Frugality while living on the road

While my wife and I travel the country as I move around for work, we need to be as frugal as possible. And due to our dog, we also need to be creative with our style of living. The big things that we focus on are: how to travel, where to live, and what to eat.

How to travel

We often think about our method of transportation, as we need to determine how many cars we’ll need, and how to get them there. This is affected by how much we want to drive, as well as how much other forms of transportation will cost.

When traveling south, we decided we’d need two cars, so we both drove across the country. When I was moved up to the east coast a few weeks ago, we had to decide how to get a car where it needed to be and how we would get ourselves where we needed to be.

My flight was covered by the team, and my wife still had a few weeks left at her travel job. My dad was in Florida when I was promoted, so he ended up driving the car north. Recently, my wife flew up with the pup. Though the flight cost money, we planned our transportation efficiently. The only thing left to consider is how we’ll get our second car (currently in Florida) back to our home state of Minnesota.

Where to live

Since being married, we’ve called three different places home. We had to find an apartment in Minnesota, and we had to shop around for a place in Florida. We’re now trying to find the right place in Connecticut. We’ve used a number of different sites, such as Zillow, VRBO, and Craigslist to try to find the perfect place. I even reached out in the community to see if anyone that understood our transient lifestyle would take us in for the summer. This is difficult with a small dog, but people are typically more receptive once they hear our story.

Finding the perfect place takes some work. We scoured the internet to find our place in Florida and have done the same to find the right spot in Connecticut. Searching high and low is often necessary, and making connections in the area is never a bad idea.

What to eat

Finding affordable and healthy food is another problem when living situations change frequently. My wife and I try to eat as healthy as possible, which typically means cooking our own food (when we have use of a kitchen) and eating out at the right places (when it’s our only option). Tracking our spending on food has been a good way to stay on track. By understanding where our finances are going, we’re able to find ways to spend more efficiently in certain areas. What we eat is important, but remaining smart and frugal about where we get our grub is vital.

Frugality while travelling:

With these things in mind, my wife and I are able to travel efficiently without breaking the bank. We keep a close eye on how we spend our money and make adjustments accordingly. By keeping track of the big things first, we create a strong base for our finances.