Last March I took a trip half way across the country. I spent a week visiting friends and loved ones, interviewing, and apartment hunting, among many other things.

The catch is that I did it all for around $40 – including gas, food for the week, and even a St. Patty’s day celebration.

There are many things you can do while traveling to save money, including staying with friends instead of hotels, buying groceries and packing meals instead of eating out, and the list goes on. The one thing I did that saved me so much money was setup a successful ride share.

What is Ride Sharing?

It is similar to car-pooling – basically just sharing a ride for a negotiable rate between destinations. So how do you use this to make money?

If you’re making a long drive – or any drive for that matter – and looking to save (or make) money on gas, etc. be sure to start at Kijiji to post your rideshare ad. Make sure to post the ad in all the major cities along your routes.

For best results, make it clear that your dates are flexible (and be flexible) and your price is negotiable. If you’re planning on returning the same route, offer a round trip option as well. I had over 25 requests for a ride with the above method.

So now that you’re receiving multiple emails inquiring about rides, it’s important not to commit to anything until you’ve found the best ride-share participants. I searched everyone who emailed on Google and Facebook to make sure I knew who I’d be driving.

UPDATE: A new site has been brought to my attention that not only offers a place for drivers and passengers to connect who are looking to ride share, but also helps in the process I mentioned about verifying them on Facebook, etc. I haven’t actually used it myself yet but from what I’ve been reading it looks like an awesome spot if you’re looking to share a ride. The company is called Ridejoy, and you can check them out at Ridejoy.com.

To optimize your ride sharing (and make the most money) take many people short distances, rather than a few people the entire way. In a dollar-to-milage ratio people are typically willing to pay more for shorter distances. The reason I was able to make money on my trip is because I took the following combination of ride shares:

Halifax to Moncton, Halifax to Quebec City, Moncton to Toronto, Quebec City to Toronto, and Toronto to London, and most of them took a round trip. Five people total allowed me to make more money than taking a couple the entire way.

A few things to note for both drivers and ride-sharees:

Driving people into big cities, especially if you’re both picking up and dropping off can be a logistics nightmare. Make sure you arrange where you’re going to pick up and drop off before agreeing, or make sure you have a GPS handy.

Don’t charge everyone the same price. Some people are willing to pay more for the ride than others, when you’re negotiating your ride-shares make sure you keep this in mind.

Drive safely and efficiently. Plan out your trip before hand and even email your ride-shares your itinerary so they know what to expect.

Learn to say No. You will not be able to satisfy everyone, especially when choosing the people you will drive. If someone wants to be dropped off in the depths of Montreal and you don’t feel comfortable driving in – say no, you’ll find someone else willing to be dropped off somewhere more convenient. Same goes for stops along the way, be respectful, but be efficient.

—

For people that are curious, I spent $190 in gas for a round trip to London, Ontario from Halifax, Nova Scotia and I covered all that, plus $100 from my ride-shares.

If anyone has had any positive or negative ride share experiences, I’d love to hear about them.