Smarter money decisions, one cent at a time.
Traveling overseas is often an exhilarating experience, filled with anticipation, culture shock, and a world of possibilities. People choose to travel overseas for many reasons, including career growth, cultural enrichment, personal development, and more.
Are you also planning an extended trip beyond your country’s borders? Then, you must look for ways to maximize it as much as possible. One way to do that is to drive yourself around in the destination area.
Renting a car is a popular option for those looking for transportation while traveling or exploring a new city. It can also be expensive, especially if you’re not careful. Here are a few tips to help you save money when you rent a car.
Find the top 10 ways to save money on car rentals.
Compared with the purchase of a new car, a car lease is a lot cheaper. You won’t have to pay the same amount each month, unlike car financing. The only downside is that you don’t own the vehicle. Once the lease is over, you have to return the car. You can continue the lease or buy the vehicle. How do you decide to lease a car?
To determine what’s best for you, you need to sit with a pen and paper and do the math. Start with your old car, write down the purchase price and average maintenance you put it, the tax and registration fees, and the interest you paid over the year (if you had a loan). That’s your total cost of ownership.
Renting a car is the cheapest way to have fun when you travel because you are not dependent on cabs, which are very expensive especially in big towns and you also save money on gas instead of driving your own car to the place you want to travel. Rented cars usually are well maintained which means you will almost never have any trouble with breakdowns and since the car is not yours, the risk of theft is almost discarded because the rental company takes care of the matter and you lose no money.
Whenever possible we try to take our car. Our most recent two vacations involved driving instead of flying. We went to Savannah, GA and Orlando, FL from our South Florida residence. This fall we are planning to visit great Smoky mountains by car. So, whenever possible we try to avoid flights. That saves us money, gives us joy of long drive with scenic beauty. Whenever needed we stop the car, take pictures, give rest to body, etc.
