As someone who went to college 8 hours from home, and has many family members living in New Jersey, I have become accustomed to very long road trips, particularly during the busiest travel seasons. Over the years I have smartened up the way I travel and made it not only easier for me, but more efficient and cost saving. Ever been stuck without a car charger? Ever not had cash on you and needed to pay a toll? Ever spend a fortune on Travel Plaza food? Been there and done that. Below I have listed for you my top hacks for saving money and time while on the road.

Top 5 Road Trip Money & Time Saving Hacks:

1.) Make a To-Go Snack Bag - This is hands down the best thing I have ever done. Now instead of grabbing snacks at the travel plaza or a mini-mart gas station, I hit-up the grocery store and grab the snacks that I want for the long trip. My family did this once in 2009 when we had a 4+ hour drive to Ocean City, MD. We packed granola bars, Cheez-Its, fruit snacks, Capri-Sun, and water bottles. I adopted the same thing as my siblings and I started doing more solo-traveling to visit family in NJ. You don't need a lunchbox or cooler if you don't want one, and in fact, having just one plastic grocery bag is good because you can use it as your trash bag later on and dispose of it when you get gas. Some of our go-to snacks are listed below.

• Chips (of any kind), personal faves: Doritos, Kettle Cooked Chips, and Pringles.

• Twizzlers for the little extra kick of sugar you need when the trips starts to feel a little long, plus they are just too damn good to not have!

• PB Crackers or Cheese & Cracker sandwiches. These are always delicious, easy to eat on the road, and somewhat filling.

• Almonds - I personally like Roasted Salted or Smokehouse Almonds

• Pretzels

• Water LOTS of Water - I'll grab a couple of bottles of Poland Spring at a gas station in town before we head out because it's still cheaper than at a Travel Plaza and I do not need a 12 or 24 pack for the road. I find Nalgene bottles to be difficult to drink when driving, but Poland Spring Sports Cap Water bottles are GREAT.

• Granola Bars - any kind, but CLIF are good because they are relatively healthy and filling.

2.) Emergency Tote - This is a MUST even if you aren't on a road trip. Having a emergency road supplies is necessary when you have a car because you never know when you are going to breakdown or if your battery does because you left a light on and need a jump. It's always good to have a spare pair of jumper cables. Other necessities listed below.

• Flashlight

• Blankets

• Atlas/Road Map

• Batteries (for said flashlight, make sure they aren't corroded every now and again)

• Towels (for repairs, cleaning up oil, etc.)

• Cleaning supplies (paper towels, Fabreeze mist, all-purpose cleaning spray or Clorox wipes, I prefer the wipes.)

3.) Essentials Bag - This is also a must, even if you aren't going on a long trip. I like to keep band-aids, wet-wipes, lip balm, hand cream, bobby pins, hair elastics, face wipes, face moisturizer, deodorant, mints/Listerine strips, etc. Just some basic necessities for a last minute dinner invite, or to freshen up during the long trip. There is truly nothing worse than feeling gross and nasty during a trip and not being able to freshen up to feel a little more human/normal for the remainder of the trip.

4.) Cash or EZ-Pass - Cash is always a MUST. I learned this a longtime ago from parents. It's always good to travel with cash, for not only tolls, but if you break down you can pay the tow guy rather than risking running your credit/debit card and having your information stolen. Also lots of tow companies don't take credit cards on the spot, so cash is the best. EZ-Pass has been a life saver for me because the majority of the state of Massachusetts is EZ-Pass only now, as well as the NY Thruway, both major roads that I often have to travel. There are also perks with EZ-Pass, you save a little by having it, and you can set a threshold so when you hit a certain amount left on your pass, you can have it immediately add more and it charges your Credit Card right away. I have my threshold set at $30.00 and I have it add another $30.00 to my pass right away. I know I can get by on $30.00 if it gets to that point part way through a trip because roughly it costs me almost $15 to get from Maine to New Jersey one-way.

5.) A Set Music Playlist - It's always best to have a playlist prepared for when you travel and then just either play it from the top or hit shuffle. But make sure it has tunes that you like and won't want to skip, especially if you don't have hands free tools to skip songs. Not being distracted while driving is obviously the safest way to drive. I also tend to be traveling with my siblings, so usually one of them is the DJ which is just as good because you don't even have to worry about changing songs or picking a song, let someone else do it for you. Here are some of my favorite road songs.

• Cry Pretty - Carrie Underwood

• Sucker - Jonas Brothers

• 24K Magic - Bruno Mars

• Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson, Ft. Bruno Mars

• Emotions - Mariah Carey

• Can't Stop The Feeling - Justin Timberlake

• September - Earth, Wind, & Fire

• Juice - Lizzo

• Sugar - Maroon 5

• thank u, next - Ariana Grande

• 7 rings - Ariana Grande

• break up with your girlfriend - Ariana Grande (there's a theme here, sorry not sorry)

• Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac

• Landslide - Fleetwood Mac

Honestly, the list could go on, but these are pretty much on every playlist I have created on my phone.

I hope some of these tips help you prep for your next road trip. Have some tips to share based on your own road trip experiences? Drop a comment below!