After a long day on the road, it can be tempting to reward yourself with a special treat. These things are fine on occasion, but they are also a huge drain on your finances if you don’t keep them in check. There are a few ways that you can reduce your spending while traveling, and you really won’t even notice that you’re cutting out “luxuries.”
Make Food Before You Go
The biggest drain on your finances is stopping and buying food. It is a lot easier to pick up a quick bite here and there, but keep in mind that the truck stops (and the restaurants attached to them) know that you will be tempted. And they market to your weakness. Here’s what you could save over the course of a year if you skip eating out and buying snacks.
Suppose you are on the road 180 days out of the year. Buying a quick and cheap breakfast will run you $4 per day. A modest fast food lunch sets you back another $6. And then after driving all day you want to sit down, so with tip you’re putting down another $14. That’s $24 per day for your food; at the end of the year you have spent over $4,300 just on food (and likely unhealthy food at that). Add in the cost of drinks, more expensive meals, or more days on the road, and you could easily double that number.
Cutting out expenses is not hard to do, plus your wallet and waistline will thank you. A banana and granola bar for breakfast will cost about $.50, a sandwich with an apple and veggies for lunch will run you around $2, and chicken salad for dinner will only set you back about $4. $6.50 will let you eat healthily for the day; that comes to almost $1,200 each year. If you want to splurge and buy some juice or tea, your out-of-pocket costs are around $1,400 per year.
Now you may be thinking that your per diem allows you to write off $47.20 worth of food expenses every day, so why not take advantage of the full amount? The fact is that as long as you are on the road you can write off $47.20, even if you only spend $6.50.
Track Those Expenses
Another way that money gets wasted is by not paying attention to where it is going. On your next long haul, track every single expense and see where the money is going. Those little things tend to add up. The worst part about not keeping track is that some of those expenses are tax deductible. By failing to track expenses you end up spending more than necessary, and not even getting the tax break that comes with them.
Only Use Cash
For some, credit cards can be a tempting way to spend more money than you actually have. At 20% or more interest on those cards, you end up paying needless financing costs. To avoid this, only take cash on your trips (with the exception of a credit card that is used for gas purchases if that is necessary). After a few trips you will learn how much money you need to bring along, and then only have that much with you. If you don’t have the cash to buy things with, you will be forced to skip purchases.
Set Your Bills to Auto Pay
Almost all utilities and other monthly payments can be set to pay automatically. If your service provider doesn’t allow it, then you can usually set it up to be done from your bank. Often, when you are on the road, it can be easy to forget a payment on your bills. Some give you a grace period, but others charge steep late fees (mortgages are often an additional $35 if paid late, internet service can be an extra $20, and credit cards have big penalties as well). By setting up automatic payments you take your focus off of one more thing in your life, and will not have to worry about late fees.
Saving the Most Money While on the Road
Driving can get expensive really quickly if you don’t pay attention to what you’re doing. Before your next haul, test these ideas out. You will likely be surprised that you will have just as pleasant of a drive even without spending as much money. If you invest that money saved you could end up retiring early, or taking an extra vacation each year.