There are only a few set costs on a road trip and gas is the big one. Planning lodging and food is a bit easier than gas, but with a bit of information, you can have a solid plan.
Set aside about $50 per 200 miles of your trip. This will give you a good round number to estimate how much you may need for gas on a long road trip. Your vehicle type, local fuel cost and your individual cost per mile will push this number up or down, but it is a good round figure for budgeting.
When you start budgeting for your road trip, start with a gas budget, then plan lodging, then food and entertainment.
Be sure you fill the tank before you buy the concert tickets so that you can be sure to make it home. If you are taking a long trip, consider having an emergency fund or credit card available if you need gas and find that the vacation budget has already been spent.
I have a great one-page budget sheet that you may find helpful as you start planning your road trip budget.
How much should I budget for gas on a road trip?
When you start to sit down and lay out the numbers for your summer trip, I recommend that you go with big numbers. Do not try to plan every penny, trips are just too unpredictable.
The joy of a road trip is the ability to stop and go at your leisure, so have a reasonably flexible budget if possible.
Use round numbers
The average car gets about 23 miles per gallon, the average truck gets closer to 18 miles per gallon.
The average road trip is about 500 miles round trip. You can find the national fuel cost average on the AAA website each day.
Generally, to calculate the cost of gas for a trip you would divide the trip length in miles by your car’s MPG then multiply that number by the cost of gas per gallon, BUT I promised no math, so let’s look at some round numbers.
| Vehicle | Avg MPG | Miles | Price Per Gallon | Total Cost |
| 2012 Sedan | 27 MPG | 120 Miles | $3.50 | $15.50 |
| 2022 F150 | 25 MPG | 250 Miles | $3.50 | $35 |
| 2005 Minivan | 19 MPG | 600 Miles | $3.50 | $110.50 |
| Average 2020 Vehicle | 21 MPG | 500 Miles | $3.50 | $84 |
You can see that there is a large range of miles, MPGs and total costs. I hope that those can give you an idea of what your gas could end up costing.
Here is a more comprehensive list of what I would budget for my trip in each vehicle.
These numbers are based on averages and do not guarantee that they will cover your gas costs, they are just meant to give you a ballpark number.
| Vehicle | Trip Length | Suggested Budget |
| Minivan | 120 Miles | $30 |
| 300 Miles | $70 | |
| 1,000 Miles | $210 | |
| Sedan | 120 Miles | $22 |
| 300 Miles | $60 | |
| 1,000 Miles | $190 | |
| Truck | 120 Miles | $28 |
| 300 Miles | $80 | |
| 1,000 Miles | $270 | |
| Passenger Van | 120 Miles | $40 |
| 300 Miles | $100 | |
| 1,000 Miles | $330 |
Round Up
Whatever numbers you use, be sure to round up. The numbers in the table above were all based on low fuel economy and high gas prices.
I recommend that you download GasBuddy or a similar gas price app so that you can plan to fuel up at the lowest cost. I am not an affiliate for GasBuddy, but it is so highly reviewed and so helpful, I recommend it!
GasBuddy recommends that gas stations with the lowest prices along your route, on a long trip the savings can really add up.
The general rule is to add at least 10% to your budget to make sure you have enough money.
Roadside Assistance
When planning your road trip, consider signing up for a roadside assistance package in case you run out of gas.
These plans can often bring you gas if you were to run out in traffic or off the beaten path.
If you already have AAA or GoodSam, be sure to ask about your plan and what is covered before you leave on your trip.
We recently called up our roadside assistance program and we were surprised to find that we had a lot fewer benefits than we thought! Our summer trip will require an upgrade as we will be traveling in our Skoolie and will need solid roadside assistance that covers our vehicle.
Consider Renting
When you are looking at the gas cost of your trip you may find that it would actually save money to rent a car. This is really counterintuitive to my frugal mind, but when I ran some math in this post about the benefits of renting for a road trip, I was surprised.
I polled my favorite road trip facebook group and they were pretty split! Many of them rent for each trip!
When I was running the numbers for the table in this article, I thought about our passenger van and our 13-15MPG, a rental might make a lot of sense in some cases.
Recently it has become more expensive and difficult to rent, so be sure to check availability in your area and reserve well ahead if you plan to rent.
How to Calculate MPG and the Actual Fuel Cost for Your Car
So, that is the no math answer, just average and round up.
BUT
If you want to know the likely cost for your car on your trip, here is how you do it:
Calculate your car’s MPG, by following the steps below.
Then take the length of your trip and divide it by the MPG that you just got. That is the number of gallons of gas that you will need for your trip.
Take the number of gallons and multiply that by the cost of gas in your area for a total cost of gas.
