With the economy still on uncertain ground and the weakness of the dollar making foreign travel increasingly expensive, many Americans will be looking for affordable travel alternatives within the United States. For families on a budget, few vacation options can come close to the value provided by a well-planned road trip, particularly now that gasoline prices are more reasonable. How can families stretch their travel dollars even further on their next major road trip? Here are eight tips that can put money in your pocket without detracting from the overall experience.

Use Priceline to Minimize Lodging Costs

Nearly everyone is aware of the savings that are possible using priceline.com and other similar auction sites that allow the consumer to specify a price and bid for the best available lodging. However, few people know how to use Priceline effectively to achieve really big savings. There are many other sites that provide information on the types of hotels within Priceline's "zone" system as well as the prices actual people have paid for successful bids. My personal favorite is biddingfortravel.com. The consumer can see a listing of all hotels in Priceline's zones and check to see if others have attempted a bid for the desired dates.

Beyond collecting this type of information, consumers should be aware that often the best Priceline deals are scored at the last minute. Hotels typically give Priceline blocks of unused inventory shortly before a travel date if it looks like they will be unable to fill the rooms at regular "rack" rates. On your next trip, take along a laptop computer or use a hotel's business center to bid on rooms for the next day. While there may be more uncertainty associated with where you will stay, the savings can amount to hundreds of dollars over a typical vacation.

Minimize Gasoline Costs

One of the major expenses for any road trip is gasoline. While the price of gas may not be above $4/gallon anymore, there is still no reason to pay any more than you have to. Gasoline prices can vary widely depending on local competition and it is very difficult to know where to get the best deal if you simply wait until the gas gauge reads empty and then exit the interstate. A better approach is to use GasBuddy.com to plan your gasoline stops. GasBuddy will allow you to enter the specifications for your vehicle and the starting and ending points for the trip. The system will then calculate the best gas stops based on your fuel needs and route. Since fuel costs can change often, I like to use GasBuddy.com to plan out the next day's drive when I am on a road trip.