Find the lowest fuel prices on the road

With the price of two of RVing's biggest expenses--campgrounds and fuel--going relentlessly up, a little planning and research can put a dent in your fuel costs. At home you probably know the cheapest gas stations, but on the road in unfamiliar areas, it is not as easy to find the low-priced gas stations.

The internet, thankfully, has enabled RVers to check in real time for the best fuel price as they travel across country. If you can estimate where you will need fuel, you can go online to one of the fuel price watch websites and search the area you are passing through or headed to for low-priced fuel.

These are some of the most popular websites. Always check more than one, as their updating may vary or one site may lag behind the other in posting updates in some locations.

Gas Buddy You can also download a Gas Buddy app for your iPhone from their website.
Gas Price Watch also shows how current each gas price posting is.
Fuel Economy is a government website that has in addition to state by state links to lows gas prices also has tips and news on vehicles and fuel economy.

Check out my eBook, 111 Ways to Get the Biggest Bang From Your RV Lifestyle Buck at RV Bookstore.

Bartering for your campsite

In the days of yore (that means a long time ago), barter was the accepted method of trade. If you had something of value your traded it with someone else who had something of value that you wanted. With the invention of currency, barter died a slow death.

However, with today's tight economy and budgets slashed to the bone, barter has started to make a comeback. And it just might work for traveling RVers struggling to keep campground costs manageable. Look around as you enter a campground for areas that seem neglected, or jobs undone. Ask the owner, manager, or ranger if you can trade out a night (or more, depending on the job) for your talents in taking care of postponed or neglected maintenance or other job that needs doing.

This works better in state parks, campgrounds on public lands, and some smaller private campgrounds. If you can trade your talents for something they need, you've got a deal. For them it's a Win-Win situation--especially if they have empty campsites. The cost to them is negligible, and they don't have to pay someone to do the job. Parks are usually quite accepting of volunteer labor.

The areas could include gardening, mechanical maintenance, building a website, repairing fences--and many more ideas. Be creative and observant and you never know what you may workout. I once spent five months in a South Georgia state park for free by helping with various campground chores that the rangers had no time for, relieved the campground host on her days off, participated in Civil War re-enactments (that was fun), and built them a website. Cost to me: $0.