Frugal Family: Planning Your Road Trip

This past week, my family and I took our annual summer vacation.  We did our homework to keep road trip costs low, but found it is sometimes the small expenses and overlooked details that really add up and break the vacation budget. 

Before you head out on your summer road trip, consider a little advanced planning to save big:

• Gas:  If you can, don’t fill up in New York.  Gas prices are much less expensive in neighboring states.  Fill up only enough to get you to the next destination.  You can find your lowest gas prices in every state and city at gasbuddy.com.

• Meals and Snacks: Invest in a cooler and pack meals in advance.  All those drinks and meals on the road add up for families.  Simply pack sandwiches and water bottles in advance and pull over to a nearby park for a picnic.

• Accommodations: You may save on hotel prices by booking rooms further from the sights, but wind up paying over $20 per day in parking lots.  When choosing a hotel, find one within walking distance or that provides a shuttle close to the action. 

• Prepare for Rain Days: It rained for two days on our vacation and we found ourselves at the movie theater – twice!  For my family of four, this resulted in an extra $80 spent.  Prepare in advance and find inexpensive or free activities at your locations.  There are many free local museums to visit in vacation towns.  Also, bring enough DVDs, board games and crafts to keep kids busy in the hotel room.

• Set Shopping Limitations: It is hard to say no to the kids when they see something they want on vacation, but setting limits in advance will go a long way.  Talk to kids in the car about picking one item they want as a souvenir.  This will let them know they can not have a shirt, hat, snow globe and numerous other marked up junk items.  It also teaches them to think carefully about what item will be most valuable to them.