All The Frugal Ladies Personal finance with a feminine touch
Saving money while traveling is a great way to get the most out of your vacation in ways you never thought possible. You get to see and experience things you might have missed had you not looked around for ways to save.
One way to travel cheaply is to take an RV. On top of saving on hotels and boarding, you can even save money on campground fees. For instance, once you learn how to connect a generator to a solar system then you rarely need to pay for a campsite. Connecting your RV to solar panels also gives you a lot of freedom to roam wherever you want to.
Traveling with an RV saves you more travel costs because it also allows you to:
1. Cook your own meals
An RV isn’t just like another hotel room. It should be regarded as a mini apartment on wheels, mainly because it has a kitchen in it, so you can cook your own meals there.
Eating out every day can often exceed what you would pay for a hotel room, especially if you have a couple of kids with you. Instead of doing this, eat out a couple of times but supplement all the rest of your meals with some home-cooked ones.
You should also have things ready to go for when you are on the road. It is tempting to just hit the drive-through or rest area restaurants when you are on the move. If you have some things ready to be heated up in the fridge then you can stop at a rest area, eat a quick meal, and then hit the road again and not waste time.
2. Try boondocking
The cost of staying at an RV campground can add up fast. It is nice to have modern conveniences provided by the camp like electricity, water, and septic, but it comes at a price.
Boondocking is the answer to this as there are lots of places where you can stay for free. The only problem is that you are on your own for things like electricity and water. Having a solar panel system provides you with unlimited and free electricity. Also, make sure your water tanks are full and your septic tank is empty, and only use septic safe toilet paper. This way you can find places where you can pull off the road and stay for a few days for free.
3. Plan your trip well
While it is always nice to be spontaneous and not be on a schedule, planning your trip will save you money. You can find the places to boondock to save some money as well as find some off-the-beaten-path sites that don’t have expensive campgrounds to stay.
Even the route you take can cost you more money if you don’t plan ahead. Look for roads that will help you avoid tolls and where there are gas stations that have the cheapest gas.
