Road trips are inevitable for countless American families each year. Whether driving to visit relatives or embarking on a vacation, most parents know how quickly costs can add up! Thankfully, plenty of tips and tricks exist to ensure that your next family road trip won’t make you consider bankruptcy. Let’s dive in.
1. Pack Lunch (And Maybe Dinner, Too)
While packing plenty of snacks is essential to any road trip regardless of the passengers’ ages, it’s even better to pack complete meals! Pre-made sandwiches are the perfect road trip meal when trail mix and carrot sticks won’t cut it any longer. The more money you save on stopping for food, the more cash you’ll have for other portions of your trip. Trust me, as long as the sandwiches are varied, your kids will stay happy!
2. Utilize Credit Card Rewards
In 2023, rewards credit cards are arguably the best way to embrace the frugal lifestyle through everyday spending. Rewards add up quicker than you think; depending on your spending levels, your road trip could be dotted with free stays at some of the best hotels in the United States, all thanks to your credit card! If you pay your bills responsibly in full each month and use a standard credit card, it’s time to level up and embrace the rewards card lifestyle.
3. Keep Restaurant Visits to a Minimum
It’s inevitable: After a few hours, the kids in the back seat will clamor for a restaurant-quality meal. However, you must keep the restaurant visits to a minimum because the associated costs will quickly spiral out of control. Only stop at restaurants if it fits your budget (more on that later). After all, you have a vehicle full of pre-made sandwiches; why on Earth do you need to stop at restaurants?
4. Always Use Your GPS Navigation
Many seasoned road trippers advise always to use your vehicle’s GPS navigation whenever possible. It doesn’t matter if you’ve made the trip a thousand times; navigation (and accompanying traffic data) will ensure you will always be on the quickest route. Budget-friendly family road trips quickly turn into money pits once traffic and unexpected stops to fill up at gas stations come into the picture.
5. Stop at Rest Stops, Not Gas Stations
Speaking of gas stations, avoid them unless you physically need to fill your tank. Gas stations are the home to countless impulse purchases by you and your family. While small purchases like sodas, coffee, and snacks are minimal individually, they quickly add up! If someone needs to use the restroom, stop at the nearest rest stop instead and effectively remove the allure of impulse buys at the gas station.
6. Plan Hotel Stays Ahead of Time
While last-minute hotel deals through smartphone apps like Hotel Tonight are savvy ways to save money, they usually only apply to larger, well-established hotels in cities, so I recommend planning your hotel stays ahead of time. By booking a few days in advance, you will save money compared to the day of. One of the most prominent family road trip cardinal sins you can commit is choosing hotels willy-nilly while on the road. That’s a recipe for a disaster in your wallet.
7. Buy Tickets in Advance
Like hotel bookings, any tickets to theme parks, zoos, national parks, or other activities should be booked in advance. Paying full-price admission at the front gate is not cost-efficient. Besides, by booking ahead of time, you can use the pent-up excitement to alleviate stress while embarking on the road trip! Is there a more effective carrot to dangle over your kids than theme park tickets already purchased? I think not!
8. Consider Camping
There are approximately 15,000 campgrounds scattered across the United States, most of which are infinitely less expensive than hotel and Airbnb stays. If you want to give your family a vacation of a lifetime, strongly consider camping. While it’s a little unorthodox, the savings represent such a substantial value that you shouldn’t overlook it. You never know; you could open your family’s eyes to a newfound appreciation of the great outdoors!
9. Keep a Family Trip Journal
Not every activity you do on a family road trip needs to cost money; keeping a family trip journal is an exciting way to pass the time and document the journey! From playing car games to recording unique attractions and things along the way, keeping a journal involves the entire family. Even in-car arguments become hilarious in retrospect when one person thoughtfully documents the whole affair!
10. Find Free Things To Do
Fortunately, many small towns across the United States have free exhibits to explore and activities to do that are off the beaten path. Take advantage of these opportunities! From local carnivals to fairs to parades (and everything in between), small local events give you and the family a much-deserved break from the road and present opportunities to stretch your legs and see what is to explore (for free).
11. Pack Smart
The last thing you want to do is make an unexpected stop because somebody forgot to pack their toothbrush, deodorant, or other necessities. Unintended purchases will quickly put a damper on a trip because that money could’ve been spent on something more memorable than a stop at Walgreens. Pack smart; double-check that the whole family is ready for life on the road before you leave the house!
12. Avoid Holiday Travel
Unless you absolutely have to, stick to taking family road trips during non-holiday seasons. Holiday travel means a litany of potential headaches; more vehicles will be on the road, meaning more traffic and potentially higher fuel costs. Traveling during the holidays also means you’ll encounter higher prices at hotels, motels, and Airbnbs during the trip, which will do your budget no favors. All in all, it’s cheaper to do pretty much anything outside of the holiday season, so avoid holiday travel if possible.
13. Create a Budget (And Stick To It)
Keeping costs down during a road trip can be as straightforward as creating a budget and sticking to it. Like most financial situations, setting yourself with a clear plan of attack and executing that plan to perfection generally means relief for your wallet. By putting numbers and figures down on paper, you’ll have a greater appreciation for what costs come ahead (and it will make it easier to handle unforeseen expenses along the way).
14. Stay in Hotels That Offer Complimentary Breakfast
As someone who’s stayed over 100 nights in hotels over the past two years, I know a thing or two about the value of complimentary breakfast! Never pass up the opportunity to stay somewhere that offers this perk, especially when you and your family embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Complimentary breakfast provides your family a way to fill up on the hotel’s dime, ultimately saving significant money on meals in the process.
15. Steer Clear of Toll Roads
Every dollar counts on a road trip; lighten the load on your wallet by steering clear of toll roads. Often, the quickest and most efficient route comes at a price: Relentless tolls. Combat this by adjusting your GPS navigation to avoid tolls whenever possible. Depending on the length of your trip, you could incur tolls of upwards of $100; that doesn’t sound like part of an unforgettable family road trip to me.
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