Tongass NF website) is it really worth the side-trip or could you get the info from the Ranger District? Are you also planning to take the ferry from Prince Rupert or elsewhere? If so, would it be feasible to drive up the Cassiar Highway and on up to Seward or Valdez and use that area as a base?
Or are the campgrounds that you wish to visit not accessible that way?

Lodging: It’s pretty hard to beat the $6-$8 a night that the NFS campgrounds will cost you, but if you are driving home on the Alaska Hwy, there are many large turnouts that people use for overnight stops. These are without facilities and unattended, but we found that once one party stopped, plenty of others followed suit and we never spent a night alone doing that. These areas of course are free.

Food: This seems to offer the biggest potential for cost savings. First, do not plan on eating out regularly.. unless you want to treat yourselves. Shop at home (you can do it when stuff is on sale) and take as many non-perishables with you as you can. This might mean some sacrifice of storage space and a little extra weight, but it should be a good trade-off. When you need to replenish food supplies, plan to do it in the largest towns you can (I know there aren’t many of them!). Don’t fill up your freezer with ice cubes and low value stuff…save the space for meats, frozen veggies, juice if you drink a lot of it. You can even make casserole dishes and freeze them.. If you do that, put them in sealable bags instead of dishes..you’ll save a lot of room. Do you have a portable 12v. freezer? If so that would increase your food storage capacity substantially. Finally, Catch a lot of fish!
I hope something from all this will help a little.