Road Trip Hacks For Saving Money While Traveling

If road trips are one of your favorite ways to travel, then you'll know that the costs can add up fast. While they're certainly cheaper than hopping on a flight, gas, accommodation, and food can become just as expensive if you aren't careful. 

Luckily, we've got a few road trips hacks that will help you keep your hard-earned dollars firmly in your wallet. 

6 Road Trips Hacks for Saving Money While Traveling

Check out our top six money-saving tips in the following sections. We go over everything from planning fuel stops to downloading maps to dealing with financial emergencies.

1. Plan Your Gas Stops In Advance

A touch of planning can go a long way toward saving you money. Download an app to check area gas prices (GasBuddy is a great one) and attempt to time your route so you'll avoid big cities and jam-packed highways during rush hour. Stop-and-start traffic not only makes your journey longer, but it consumes gas much faster. 

If you have a Sam's Club or Costco membership, you can use it during your road trip to save even more. You can even get a credit card that offers fuel rewards, such as the Wells Fargo Autograph Card — you'll get three points for every dollar you spend at gas stations. 

2. Bring A Water Bottle

You know you'll need water, so don't forget to pack your own reusable water bottle. Otherwise, you'll waste an obscene amount of money buying water bottles and other drinks whenever you stop. 

Regardless of where you are, water bottles are pretty easy to fill up. Gas stations, picnic areas, gear stores, and campgrounds tend to have faucets for you to grab water whenever you need it. If you prefer bringing a case of water bottles instead of filling a water bottle in fear of tainted water, don’t forget to add that to your shopping list. 

To save even more money, bring a cooler filled with the beverages you like. This will keep kombuchas, energy drinks, seltzer waters, juices, or other drinks chilly until you want them.

3. Pack Your Snacks

In a similar vein to the above, bring your snacks. While it can be tempting to head to McDonald's every chance you get, be sensible and bring snacks, and maybe even breakfast and lunch with you. That way, you aren't wasting money on sub-par food or going hungry.

We recommend purchasing your snacks from the grocery store, instead of a gas station. That way, you can buy more a lower price. For lunch, pack cold cuts and cheese or peanut butter and jelly for sandwiches. The cooler we mentioned above works wonders here, too.

4. Camp Rather Than Stay In Hotels

Granted, you might not like camping. But if you can stomach sleeping in a tent, you'll save hundreds of dollars while still satisfying your traveling needs. As long as you have the basics, you can camp out for $0 to $30 per night.

Unsure what constitutes basic camping gear? Here's a foolproof checklist:

1. Tent
2. Sleeping pad
3. Sleeping bag
4. Pillow
5. Headlamp
6. Kitchen gear:
1. Cooler
2. Water jug
3. Cast iron pan
4. Cutlery
5. Plates
6. Bowls
7. Propane stove and fuel
7. Camp chairs
8. Foldable table
9. First aid kit

5. Download Music And Maps

The last thing you want is to be hit with a huge phone bill while you're on the road trip of a lifetime. So, download Google Maps and any music you want to listen to during your journey. That way, you'll avoid the high cost of data leaving your bank account empty. Of course, there's no need to worry about this if you have an unlimited data plan!

6. Understand How To Deal With Financial Emergencies

Life won't wait for you to get back to incite a financial emergency. Whether it's an urgent trip to the vet or an unforeseen medical bill, you might not have the funds to deal with it immediately. So, where do you turn? You have loads of options, one of them being us at Auto Cash USA — our licensed vendors offer title loans up to $15,000 to fund emergencies.

Unlike traditional bank loans, you won't need loads of documents to qualify. You don't even need a good credit score. As long as you have a driver's license, a lien-free title, and a vehicle, you stand a good chance of qualifying. 

The process takes just half an hour, and our vendors have friendly experts on hand during regular office hours to assist you.

Secure A Loan From Auto Cash USA's Vendors Right Now!

These money-saving tips will help to keep your road trip fun and cheap. And our vendors will ensure you're taken care of if any financial emergencies pop up before or after.

Get started by submitting the easy-to-use online request form and a loan representative will call to guide you through the process.

Note: The content provided in this article is only for informational purposes, and you should contact your financial advisor about your specific financial situation.