Comments on: Saving Money on a Road Trip with Kids

By: Georgia

Georgia — Fri, 15 May 2009 03:42:06 +0000

This may be extremely late, but I remember a true story I read in Readers Digest years ago. Just remember that the money may not seem much, but it wasn’t a great lot even at the time.

A single mom had 3 children. They lived on the East Coast and her children always wanted to see the West Coast. They bugged her and bugged her and finally she said, “I only have $400 in savings that I can use on a vacation. We will use that money and go as far as we can. When I spend my last $20 of $200, I will turn around and head home again.” To make a long story short, she did not have to put up with a lot of whining and begging. They wanted to make it to Portland. They cashed their 10th $20 bill as they pulled into Portland. That left the same amount to get home. The kids even helped with washing windshields, etc. at stations. They did all they could to make certain they made the trip to the Pacific Ocean. That left her wondering what she could come up with in the next year or two that would give as much satisfaction and cooperation.

This could bring many ideas to mind for people. Find out what your kids want to see desperately and set the limit on spending.

By: J-Lynn

J-Lynn — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:07:09 +0000

Thanks so much for the info! I am making a trip in a few days with my two daughters (2 &4) and my mother to see family in Baton Rouge. We are driving from Steamboat Springs, Colorado (22 hrs!) This is a big help. We will leave at night and definatly plan on bringing plenty of snacks & activities. I like the idea of baking cookies before hand & bringing a potty seat. Thanks so much!

By: CindiC

CindiC — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:18:30 +0000

We get books on tape (and CD) from our local library. We usually have two or three in the car. We also used to stop at colleges and eat in the cafeteria. It was cheap, had lots of green grass to run around on, and nobody seemed to might two kids playing (Evergreen College between Portland and Seattle was a great stop). One time we tried heating hot dogs on the car engine – that was so much fun! They got barely hot but it was fun to predict what might happen. For us the stop has to include some gross motor movement (two boys you see).

By: Mercy Mei

Mercy Mei — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:19:57 +0000

Great post. Here’s another suggestion: last family trip, I took a prepaid cellphone loaded with minutes to beat the roaming charges. My Net10 phone is 10 cents a minute for calls and 5 cents for texts so we were able to avoid the extra charges.

I also came across this article which is pretty cool about cellphone costs:

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/03/05/prepaid0305.html

By: Pam

Pam — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:52:51 +0000

If the weather isn’t the greatest, we’ll often do long spots at a place like Sam’s Club – the kids have plenty of room to run around, and the prices of pizza/ hot dogs is quite reasonable.

By: kristen

kristen — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:00:10 +0000

So, this may or may not have already been said, but… we don’t even stop for picnic supplies– we pack sack lunches. This works for at least the first meal of the trip. And you can usually get your host on the other end to let you pack a sandwich. :)

By: DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad

DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:08:41 +0000

Great tips . . .

By: Lynne

Lynne — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:31:25 +0000

We always stopped at regular “rest stops”. These have clean bathrooms, maps if you need them, and picnic areas. Many have areas where you can walk about, scenic views, etc. Because we stopped only at rest stops, we spent no extra money on food & drinks. We carried picnic foods with us. When we stopped at gas stations our only expenditure was for gas. (We traveled by truck from mid-California to Anchorage, Alaska with 2 toddlers and a dog. We saved a bundle following our travel plan. The only time we spent on stops was night lodging and a warm dinner.)

By: partgypsy

partgypsy — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:54:17 +0000

I know this blog is not pro-consumer, but we borrowed someone’s portable dvd player for an 8 hour driving trip, and what a difference it made for our 6 and 2 year old. The movie ate up almost 2 hours and made the difference between sanity and insanity.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:03:49 +0000

Motorhome…with very small children, 2 & 4, we’ve made 6-700 mile trips. There is always a toilet (a big plus when traveling with small children, especially girls), lunch is a no-brainer..pull over at rest stop and make a few sandwiches. Leapfrogs and coloring books kept the kids occupied. Most important, we normally left at night. The girls slept on the dinette (strapped in folks!) and would sleep most of the way there. We miss our old RV…had to sell it due to sick child…and are looking forward to purchasing a camper.

Vacations with our children, not matter how far or how long, are some of our most fun memories as a family. We always find a neat and sometimes educational stop and take lots of digital pictures!! It really is like the RV commercials…getting there is the fun part.
The official “nagivator”,
Mom

By: mes

mes — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:15:36 +0000

Maybe I’m a travel wimp, but I like to drive in the evening when my kids are likely to be asleep. We have a nice dinner at home, kids get pottied/diapered and change into jammies. By the time we’re 30 minutes from home, they’re asleep, and the rest of the 4 hour trip to Grandma’s house is time for the adults to talk without constant interruption.

By: T.

T. — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:03:52 +0000

We keep the kid up a bit late and leave the house in the middle of the night. She sleeps a good chuck if it.

Instead of waiting for her to wake up, we wake her up for a pit stop. This way she is still groggy and doesn’t ask for junk. Plus, junk stores in truck stops are usually closed over night.
Also, we pick out most of the stuff to amuse her leaving out, of course stuffed animals. She gets a shoe box with a lid. She can fill it but the top must be able to go back on. Usually, she picks out 1 or 2 stuffed animals and the box is full. She spends a good chuck of time just looking through the stuff we bring for her.

We also listen to audiobooks. She gets caught up in them and forgets that she is stuck in a car. I try to find one that is about the length of the trip one way. It usually lasts round trip.

By: Tanya

Tanya — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:12:43 +0000

For the last several years, before each big trip (long car or plane ride) I have seriously considered buying a portable DVD player. Each time I have decided against it. I want my children to learn how to entertain themselves and not always expect to be able to have something to watch. I feel it is important for kids to learn how to just sit and look out the window and let their minds wander.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:28:54 +0000

My daughter (now 22) has always been an artist, so we carried a small plastic case with paper, markers, stencils, etc., and a clipboard to hold the paper. My husband hung a small fluorescent light from the back of the driver’s seat, so that she had light even at night. She could entertain herself for hours drawing in the back seat. Also, we were sure to carry what we came to call a “cranky toy.” This is a toy which has lots of ways to be twisted and turned and manipulated. We’ll still see toys like this and laugh as we point out that something is a perfect “cranky toy.” I sure do miss those days–some of the best hours of our family life were spent travelling for 12 hours to or from our beach vacations. Good times and good memories.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:47:33 +0000

Another thing that we do for when we are going to be driving for long hours, we bring a gallon of filtered water to refill those fefillable bottles, thus saving a trip to buy more good water. We always have 4 regular plastic cups for when we have our picnic…somehow the water tastes different out of a cup!

By: Sandy

Sandy — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:42:43 +0000

I agree with everything people said about this topic…as always, thinking ahead really helps your pocketbook!
On our longer trips (more than 6 hours)for vacation, we always try to find a park for our picnic lunches…not the reststops. There are always interesting historical items available. A recent one was driving through I90 from Cleveland area to Boston. We stopped outside of Erie PA and had lunch at a little park on the shores of Lake Erie where a whole lot of ships went down (whether by war or weather). There were potties, and we took a walk on the pier there, and learned a little bit in the process. If you don’t plan ahead, the toll booth people can be very helpful with this too….just ask them where a great picnic spot is as you get off the tollway. They are always happy to oblige! Give yourself a little more time, as sometimes it can take 10 minutes or so to get to the spot…but it’s usually worth it…better than a messy rest stop if you have a little time wiggle room.
Our favorite book on tape series is the Juni B Jones book series on tape…if you aren’t aware of her, she’s a Kindergartener who has a really funny view of life! We roared laughing with the girls listening to her antics!

By: Lorna

Lorna — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:49:34 +0000

Great post- I felt I used to live on I95 when my kids were smaller, as both my parents were sick and we needed to see them regularly. I love your idea about the picnic with supermarket items; my tip is to make sure you have a stash of utensils, straws and napkins. It’s hard eating that cup of healthy and cheap yogurt without a spoon!
We are “lucky” that our route includes DC, so we would frequently stop at a museum or monument to stretch our legs and get some education. A little research planning may help you find a botanical garden, museum or quirky landmark to stop at.
Happy trails to you-

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:03:55 +0000

Every other year, we go to Letchworth State Park in New York, which is 400 miles from our house. This year we rented a 12 passenger van to hold 9 of us, that was our big expense but well worth it. We rented 2 cabins for a week at $232 each, its such a bargain! We cooked foil dinners over the fire and went hiking and swimming. Our secrets are leave early in the morning, so the kids fall back asleep, bring an empty ice cream bucket and lid or a ziplock bag if your kids are prone to carsickness. (Though I guess now they have medicines for that, or wristbands?). They like to play the license plate game and see how many state plates we can find. They bring their walkmans so they have their own music for the drive. We each bring a suitcase of clothes and a backpack of fun stuff, like books, candy or games or whatever we want for the week, and we manage to cram it all in. I find the early leaving time reduces the stops to a breakfast stop, a pee stop, then we are there by lunch time. The return trip seems ages longer, as we leave at 9AM and get home for supper. A few weeks after vacation last summer, my husband got laid off of his job of 26 years. He was out for 6 months and just went back to work. I was so thankful we got our wonderful vacation in before he got laid off unexpectedly! It may be our last before 2 of the kids get married next summer. (Oh yes, we have 5, ages 14-24. Two fiances also joined us on the trip!) Never a dull moment, and God has provided for us over the years. Keep blogging, your advice is practical and interesting!

By: bob

bob — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 02:04:58 +0000

we’ve always found that stopping at one of the chain burger joints with the kids play area and letting them burn some energy off made long trips much easier – even 15 minutes while everyone else is taking turns through the restrooms makes a big difference in their ability to sit in the car – but we’ve also done the stop in a park and run / play option also.

Also, definitely the “suprises” are a big part of trips

portable electronics (dvd, gameboy, etc) are great for keeping them occupied

another great post…

By: Bill

Bill — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:59:02 +0000

It’s really important to cut as many costs as possible to cover that new car payment.