Road trips are a blast, but they can also be complicated, especially with kids in tow. Unless you’re flying by the seat of your pants (so to speak), you’ll have to set an itinerary, work out the details of how long it’ll take to get from one place to the next, and, of course, budget and save for the whole thing.
Budgeting can be the most difficult part of planning — a fact that became even more true in 2020, with fluctuating prices, limited options, and safety factors all put into play by the pandemic.
There’s a lot to juggle when you’re budgeting for a vacation, but it’s far from impossible, and you don’t need to let money concerns spoil your fun. When planning for your road trip, take the following steps to make sure it’s a success — and not a source of financial stress.
1. Save up ahead of time
If you’ve got a tight household budget, you may not have much wiggle room — unless you’ve got a vacation savings plan built in. Which you should.
Set aside a little each month to save up for your road trip. It’s impossible to know exactly how much it’ll cost far in advance (especially with gas prices fluctuating and the cost of accommodations in flux). But you can map out a general budget, then set aside a little extra in case of emergencies.
When you leave will likely depend on how much you save, so if you’ve set a specific target date (or scheduled your vacation with the boss), you’ll have to be diligent about sticking to your pre-trip budget. Otherwise, you might have to shorten your trip, pick a different route, or, worse, wait ‘til next year.
2. Map out your route
How much you budget (and spend) will depend at least in part on where you plan to go. Road trips are great because they can cost less than buying an airline ticket, and you can see a lot of things you’d just be flying over otherwise.
Many of the most eye-catching and beautiful sights are visible from the side of the road, or with a short detour. There are many scenic highways from which to choose, all across the country, with plenty of opportunities for “oohs” and “ahs” and making photographic memories.
Take your camera (or camera phone) and be on the lookout for breathtaking overlooks from mountain roads, historic bridges with majestic arches — even in this U.S., some are nearly a century old — timeless forests, or gigantic rock formations.
3. Give your vehicle a checkup
The last thing you and your budget need on a road trip is to have your car break down, so make sure its service record is up to date before you go.
Check the tread on your tires (you can use a coin to see where you stand) and replace them if any are too bare. Also, get an oil change and/or a tuneup — even if you aren’t quite due yet. You don’t want to have the oil light go on halfway through an extended trip and make you interrupt your fun with a few hours at a service station.
Take along an automotive tool kit, just in case you run into trouble despite your preparations. While you’re at it, make sure your car insurance is up to date and covers everything you need it to cover. Also, having a roadside assistance plan isn’t a bad idea for long trips.
4. Have a credit cushion
No matter how carefully you plan, something can always go wrong. Be prepared to roll with Murphy’s Law by making sure you’ve got enough credit to handle the unexpected. You may even have credit problems, but don’t let that stop you from taking your trip.
You can secure a fixed amount of credit on a card by depositing a few hundred dollars in an account to cover emergency expenses, if need be. With this kind of card, your deposit amount will be your credit limit, so you can’t go over. It’s another form of budgeting that helps you build your credit as you go.
5. Stock up before you drive off
Taking your own supplies on the road became a common practice during the pandemic. Disinfectant wipes, masks, and hand sanitizer became must-have supplies. It’s also become routine to stock up on food, water, and other essentials before departing — since the fewer stops you make, the less likely you are to come into contact with someone who has the virus.
Even as conditions improve and restrictions are lifting, these are good habits to maintain. Grabbing granola bars, water, soft drinks, snacks, and essential items before you leave will save you time and money: It’s a lot cheaper at your home grocery store than at a convenience store along the way.
6. Look for deals on gas, lodging
Discounts are always worth pursuing, regardless of your budget. Why pay more than you have to? There are plenty of tools to help with that. Download an app to find the cheapest gas and qualify for deals, or grab a loyalty discount card from a chain you trust.
Hotels offer preferred-customer deals, too. Some travel apps give you a free night after you’ve reserved 10 nights through their service, and hotel chains offer similar deals for repeat customers.
Budgeting for a road trip doesn’t have to be a headache. Just the opposite: It can save you headaches down the road. If you know how to find deals, prevent trouble, and put yourself in good financial shape ahead of time, there’s no reason your road trip can’t be full of awesomeness.
Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
Being a mom is a full-time job. This is especially true when you’re a single momma! Between work, taking care of the kiddos and keeping the home from being a disaster zone, it can be pretty exhausting. That’s why it’s incredibly important to take a break from the regular routine and go on a vacation.
Yes, vacations can be expensive. But, if you plan them out in advance, you can save quite a bit of money. Here are some single mom travel ideas to help you have fun without burning a hole in your pocket or your bank account.
Use the buddy system
Between lodging and gas prices, going away for a week or even a weekend can really add up. One easy way to cut the costs while still managing to go out of town is by doing the trip with another single mom. This way, you can share the hotel and gas costs.
Another advantage of this plan is having another adult around to help wrangle the kids. Sure, you’ll have their kids there, too, but you’ll have the support of another mom to help lay down the law when the kids start to get unruly.
If you plan on leaving your kiddos with family, getting a group of friends together will help you cut the costs even more. Just think, if you can get three girlfriends to come with you, you’ll be able to split the hotel and gas costs four ways.
Travel during the off-season
If you’re thinking of going to a beach town or a ski town, you may want to consider going during the “off-season”. Hotels and other local attractions often mark-up their prices during the most popular months to increase their annual revenue. On the off months, these businesses are looking to increase their cash flow, so they offer the same amenities for a lower price.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to be stuck with poor weather to get better prices. You can visit these popular destinations during what is called “shoulder season”. This is just before or after (think weeks instead of months) the heavy tourist season. By delaying your trip by just a week, you could save big while still being able to enjoy the optimal weather for your destination.
Take advantage of rewards
Whether it’s a rewards credit card or a membership discount program, be sure to take advantage of the discounts and points that you have readily available. Rewards programs used to be tricky to use for vacations due to blackout dates. But nowadays, these companies are straying from the restrictions and making it much easier for you to cash in on your points.
Rewards programs also often allow their members to redeem points toward amusement parks and other attractions, so research what’s available to you when you’re determining where to take the kids on vacation.
If you have a particular hotel chain or airline that you like to use, you may want to see if they offer their own rewards or frequent user program. This especially pays off if you ever have to travel for work.
Another discount source is AAA. If you’re already a member, be sure to stop in and see what travel discounts they have available for you or your kids. If you’re not a member, you may want to still research the discounts. You may find that the discounts you can get for your vacation pays for the membership fee.
Look for single parents month promotions
Many resorts are now offering single parents promotions. These resorts often charge a per person price for their rooms. When there is just one adult in a room, they often will charge one of the kids at the adult price. But during single parents promotions, they charge just one adult fee and the kids are all charged at the kids rate. This can be big savings, especially if choose an extended stay.
Another bonus to single parents promotions is that you will be vacationing at the same time as other single parents. This helps build instant camaraderie with the other vacationers.
House swap
If you are willing to open your house to strangers, a house swap vacation may be a great option for you and your kids. In a house swap, you stay in someone’s house when they stay in yours. This is a nice solution when you have kids with you because you have access to a full kitchen. Also, if you find the right house, everyone can have their own bed and you can score your own bathroom.
While this option does mean opening your house to a stranger, it cuts out the lodging costs from your vacation. This enables you to allocate more funds toward fun activities and excursions for your kids. It may even make it possible for you to bring a babysitter with you on your vacation to help with the kids.
Contact the Chamber of Commerce
Virtually every town has a Chamber of Commerce office. These organizations are available to help you plan your trip. Contact them in advance for family friendly travel tips and recommendations. They may also be able to help you locate deals and discounts for the area.
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Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
This weekend is the beginning of summer travel and road trips!
With the help of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) I want to share a few Summer Road Trip Safety Tips. I created a short video you can check out below but I really want you to get the main idea so your summer can be fun and safe.
NHTSA offers the following safety recommendations before taking to the road:
Regular maintenance: Tune-ups, oil changes, battery checks, and tire rotations go a long way toward preventing breakdowns before they happen. If your vehicle has been serviced according to the manufacturer’s recommendations, it should be in good shape and ready to travel. If not, or you don’t know the service history of the vehicle you plan to drive, schedule a preventive maintenance check-up with your mechanic. View NHTSA’s interactive summer driving tips
Don’t drink and drive: Every 52 minutes, someone is killed in a drunk driving crash. Be responsible and don’t drink and drive. If you plan to drink, choose a designed driver before going out. Last year, NHTSA announced a new mobile app designed to help people who have been drinking get a safe ride home
Buckle seat belts: All drivers and passengers should wear seat belts when traveling in a vehicle. Research has found that lap/shoulder seat belts, when used, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passengers by 45 percent and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50 percent.
Protect child passengers: Research on the effectiveness of child safety seats has found them to reduce fatal injury by 71 percent for infants (younger than 1 year old) and 54 percent for toddlers (up to 4 years old) in passenger cars. If you’re traveling with children, remember the best way to protect them in a car is to put them in the correct child safety seat for their size and age. All children 13 and younger should ride in the back seat. Visit Parent’s Central for more information on child passenger safety.
Avoid distraction: Distraction accounts for approximately 10 percent of fatal crashes and 18 percent of injuries – all preventable. Distracted driving can be anything that pulls your attention away from diving, including cell phone use, texting while driving, eating, drinking, and using in-vehicle technologies and portable electronic devices.
Observe “Move Over” Laws: Move over and change lanes to give safe clearance to law enforcement officers assisting motorists on the side of the road. It’s the law in all 50 states.
Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
It’s that time of year again for Rich Single Momma to retreat at Cohutta Springs in the Georgia Mountains. The trip has a dual purpose. First is for rest and relaxation and the second is to bond with women in my book club.
Over the last three years my friends and I set out to prove that black people do read! We also proved that women, black women can be true friends, bond, and support each other. This kind of friendship is hard to come by so when you find it do whatever you can to cultivate it and make it stronger.
In a world with so much hurt, fear, and pain it is important to find people you can love, support, and have friendship with.
Getting Away with Women Who Read
This past weekend my book club escaped the busyness of life to a North GA mountain retreat just because. It was a fantastic time bonding with each other, affirming, and confirming that black women not only read but can actually enjoy each other’s company without any hidden agendas.
We went to Cohutta Springs retreat center in Crandall, GA. I’ve been to this retreat center many times but never stayed at one of the chalets. What a treat!
A Perfect Place to Retreat
Chalet #3 is a beautiful 3-story get away with six bedrooms, 3 baths, a full kitchen and breathtaking views of the lake and mountains. It sleeps up to 16 people.
There were 11 ladies in all with nine of us staying for the weekend. We laughed, danced, ate, and talked throughout the entire weekend. Saturday morning we walked around the retreat area, took pictures, visited with the horses, and enjoyed the brisk, cold air.
I have to say that I have never been so relaxed after a vacation. It was no muss, no fuss, no schedules, but just pure relaxation.
Here are a few pictures to make you either jealous, or ready to book a retreat of your ladies group or family. 🙂
Walking the long road to nowhere if we wanted to. The pastures contain horses that could either take us or leave us, LOL!
A couple of horses grazing
It’s cold in November in the mountains but we braved it to take a brisk walk
The lake in the middle of the retreat center with the fall leaves in the backdrop. So beautiful!
The big dinner table with food prepared with love!
Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
My mini vacation was fantastic! Oh you didn’t know I was gone? Well I was. In fact I had my first trip out west ever in all of my 40-something years. I had a layover in Las Vegas (no it didn’t get to gamble or see the strip but the mountains were gorgeous) and then went on over to San Francisco.
Wal~mart Blogger Day
Let me back track a bit and tell you how I ended up out there. Early last month I got an invitation to the Walmart Blogger Day. Wooohooo!!!
Last week I went out to the Walmart Labs to hear about the new initiatives in the digital and real life world.
I was treated to firsthand look at back to school fashion, a delicious lunch make from recipes on the Walmart blog, and the Savings Catcher app. Also, I got to hear about the new affordable home fashions created by designers Libby Langdon and Courtney Novagratz. Shauna Miller, author of Penny Chic, was also there discussing how to look fabulous and fashion forward on a budget.
I stayed in a king suite at the Wild Palms hotel. It is an older hotel but the rooms were very clean and spacious. The wall were a bit thin but I was so tired it really didn’t matter much because I was fast asleep after a long day.
Wal~mart Savings Catcher
I think that learning more about the Walmart Savings Catcher was the best part of the day for me. I didn’t realize they had this new feature though a few people said they have seen the commercial but didn’t really believe it.
In a nutshell, Walmart will give you money back for your purchases. It works like this:
Log into your Walmart.com account on the Walmart App
Scan your Walmart receipt
Check back to see how much you have made
Cash in the amount for a Walmart gift card after you get $5 or more cash back
How does Walmart do it? Well they scan competitor sales and if there is something on your list that was a lower price, Walmart will credit you the difference.
So if you bought a box of cereal for $3.75 at Walmart and Kroger had the same brand and size for $1.99 you would receive $1.76 credit. You might have several items that are on sale at other stores for which you’d receive credit.
At the end of the year you could have quite a large amount of money accumulated. You could even get a large chunk of cash for birthday and holiday gifts at the end of the year.
Recipes, Bling, and Hard Candy
I had my first black bean burger in San Franciso and it was delicious! Who knew?!?!? The recipe was from the Walmart food blog. In fact all the yummy food I had at the Walmart Blogger Day was from recipies from the blog. Here are a few pictures of the catered picnic-style meal.
The day would not have been complete without a little SWAG (Stuff We All Get). Walmart didn’t disappoint. I got my first chunky necklace which I think I looked pretty nice in. I admit I played it safe and got a crystal piece but it goes with mostly everything. The crazy thing about it all is Walmart is selling this costume jewelry for only $10. Pretty nice for dressing up a cute outfit or adding a little pizzazz to a casual ensemble.
The outfit wouldn’t be complete without a little Hard Candy. I’m talking about the brand, Hard Candy, which will be sold through Walmart stores. I had mini-makeover to end the day and I have to say it was different (I don’t wear a ton of eye makeup or lip color) but I was cute.
I was able to pick up a few full-sized samples to take home and play with. My daughter will likely do more experimenting than me but it is nice to have new makeup.
Great Day Overall
My day at the Walmart labs was so fun. I spoke to a few executives and enjoyed hearing about their jobs, families, and living in California. They were a great group of people.
I am planning to get back to California as soon as I can. I loved seeing the mountains and feeling the amazing weather. I want to take the kids out there too. Thought northern California was cool I really want to get to San Deigo for a little Southern California action!
Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
There is a saying that a mother’s job is never done and although this may be true, you still deserve a break once in a while. In fact, late deal holiday companies are perfect for vacationers who want to experience exciting travel opportunities in different parts of the world. Booking a holiday soon before you leave may present you with the opportunity to find some great deals. Furthermore, you have more choices than ever before when searching for what could suddenly transform into the holiday of your dreams. So, what are some of the most popular spots that will help you rest and recuperate? France France may very well be the most romantic country in the world. From verdant green hills bordering the Pyrenees to Paris and the Brittany coast, this country will captivate the mind as well as the heart. Expect to enjoy great food, stunning scenery and architecture that is famous throughout the world. Italy Italy is a passionate country and this is clearly seen in the cuisine and the embracing attitudes of the people that you will meet. While you may enjoy viewing the immortal majesty of Rome or the watery wonderland of Venice, never forget that northern Italy is perfect if you are simply looking to get away from it all and relax under the welcoming shadows of the Alps. Africa Are you fond of nature? If so, then Africa should certainly be on your itinerary. According to many travel guides, this vast continent is one of the top destinations for anyone who wishes to catch a glimpse of one of the last untamed regions in existence. Spain
From the rugged mountains of northern Spain to the steamy temperatures of Andalusia and the glittering wonders of Barcelona, Spain could be exactly what you are looking for. Single mothers can enjoy countless tourist attractions, sumptuous Mediterranean foods and a sun that is rarely hidden by clouds. Spain is ideal if you do not wish to travel far from the United Kingdom but still desire to transport yourself to a region that is a world apart. These are only four examples of some great destinations for single moms. Last-minute bookings may also be able to save you a great deal of time and money. With so many holiday options to choose from, you can rest assured that you will not be disappointed!
Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
Hi! Welcome to RichSingleMomma.com. I started this website almost a decade ago because I couldn't find any blogs back then that helped single moms with money. I was having some success in that area so I decided to share what I knew about side hustles, making extra money, and managing money. Read more...
