Creating a budget is never fun, but it is an important part of planning a successful road trip. The two biggest budget areas to account for are food and fuel. Here are a few Savvy Sojourner tips for how to create a budget for your next road trip.
How to Create a Budget for Food
As a general rule when my family is on a road trip we try to eat out of the grocery store rather than a restaurant as much as possible. This means that the majority of our meals are prepared by us from our RV. The simple truth is that you get way more food for $100 at a grocery store versus spending $100 at a restaurant. However, our family loves finding little hole-in-the-wall restaurants when we travel and cooking meals exclusively is not very realistic. It is finding the right balance of eating in and eating out.
When to Eat In:
The easiest meals to eat in are breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Another bonus is that most of these meals/food items can be taken with you to eat while you are out during the day, which eliminates expensive convenience store stops! Since you know your eating habits best, you can cater your grocery list to accommodate these meals easily. For instance, my family usually has a light snack for breakfast and a larger lunch after our morning hikes or sightseeing. Therefore, I purchase breakfast bars or muffins for breakfast and then pack sandwiches, chips and fruit in our cooler for lunch. A dozen muffins, sandwich items, a couple bags of chips, and some fresh fruit will feed my family for serval days. The grocery bill will be close to the total for one breakfast or lunch out at a restaurant.
When to Eat Out:
Let’s face it, one of the best parts of traveling is eating local food! This is why it is important to make sure to plan on eating meals in restaurants when you are creating your budget. The amount of meals out will depend on you and your budget. As a rule I always plan on at least 1-2 meals out each week during our trip. For our family these are typically dinners. If you are on a tight budget you may want to consider lunches as your meal out. Lunches tend to be cheaper than dinner menu items. On the remaining evenings I will cook in dinner in our RV which is a money saver. If your accommodations do not include cooking facilities, you will have to make sure your food budget is enough to cover all of your meals out.
Savvy Sojourner Pro Tip: As a general rule of thumb I choose locally owned restaurants and avoid chains whenever we are traveling. I have had wonderful luck looking at online reviews of local places and finding the hidden gems where locals eat! Besides, who wants to go on vacation and eat the same food you can get at home?
How to Create a Budget for Fuel:
“Plan on the absolute worst and hope it doesn’t come true!” This is my motto when I am creating a budget for fuel. You are going to have to do some homework to make sure that you budget an accurate about for your fuel budget. Grab your mapping app and a calculator and let’s get started.
Homework Task #1: Calculate Your Fuel Mileage
The first bit of homework is calculating the average fuel mileage (miles/gallon) for the vehicle you are taking on your trip. Start doing this well in advance of your road trip. You want to make sure that you are measuring the your fuel under the same conditions as when you are traveling. This means if you are mostly traveling on freeways at 80 mph, then figure your fuel mileage for freeway conditions. If you are pulling a trailer or fifth wheel for part of your trip, calculate your mileage while pulling. If you will be pulling a trailer for part of your trip and then traveling without the trailer for part, then make sure to know both fuel mileage numbers.
The easiest way to calculate this is to put in some miles under the travel conditions that match your trip. If your vehicle can tell you your average fuel mileage on the spot, make sure to note those averages. If you have an older vehicle (like we do) then you will have to do some math at the fuel pump.
Miles you traveled DIVIDED by the number of gallons you put in your tank = Average Miles/Gallon
Homework Task #2: Calculate Distance You Will Travel
Pull up your favorite mapping app and start looking at your travel distance for your trip. This needs to include all miles traveled from your home to every stop on your trip and back. Not all of your miles are just from your home to your destinations. So, to this number you need at add all non-traveling miles. These are miles are an estimate and include miles spent touring National Parks, sightseeing, going to dinner, etc.
As a rule of thumb I estimate the total non-traveling miles to be the same as the total traveling miles.
For example, if the total miles we travel in our road trip loop is 1,000 miles, I would estimate 1,000 non-travel miles for a total of 2,000 total miles.
Homework Task #3: Estimate Cost for Fuel
I hope no one is shocked when I say that the cost of fuel is always changing! Fuel prices vary from day to day and location to location. It would be wise to estimate fuel costs when you are starting to plan your trip and then again a few weeks before you leave. To estimate fuel cost, I always do some research into average fuel prices in the states we are traveling. AAA has a website that has updated averages for each state. Gas Buddy is a great resource will actually help calculate fuel costs for you based on your vehicle under average conditions (not towing a trailer or other special conditions).
Whatever method you use, I always add a $1.00 to the average fuel cost when calculating my budget.
So if the average price is $3.50 a gallon, I will budget for $4.50. I know this may sound extreme! The price of fuel is so different in high tourism areas and around National Parks. This cushion can make the difference in making or breaking your budget. Also, anytime you fuel up and it is under your budgeted amount you come out a winner!
Creating Your Final Fuel Budget
Get ready for some math! All of your homework will make this step quite simple, so don’t panic!
Estimated Total Travel Miles DIVIDED BY Average Miles/Gallon = Gallons of Fuel Needed
Gallons of Fuel Needed TIMES Average Fuel Cost = Fuel Budget
Once you know your vehicle’s fuel mileage and your average travel miles, these calculations will get easier from one trip to the next. Set your fuel budget early, but revisit it frequently as gas prices change. You don’t want any unexpected surprises at the pump!
For more Savvy Sojourner tips on planning a successful trip, click here!
Happy Sojourning!
Meghan
