Ah, road trips. They're one of those sweet things in life that you just have to take a chance on. Now, I have had different opinions on road trips through the years. Growing up, I loved road trips with my sister and our parents. They were always so much fun. There were always fun games to play, neat things to stop and see, and of course- car snacks aplenty

My husband and I have also taken some amazing road trips together. We've been to the beach, to NJ/NY, Maryland, Boston, Tennessee, Florida, and more, and have loved every single trip. We've also had lots of family road trips with our kids and have gone all over the place with them. We've had fun trips and not so fun trips with them, but none of the bad trips have deterred us from hitting the road again as a family.

There are lots of do's and don'ts of road tripping, and every family has their own way of doing things. We like to travel on the cheap as much as we can, and saving on gas helps us save money overall on each trip we take.

Here are some of my best tips for saving on gas...

Clean or Replace Your Air Filter

Just last week, my husband decided to check our car's air filter. We noticed that the car wasn't cooling as quickly or as well as usual, and rather than take the car in to have it looked at, he thought to check the air filter first. Sure enough, it was caked with dust and dirt. After a simple and quick wash, the air filter was as good as new, and the air was working well once more. Not only did it help with air circulation and cool down, it has helped our gas mileage, too! Who knew?

Make Sure the Car is Ready for the Trip

This is a pretty easy tip. Don't set out on a road trip without having a tune-up. If you know how to maintain the car yourself, you'll definitely save money- but don't try that stuff at home if you're just basing your know how off of YouTube videos. Keeping your car properly maintained can increase your car's overall performance and save you money. Get an oil change, refill fluids, and do all of the things that are recommended before hitting the road.

Realign Your Tires

We usually wind up sending the car in for realignment after every road trip we take up north. The roads up there really do a number on our vehicles. We've also learned to check the alignment of our car's tires before we hit the road. We have the whole car serviced and rotate the tires, checking to make sure the alignment is straight and on point. If the car is out of balance, the engine actually has to work harder, which costs you more in gas in the long run.

Enroll in a Rewards Program

Most gas companies offer reward cards to their customers. If there's a preferred brand of gas that you like to fill up with, enroll in their rewards program. Most are free to join and give you points or cash back on gasoline purchases.

When was the last time you took a road trip?

Brought to you by North Star Dodge.