My husband and I enjoy taking at least one road trip every summer. We have found that we end up saving money if we buy a travel guide for the places we are planning to go. That way we can study our destinations in advance as well as find the amenities we need while we are on the road.
We have saved money by being educated about the least expensive places to visit, sleep, camp, etc. One of our guide books helped us save a lot of money as it informed us that we can buy an annual pass for visiting parks in the United States. For $80 US we can go to as many parks as we want without having to pay each time. Without this knowledge we would have had no clue and would have ended up spending a lot more than just $80.