Traveling Without Spending to Much!

My family and I have traveled several times across the United States. As much as we love to travel we have also found ways to keep most of the money in our pockets. I'm going to give a few tips on how to do that. Hopefully they will work for you as well.

As we have traveled we have also did a lot of moving. Each time we have moved we have found the less we take the easier it gets. We found this out after we had to move out of a 3 bedroom house with a garage that was full of tools and equipment. Moving clear across the country we realize that renting a truck to move was going to cost at least 1800 bucks. Suddenly it seemed impossible to do. But then I realize. I don't need all that junk stored up. So we had a very large yard sale.

The yard sale last about 2 months straight. The more that went the more we pulled out. This actually helped us in the income as well. Figuring out later. We were moving to start a new life. We decided just to get rid of it all. So we did. We had just enough to pack up the kids my wife and I and a cat. With clothes, guitars and amps, computers and few other things that we needed. We all piled up into our Mini Van. It still amazes me how much you can put into one of these things.

We headed out, and booked hotel stays along the way. This is a very smart thing to do if you want some kind of luxury along the trip. We also booked them so that we had to make it within a certain time limit. Allowing us to go a little further by switching drivers along the way. One of the biggest things you need to know while making long distance trips like this. Make sure you fill up you tank at about a half a tank every time. You never know if you going to find a gas station at times. So it is a very smart thing to do. This also helps you when filling up the tank it won't seem as if you spending as much. But we know differently.

Also, every time you stop give the car a little break. It does get hot and you will need to check the oil, transmission, brake and washer fluids. Now a tip on saving some money here. Before your trip. Get your oil and fluids changed. We usually went to wal-mart for this. But do it as you see fit. Make sure you have good tires and everything is working fine. 30 to 40 bucks will save you from replacing an entire engine or tires.

Hotels and places to stay. This is entirely on you. We like taking that break from the road. Watch some TV in a new place. Reading the papers and such. I really get a kick out of it. I thought it was funny hearing the news casters call themselves New Mexicans. lol Anyway, We booked the first few trips and it was nice but it also climbs up in prices. We have found that not booking them allows you to rest when you need to. Plus you can find some really great places to stay in that are not booked if you are moving during the week. The prices are not as high and you can usually find them that give out breakfast in the morning. If you have a family this saves you a bundle.

One of the most important thing we travel with now that we do have technoligy. Is the lap top. I also found out recently the PSP is good for this. Wi-fi is all over the place now. Most hotels are starting to supply this free with the hotel. If they charge for it. Move on to the next one. Some McDonalds, Krystal burgers, some gas stations will even pick up a free Wi-fi connection. With this you can scope out the areas you are at see prices and book hotels. This will save you a lot of gas looking for a place and food as well. Google Earth a great download to have, even though it still needs a lot of updating to do for the newer construction going on. This helps you see from satelite photos where to go. Now I know GPS is a great thing to have as well if you can afford it. But we couldn't. Mapquest helps as well. This saves you from having to buy one of those big atlas's that seem to take forever to find stuff.

Are We There Yet? I know we have all heard this one. The kids in the back bored driving you crazy while your trying to drive. Now again Technoligy is a great thing. We found out that you can get a little DVD player for the car for around 40 to 50 bucks. Plugs right into the cigerette lighter. If you already have a playstation, or X-box, or anything cool like that. You go to walmart and find a plug in that goes into that lighter for around 15 to 20 bucks. Look in automotive. Not the playstation area. You will find some really cool stuff in that area. With this everything you have will plug in the same way you plug into a wall socket.
You may have wires strapped everywhere but believe me. It's well worth it.

On some of our last moves we decided to take a trailer. This is a live saver. We hooked up a hitch on the back of the van through U-haul. Very good on saving money if your looking at a big move. Plus you can take more instead of piling up in a little van. Book the trailer in advance. Wait for the prices to go down. The grab it.

I know I didn't cover everything. but these little tips may help you save a lot of money. Through out every move we have done. We were able to keep all of them under 1000 bucks. If you get really good at it. You can save yourself even more. Cutting costs like this you may be able to do an entire mover clear across country for about 600 to 800 bucks. Now if you just traveling? You can do this for around 300 dollars maybe just a little over.

I hope this helps out some of you. I would love to hear any feed back. If you know any more great tips. If you have questions just ask.
DJ