At Top Down Lifestyle, we love road trips, and we think everyone else too! You get to see tons of stuff you’d miss when you fly, you have much more freedom to explore as you choose, and they are generally cheaper. However, if you don’t know the ins and outs of how to plan road trip adventures economically, your budget can soon balloon out of control!
While road trips in theory can be cheap, it is still easy to watch your budget balloon while you end up spending more than if you had just booked plane tickets. If some of the allure of road trips for you are the cost savings, we have some tips to help you keep prices down, and keep you on the road.
There is always more you can do, and we don’t claim this is everything you can do to cut prices, but if you do everything on this list, we think your road trip will be pretty manageable in terms of cost. Here are our 18 budget road trip tips!
For even more road trip planning tips, read our full guide to planning an epic summer road trip!
1: Pack Your Own Food
It’s easy to stop at a McDonalds or Subway during your gas stop and eat out for each meal, but that will add up quickly. The much cheaper option is to pack your own food for your trip.
- You can pack snacks for the drive so you don’t spend way too much on gas station snacks.
- You can pack easy on the go meals to avoid fast food stops.
- You can pack food for when you are at your destination and are staying at a hotel, Airbnb, or campground.
All of these will save you money on food, and allow you to spend it on what you really want to!
2: Cook Your Own Food
This is especially true for when you are staying at a vacation rental, but it is much cheaper to cook your own meals than eating out. This probably isn’t news to you, but eating out really does add up. Obviously, this is easy when you have a full kitchen. However, even if you are camping, bring a camp stove, or cook over the fire to save money.
3: Use Refillable Water Bottles
Not only do they cost money, plastic water bottles are terrible for the environment. Fortunately, refillable water bottles are a great replacement, and can even be better.
For less than $10, you can get a basic nalgene bottle. Splurge and get a Yeti or Hydroflask and it’ll keep your water ice cold all day. There really isn’t a reason to buy water bottles each day. Save money, and help the environment by using refillable bottles.
Always be sure to follow the 7 Leave No Trace Principles when in the outdoors!
4: Bring a Cooler
Sticking with the food theme, bringing a cooler is always a good idea. Not only will it keep drinks that you brought from home cold, saving you money, it also allows you to bring food that needs to be kept cold. This allows you to bring meats, frozen foods, and beverages from home, saving you tons of money over the course of your trip.
5: Find The Cheapest Gas
Gas is likely going to be your largest expense on a road trip, and it is easy to save money on it. Even just looking at the different gas stations on the same block will often allow you to save 5-10 cents per gallon. You can also save money by gassing up away from major highways.
It may not be worth the time in the middle of a long drive, but filling up in town before you leave might save you a few bucks each day. One app to consider is GasBuddy to help find cheap gas!
6: Plan Your Route
Getting lost is a bummer, and will cost you time and money. It’s easy to take a wrong turn, and before you know it you’ve driven 30 minutes the wrong way, which means you have to drive another 30 minutes to get on track.
That’s an hour of your time lost, as well as the gas you used to get there and back. Better planning also means you can plan out meals, gas stops, and attractions you want to visit.
7: Bring a Map
If you drive far enough, you will lose cell service. I can tell you from experience it’s a real pain when your Google Maps turns off for no apparent reason and you don’t have a signal. Bring a map for when the unexpected happens, and you will not end up with the potential of a long and costly detour or stop.
8: Camp
To cut down on lodging costs, camping is the best option. Staying in a hotel each night can get expensive, as even mid level hotels are usually over $100 per night.
On the contrary, campsites are usually a maximum of $50 or $60 per night, perhaps you will find a more expensive site with RV hookups in an in demand location. By camping you can save tons of money you can later spend on food, experiences, or souvenirs.
9: Find Cheap or Free Campsites
If you are willing to go a bit out of your way, or stay somewhere that isn’t exactly glamorous, there are ways to camp for free. Dispersed camping is when you simply set up a camp in the woods away from an actual campground, and dispersed camping is allowed on most national forest land.
There are rules, you will have to be away from roads, trails, and water sources for example, but most national forests allow dispersed camping. Always check local rules and regulations before attempting dispersed camping.
There are also a couple of resources for you to use to find free campsites. Campendium has a number of resources on their site to help when looking for free campsites. You may also find free campsites on freecampsites.net. I have used this site before, and some of the sites are in pretty random spots, but it may be a helpful resource.
Finally, you could just sleep in a Walmart parking lot. Walmart is totally ok with people camping out in their parking lots, and I’ve actually done it quite a few times. Before bed walk inside and brush your teeth in the bathroom, and in the morning go get a nice breakfast! It’s a little rough, but you can spend the night for free in any Walmart parking lot.
10: Use Hotel Tonight
Maybe you’re not the camping type. In the case where you really want a warm bed to crash in, a shower in the morning, and a continental breakfast, a great resource to use is Hotel Tonight. Download their app and find great last minute hotel deals wherever you are travelling.
I’ve used this app lots of times, and it’s gotten me hotel rooms as low as $40 a night. It includes cheap motels on the budget end, and luxurious resorts if you have the cash!
11: Get a National Park Pass
If you’re planning a national parks road trip, it may be worth it to purchase an America The Beautiful Pass. The America The Beautiful Pass gives the purchaser entry into essentially all of the national park lands in the country, as well as National Forest and Bureau of Land Management locations.
It does cost $80 as of February 2021, so if you are only visiting one national park, it may not be worth it, but if you are planning on visiting multiple national parks, it may be worth the upfront cost.
If you want to learn more, read our full breakdown of the America the Beautiful Pass here!
12: Buy What You Need Beforehand
Buying stuff in small towns and roadside stores can be expensive. Whether it is camping gear, automotive supplies, food, or anything else, it is probably more expensive in that random small town than it would be if you had shopped around and found it for the best price.
Buying things beforehand and being prepared is a great way to save money, even though it won’t necessarily feel like it, but it will cut out many hidden expenses.
13: Set a Budget
Knowing how much money you have to spend, and how much money you will need for a trip beforehand is very good knowledge to have. You never want to get home and realize you maxed your credit card and have no way to pay for it.
It is easy to let little things stack up and cost you way more than you planned on. Gas station snacks, fast food meals, souvenirs, and tours all don’t seem that expensive, but you pay for something extra everyday, it’s easy to spend more than you have.
Set a budget beforehand for the whole trip, and make a plan of how much you can spend each day. Set aside money for cool experiences, but maybe on that day make dinner as opposed to eating out, or cut out that knick knack you want to take home.
Setting a budget and sticking to it requires some discipline, but it will save you money on your trip.
14: Prepare Your Vehicle
Unfortunately, I can tell you from experience it is not fun to have car trouble when you are in the midst of a road trip. It’s even worse when the car trouble could have been avoided.
There are little things that you can easily check yourself in your garage that are liable to go wrong on a road trip: tires, oil level, windshield washer fluid, just to name a few.
If you are not comfortable doing these checks yourself, take your vehicle in and get it checked. While it’s in the shop, get your oil changed and tires rotated, basic preventative maintenance will save you tons of money long term. For a more in depth checklist of things to check on your vehicle, check here!
15: Avoid Peak Times of Year
Many destinations have peak times each year when they get most of their visitors. Florida on spring break, Tahoe on snowy weekends, Colorado in summer, and there is a reason these places get the most visitors at certain times: it’s usually the best time to be there!
However, if you are willing to deal with slightly cooler weather, or slightly wetter weather, or slightly hotter weather, you can not only save money, but also have many of these places almost to yourself.
Visit in the “shoulder seasons” when conditions are still pretty good, but traffic is much lower. With fewer people, you will generally find prices to be lower as well.
16: Shop at Grocery Stores
It can be a little bit out of your way, but it is usually worth your while to shop for food at grocery stores. Whether you are covering miles on the interstate or staying in a little mountain town, you are most likely going to find lower prices at the nearest grocery store compared to the gas stations or convenience stores closest to you.
Save money on snacks and quick meals, and buy food for cooking at significantly lower prices. If you can, it’s usually best to bring food from home, but usually there will come a point when you need to buy some.
Grocery stores are generally going to be the cheapest option, and be sure to sign up for the grocery memberships. At Safeway for example, you will gain access to tons of deals and it costs nothing.
17: Avoid Rush Hour
If you’ve ever lived in a major city, you’ve probably had to figure out when and where rush hour is the worst. At certain times, it just doesn’t make sense to drive in certain directions unless you absolutely have to. With careful planning, it’s usually possible to avoid the worst traffic.
If you’re flying into a major airport like San Francisco or Los Angeles, trying to leave the city during the evening rush hour will not be fun (I can promise you that from experience).
Also try to avoid entering major urban areas during rush hour.
On a road trip from Wisconsin to Washington DC, we got to the northern suburbs of Chicago around 5 pm. It took over 2 hours to get to the other side of the Chicago metro. It was terrible. Know when traffic is worst, and plan around that when necessary.
18: Make a Packing List
You know what’s a huge waste of money? Having to buy something that you already paid for, but you forgot it at home. I feel like any trip I take I always forget something, and I imagine many people are in that same boat!
However, the easiest way to avoid that situation is to make a list ahead of time of the things you need to pack. Don’t do it in a rush the night before, then you’ll probably just forget to put something on the list. Think about it ahead of time, and put some thought into it. Simply bringing the stuff you need is the best way of keeping prices down!
We think road trips are the best way to travel, and some of the best experiences we have had have been on them. On top of the greatness of road trips, they can be cheap! If done right, road trips can be a great way to get away from it all and take a vacation on a budget, but if you aren’t careful, prices can add up quickly!
By following these simple tips, you can keep costs down, and keep the wheels turning. Plan a trip, be smart about planning, and go enjoy the open road!
Links for Further Reading:
47 Money-Saving Tips for a Cheap Road Trip Across the USA
12 Tips for Road-Tripping on a Budget
How to Budget for a Road Trip: 16 Tips
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