Have you had your family’s annual road trip yet? My family and I just returned after an excellent road trip to Pittsburgh, PA. I know my family loves to vacation, but the toughest time of the entire road trip is the time in the car together.
Our children, for some reason, get incredibly bored and through their boredom becomes hunger and this will cost quite a bit since we have six children.
So how can we save some money out here, there has to be a way to have a road trip but not go broke through the process. So follow along you are going to love these tips, here are our 12 Amazing Money Saving Tips While Driving.
Have you ever looked into the advantages of spending more on your brake pads? Don’t worry, I have and what I found is here in my article.
¼ of a Tank No Less
Have you ever heard that if you run your fuel less than ¼ of a tank, then you could burn out your fuel pump? This is very true and not the only reason to not go below ¼ of fuel. With new age fuel pumps, they are liquid-cooled by the fuel it pumps.
In the case, you run the fuel low the fuel pump will not have enough fuel to
cool itself and can cause additional wear and tear to the fuel pump that will end its life cycle faster.
Also, when you run your vehicle low on fuel, it will start to pick up the debris and water that is at the bottom of the tank. This situation will feed your engine terrible fuel, and this will increase the fuel that the engine needs to burn to compensate for the lousy fuel received.
Nothing Wrong with Snacks
Even though my children will probably disagree with me because you know children always think they will starve if they do not get a full meal. Start packing snacks, and this will save you a nice amount of money on your road trip because I know every time I stop for my family to get a quick meal this costs $60 on average.
If you are doing that once to your destination and once again on the way home. That is $120 out of your trip budget, and hopefully, you did budget for the trip.
Winter is coming, and we need to be ready for it, make sure your vehicle is prepared by checking out my article 6 Simple Ways to Stay Safe on Snow Covered Roads. You will be glad you did!
Free Air!
Yes, we know the air is free, but we are talking about air compressor air for our vehicles tires. Low air pressure can decrease your fuel economy from 1-3%, yes this doesn’t seem like much money saved, but over the length of a year, it stacks up if you find yourself driving often.
With the solution of this problem being free to get, there is no reason why you do not have your tires at the right air pressure when leaving on a trip.
They have these compressors at gas stations so when you fuel up check your tires real quick so you can get back on the road.
Have you heard of Cruise Control?
Speed selection has to be the most annoying thing to a driver on a long trip. You are behind a car that is wanting to go slow so you go into the other lane to pass the car and they speed back up. As you get behind the car again, they start to slow down again.
Yes, this is not the example of saving money but more of the annoyance of someone not using their cruise control that would save them money from constant accelerations.
The easiest way to explain this is, high rpm’s equals high fuel consumption. So pick a speed and set your cruise control, this will maximize your fuel efficiency.
What’s the Wifi Password?
Busy children equal, not bored children. This one my wife and I have found can give you hours and hours of silence which is blissful for a road trip. But what is more important than the silence is the money you are saving.
When children are busy doing things, they do not get hungry because they are not bored. As long as you can keep your children not thinking about the road trip, the more you save. Now everyone does not have wifi in their vehicle, so how can they use this option?
Your smartphone has a mobile hotspot option that you can activate. This mobile hotspot uses the data plan that you have and shares it with whoever logs onto your mobile hotspot.
My family and I have unlimited data through Tmobile, so this is an excellent option for us.
It is always better to be safe than sorry. Heres my article on 5 Simple Ways to Protect your Car in Hurricane Season.
Drink Limit
This option is not a very complicated one to understand and implement into your trip. Children have small bladders, and you also have an average-sized bladder, but you are on a road trip, and the key is to get from one destination to another. Now you cannot get to another destination if you are always stopping to use the bathroom.
So limit your drinks while you are driving. The Bladder and Bowel community has done the research and has seen if you drink 2 liters of water a day you will go to the bathroom on average between 6 to 7 times.
In the case that you want to slow this frequency down, you need to decrease the number of fluids that you are in taking for the amount of time you would like to reduce the bathroom breaks. If you can do this on your road trip, then you will see you are saving money on your fuel efficiency.
Do you Have Change?
Tolls are one thing that some people forget about when planning a road trip. Tolls are one thing that can take an extra $30- $50 out of your trip budget if you do not pay for the toll correctly. I mean by this you need to have a toll pay module, an example would by the E-Z Pass that they have on the east coast of the United States.
This module makes it where you do not need to stop for tolls, and you are getting a lower negotiated rate to pay for your tolls. This can usually save you a few dollars on each toll that you drive through. Also, the toll booths that have the fast pay lane which you do not have to slow down for is a gas saver!
Remember the key to saving on fuel is to keep a consistent speed and keep the rpm’s low. If you can do this, then you will save a significant amount of money on your road trip.
2% Cashback
Cashback on all purchases has to be one option to save money that should be the most obvious. But I know from my use, I usually forget I even have this in my wallet.
You are going to fill up your vehicle with fuel, buy groceries, get snacks, and so on anyway, so why not make 2% cashback on something you are going to get whether you use this card or not. It is a natural choice, use your credit that has cashback or points so you can get those extra things or extra cashback with your purchase.
What’s the Next Stop?
A big part of taking a road trip or driving, in general, is to know what is your final destination. Yes, there are times that we don’t want to make plans and wing it on a trip, but that will not work if we are trying to save money and stick to a budget for the trip.
By keeping to your trips itinerary, you will be able to watch the money you are spending because you know where it is going.
I have to say I am guilty of this at times. I enjoy surprising my wife with a nice Italian restaurant or a romantic getaway. But if you want to do this in the future, you need to plan for it so we can account for the funds for it. I know this will make my family trip more leisurely, as well.
My car isn’t Fast Enough
Have you ever been trying to merge onto the highway and your pedal is to the floor, and you are giving all she’s got, but it just isn’t enough? Your vehicle is not what it used to be when you first purchased it. There has been wear and tear done the longer you drive your car, and now you are finally noticing.
The best option you can choose when this happens is to take your vehicle to get a tune-up. From new spark plugs to new serpentine belt and whatever else your vehicle needs. But there are two things that people continuously forget about that can change their family road trip from a vacation to a nightmare.
That is the fuel and the cooling system. These are two vital parts, and especially on a road trip, you want both working great. People forget that manufacturers recommend a coolant flush every 30,000 miles, and they want you never to go below ¼ tank of fuel.
Which we already went through the importance of fuel consumption but if you want to read more about how vital your fuel system is and how to keep it in check, check out this article we wrote on the cooling system.
With a tune-up being completed on your vehicle your injectors will be cleaned up from any excess carbon on your valves to your injectors having an explicit port to spray fuel. This will save you money at the fuel pumps, and you will be able to notice that boost in horsepower with your vehicle.
What is my Deductible Again?
I just thought about this one, and it is so crazy that most of us would not
think about it to save money. That option is to get rid of your collision coverage on your vehicle if your vehicle’s value is lower than $2,000. In the case that your car costs that much.
It would be just as much money to pay the deductibles. Then it is to put that money towards the repair. This will save you some money every month so you can put it towards something better.
The Weather is Sunny, No Need to Make it Rain!
This one goes for all of us that are trying to show off. There is no need to spend money like the end of the world is coming. As soon as you find out that you and your family are taking a trip we need to budget and plan for this trip.
We need to know the locations we are going, the distance we are traveling, and whatever else everyone wants to do on this trip. Make sure you budget for the stops and places you want to go. There is nothing wrong with romantic surprises for your loved one but make sure you plan for it.
If you do not budget for the things you want to do, over time you will run out of money and the things you want to do on your trip you will not be able to because you did not budget for the trip.
In conclusion
We all love taking road trips and driving whether you are with your family or not. Budgeting for these times in our lives is a make it or break it for your trip. Make sure you budget for your trip and not empty all of your coffers and accounts to have a great time.
It is a long list to remember, but you can always look back at it when you need a reminder. Life is too short to do nothing in this fantastic world, but no one said we have to force ourselves to go broke to experience it.
Remember to plan and budget for the things you want to do, if you can do this, your trips will be much more comfortable and less stressful so you can enjoy your time traveling the world.
Thank you for checking out my article! You can find more of these articles posted every week on my blog and YouTube channel. So make sure you subscribe to that as well! I hope this article was enlightening and gave you a few ideas to make your next road trip amazing! Check out my next article and see you soon!
