Ask Cuckoo Readers

(These are mostly for single people, but some may work for families!)

If you’ve always dreamed of taking a cross country road trip but are worried there’s no way you could afford such a trip, think again. It is definitely possible to travel through the United States on a shoe string budget and still have a fantastic time and get to see loads of places. Here are five cheap and creative ways to travel the United States without having to dip into your pocket too deeply, or even better yet, actually get paid to do so.

1. RV courier – RV couriers are people who are paid to drive recreational vehicles across the country. As an RV courier, you are required to get the RV to a particular destination within a specific time frame. Other than that, it’s up to you. You can decide on your driving hours and your driving route. If you have enough time to make a detour somewhere, then you can! The RV courier company pays your expenses and provides insurance. You never have to spend money on a hotel because you can sleep in the RV. If you have a driver’s license and a good driving record, you are a great candidate to become an RV courier.

2. Ridesharing – With the way fuel prices are these days, if there’s any way you can split the cost of gasoline, take it! Maybe you can convince a couple of friends to come with you, or maybe you can go online and search for other people who are traveling to the same destination as you. There’s a rideshare category on Craiglist and plenty of other websites catering to ridesharers. Ridesharing may turn out to be way cheaper than paying for a bus ticket.

3. Air courier – Sometimes custom law states that air cargo must be accompanied by a chaperone, hence the need for air couriers. This is a great way to score some airline tickets for free or below cost – but you’ll need to have a flexible schedule because oftentimes you’ll be given very little notice. Also, you won’t be able to bring a lot of luggage with you because you will not be allowed to check it.

4. Camping – Sure, some campgrounds are ridiculously expensive but you can always find ones with a reasonable price range at around $20 a night, or some that are even free! This is a great way to reduce or even eliminate the cost of accommodations. To cut down even more on the costs, borrow a tent from a friend or buy one cheap online.

5. Tour planner – If you become a part time group tour planner or a tour escort, you can probably score some complimentary vacations or tickets by selling vacations or get commissions from travel agencies. You can also write off any trip expenses as tax deductions by explaining that you are checking out new destinations so you can properly recommend them to your clients. To get tax deductions and free stuff, you’re actually going to have to start a legitimate business and get clients – you don’t just get to call yourself a planner and reap the benefits.

This post was written by Ryan Embly from CarRentalExpress.com. If you’d like to learn about his website click here.

Ask CCD Readers: Have you started planning your summer trips? We already did ours.

Photo credit: Open Travel Info

I growl every time I have to get gas lately. It’s creeping back up to $4 per gallon again. That’s two gallons of milk (or one if you live in Florida – I can’t believe milk is sooo expensive there!).

I was searching for ways to save money on gas, and here’s my favorites. My first 10 gas saving tips are here.

1. Say no to brand names: They all use the same refineries and pipelines!
2. Highway travel: exit at a moderately sized city.  Supposedly their gas is cheaper.  Head for the city center.  Two sources told me this is the way to go.
3. Checking the air in your tires:  tip from my reader Amy: We have a Hyundai Elantra and recently went from Utah to San Diego, I kept telling hubby to do the air in the tires but he didn’t when we first headed on our trip. On our first fill up we calculated we got about 33 miles to the gallon…he filled our tires and our mpg jumped! We averaged around 37-38 mpg the rest of the trip and just recently I hit 40 mpg so fill those low tires to help with gas mileage!
4. Get ride of the junk in the trunk: Less weight is better.  I have a stroller and subwoofers I don’t even use in my trunk – time to take them out!
5. Scooter: One of my readers got a scooter just for her husband to go back and forth from work, at 56mpg that can save a lot on gas! Make sure that the cost of the scooter doesn’t out weigh the savings.  For $879 you can get a 100 MPG scooter!
6. Tailgates down – sunroof up: Supposedly having the tailgate of a truck down reduces wind resistance (this was dis-proved by mythbusters though according to some of my readers, so go ahead, leave it up!)   Sunroofs should be up.
7. Steady does it: Drive steady, no quick starts or fast stops, stay at the same mph as much as possible.
8. But I love my A/C! Air conditioning can reduce gas by 10-20%.  Roll down the windows if possible.
9. WHAT? Keep windows closed: Ok so the next tip is that windows open on the highways can reduce gas by 10% because of drag.  So A/C or windows down? ??  Here’s what Open Travel says “I believe that opening your windows at low speeds and using the air conditioner at high speeds gives you better fuel economy.”
10. Windows down a tiny bit: Keep your windows down just a bit so the air can circulate through your car while you are parked.  This makes sense.  Still wondering about 8 & 9…

Ask CCD Readers: How high do you think gas prices are going to get???

Thanks to Tree Hugger.com and Open Travel Info for some of their suggestions!

I am soon booking two coupon seminars in the coming weeks. Please fill out the form if you’re interested in attending!  They will be free to attend!