Road trips are really difficult to plan while on a budget because the expenses go to so many different places. There’s the gas, the car, the food, the accommodations… Where do you even start and how do you keep yourself from blowing the budget while on the road?
Where there’s a will, there’s a way, so here are some tips to help you save money while you drive and thrive.
Avoid Holidays
Don’t plan your road trips when there’s a holiday of any kind. Avoid November through February. Many people are on the road to visit their families and traffic gets really bad. You’ll consume more gas with more cars on the road and you’ll get to your destinations at a slower pace.
You might want to be careful during the summer too since kids are out of school and families go on vacation. The best times for a road trip are after Spring Break and in the fall.
Prioritize Free Destinations
Look up events, fairs, and festivals that don’t require payment for entry. Avoid the tourist spots since they tend to be expensive. Instead, think like a local and look for the fun community events that aren’t very expensive.
Prepare Your Car for the Road
Before your road trip, you need to take your car to the mechanic. Make sure that it’s in good enough conditions to handle a long drive. If the car needs to be repaired and you have to postpone your trip, so be it.
It’s actually more expensive to have your car break down in the middle of the road. It’s also very dangerous, especially if you’re traveling alone. The delay may be upsetting, but it’s for the best.
Track Car Rental Prices
If you don’t have a car, you could always rent one. Renting a car seems like an extremely expensive ordeal, but you can get great deals on car rentals if you know how to find them.
There are apps that give you notifications when prices on car rentals go down. Pick your favorite and use it to track rental prices to get a sense of when you should rent. Ask the rental company about their discount policies.
Get Your Food and Necessities Delivered
The food will be very pricey in a lot of the places you stop at, especially tourist attractions and big cities. Instead of buying overpriced food at gas stations, order your food from Instacart. With an Instacart promo code, you can get free shipping when ordering food from local supermarkets at a low-cost price.
You can also use Instacart to get certain necessities (toiletries, pharmaceuticals, paper towels) as you go instead of overspending by buying it all together.
Please note that Instacart does not offer any senior citizen discount, student discount, or military discount. However, you can join the referral program and save money the next time you place an order with coupon codes. You can also take advantage of the Instacart holiday sales and get free shipping with every order if you do plan your trip on a holiday.
Contact Instacart via Facebook, Twitter, or their about us page for more information on deals and promos.
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