Traveling can be great or it can be a nightmare of unexpected expenses. But you can do your best to make your road trip the best it can be with a little of planning ahead of time. In this podcast I’m sharing tips for How to save money on a road trip.
Plus a few tips to help you get your car ready.
In this episode of the Frugal Family Home podcast, I’m sharing road trip tips to help you save money and avoid problems with your car while you are traveling.
If you take the time to plan ahead and do a few things before you leave it can help you enjoy your road trip and stay on budget too.
Save Money on Your Next Road Trip with these 9 Tips
1. Set a Budget
Sure it’s great to hit the open road without a care in the world, but doing so can put a dent in your budget.
It’s a given you’ll need to plan your route but what about planning for your expenses?
Be sure to take into account how much you’ll be spending. You’ll need to have your car checked out before you leave. You’ll need gas money, money for food, and lodging.
As you are planning your route look into the costs of each of these on your stops along the way. You might be able to stay in a smaller town and save money. Or find a great deal on gas just a few miles away from your destination.
2. Plan Your Route
Now that you know you need to budget for your trip, it’s time to plan your route. What destinations would you like to go to? Where will you stop at along the way?
Use Google Maps or MapQuest or even AAATripTik. To help you plan your route and make the most of where you’ll be traveling.
Be sure to have maps for where you’ll be traveling, AAA is a great place to get these, because you never know when your GPS might stop working.
3. Get Your Car Serviced Before Your Road Trip
Before you leave for your trip get your car service by a mechanic. Have them do a general checkout and check fluids and tires. If something need servicing get it done.
Be sure to have all repairs completed a few weeks to a month before your road trip. This can help to make sure the repair is good and there isn’t something more that needs to be done.
Be sure to check your tire pressure, lights, and fluid in your car the day before leaving.
If you don’t know how to do this, take it to your mechanic, check your owner’s manual of your car, or check YouTube for a tutorial to learn how.
Taking a little time to service your car before you leave on your road trip can save you lots of money on car repairs on the road.
4. Save On Gas
Find the cheapest fuel prices along your route. Use GasBuddy or the GasBuddy App to find the best prices to where you’ll be traveling.
GasBuddy has a trip cost calculator to estimate how much it will cost for gas from one place to the next. And they also have a gas price map so you can see the average price of fuel across the United States. Making it easier to plan your gas budget.
AAATripTik is also great for finding construction along your route and finding the best gas prices and estimated gas costs too.
And checking these items on your car can help you save on gas too.
Properly inflate your tires. If your tires are low, it can decrease your gas mileage.
Don’t over pack, if your car is loaded down with more things than you need it will decrease your gas mileage.
Keep a consistent speed, when you can. Use your cruise control to keep your speed consistent can save you money when you are on the highway or freeway.
Drive the speed limit. Speeding up and slowing down with traffic might make you feel like you are getting there faster.
