Man, I used to roll my eyes at stuff like this. Thought saving was pointless unless you had big money to start with. Then I watched a buddy turn his loose change jar into a real emergency fund over like eight months. Seeing your 37 bucks become a thousand hits different. Small money really does add up if you just leave it alone.

Sand stakes are the worst, I had the exact same deal at Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. I got so tired of chasing my tent across the flats that I just started filling bags with sand and burying my stakes in those, which honestly worked better than the stakes ever did on their own. The rock trick is way less work though if you can find them, and your buddy is right that it looks silly but nobody is laughing at 2am when their tent is flying away. Deadman anchors with a buried stick or a stuff sack full of rocks work too when there is nothing good to tie off to. Half the battle with sand is just getting the stake deep enough and angled right, but once you do that it holds way better.