How to Hold Road Travel Expenses to a Minimum

Taking a road trip can be a lot of fun, but if you are not careful it can be very costly. If you are trying to have a great trip but still be economical, you will need to plan in advance.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Ice chest
• Cooler
• Bottled water

How to Hold Road Travel Expenses to a Minimum

1. Buy and prepare your own food. Depending on your budget, you can prepare your own food for two meals and buy the third or prepare all three meals. Plan what types of foods you can take or buy along the way. Buying food every day will keep down the amount of food you need to carry.

2. Use an ice chest to bring along drinks. The fewer expensive drinks the less you will spend. Be certain to have bottled water, enough for everyone to have at least 3 to 4 bottles a day. If you are bringing along animals, take their water needs into account.

3. Plan your destination and the places you want to sight see in between home and your destination. Ahead of time, find out the fees for national parks or amusement parks you would like to visit. Also, plot out your route and calculate the total round trip miles. Multiply this by the cost of gasoline and factor in enough to cover changes in cost for the duration of your trip. This will give you an idea of how much the gasoline will be.

4. Determine your food cost based on ten dollars per person, per meal minimum. If you eat out that will from thirty dollars to sixty dollars per person per day. Do not forget to factor in tips and costs for motels if you plan to use them. If you are going to use motels, reserve ahead of time. Figure out how many miles you plan to go each day and reserve motels along your route. Some motels are more economical than others. Off season, rates are lower. If you are traveling real economy, plan to have one or two nights in a really nice place, like a bed and breakfast. Remember a motel is a place to sleep. If it has a bed, bathroom and television and is clean, it is suitable.

5. Add the totals and see what you expect to spend for your entire trip.
   Now add $500 for unexpected car problems and another amount for souvenirs. Traveling by car can offer you flexibility, but you should have a route and plan you stick to because family members will know where to expect you to be. Be sure to check in with someone regularly.

Tips & Warnings

• When you travel, travel safe. Keep you doors locked.
• When you stop be sure to park in a well lighted area
• If you are staying at a motel, take everything in with you, even if it is a pain to repack, you may save in the long run.
• Do your laundry along the way. Motels usually have a laundry, so prepare with plenty of quarters and carry your own laundry supplies because it will be less expensive.
• Pack light and wash your clothes often.
• If this is a casual trip, carry only one dress up outfit.
• Always be aware of your surroundings and of anyone acting suspiciously.

Resources

• Travel Maps
• Unique Travel Destinations

[grimsleygl]

on 4/10/2009 Good advise and suggestions. One thing though that I have found is that if you are not sure how long you can drive in one day and do not really know where you will end up because you hope to keep on pushing yourself before stopping to sleep...you can almost always get a good deal at a decent motel along the way in the wee hours. By that time they figure that if they have a room still vacant, the chances are that the room will not be rented at all. So...at least give it a chance! Ask how much and then if it's too much, say well, thanks, I think I'll see if I can't find something else for just a few hrs. sleep. It works more often than you would imagine! 5*'s for a great article.