This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cooper Tires for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Summer is one of my favorite family times. It’s so easy to just jump in the car and hit the road for a fun mini vacation or day trip.

When I was younger (before kids), we would do just that – decide on a whim we wanted to go somewhere for the weekend, and off we’d go!

Now that we have 3 little ones with us, I take the time to prepare better. For their safety and ours.

We always check our vehicle’s fluids and tires. When we inspect our tires, I always make sure they are in working order. Proper tire pressure, no nails or glass stuck in them, good tread left on all of them.

Sometimes these inspections lead to the need to replace our tires.

The Importance of New Tires

I don’t like taking chances with tires because when I was younger, I didn’t pay as much attention and had some very scary experiences sliding around in the rain on tires with worn down tread (one time I was on a bridge!).

While I may have been okay with that level of maintenance back them, it’s not something I’m willing to take a chance on with my kids in the car! We get lots of thunderstorms in the summer in North Carolina, so I want to be fully prepared.

Cooper Tires Summer Drive Event

Recently I found out about the Cooper Tire Summer Drive Event, which had perfect timing with our upcoming road trip to the beach. We’ll be taking my husband’s Land Cruiser, which requires larger tires. I’m excited to check out Cooper’s awesome Discoverer SRX, Discoverer STT Pro, and Discoverer A/T³ tire for our SUV.

The Discoverer SRX is specifically for SUVs and CUVs.My favorite feature is its Wear Square, Cooper’s exclusive visual tread life indicator. Here’s how it works:

The Wear Square is literally six squares located around the inside and outside of the tire’s tread. Throughout the tire’s lifetime, the square changes shape beginning with a full square and ending with an exclamation mark when tire tread is low. By simply checking your Wear Square, you can easily gauge the approximate tread remaining on the tires. The Wear Square can also signal uneven tire wear and possible wheel alignment issues.

The Discover STT Pro is a high performance off-roading mud tire that also drives nicely on the main road. With its off-road capabilities, I’m almost a bit scared it would encourage my husband to do something dangerous with the kids in the car! 🙂

And the Discoverer A/T³ is a great all-terrain tire. The A/T³ tread enhances wet traction and reduces rolling resistance. I love the sound off this one!

I’m not sure which option will be best for us, but I’m excited to check them out! Our cars always drive better with new tire, and they also improve our gas mileage – an added bonus!

I’m personally leaning toward the Discover SRX due the Wear Square. That’s such a neat feature!

Cooper Tires Summer Drive Event – Prepaid Visa Card Bonus

Now through July 15^th, you can get a $70 prepaid Visa card with the purchase of four qualifying Cooper Tires. If you’re already in the market for new tires, this is a great deal on already budget-friendly tires. In addition to the $70 incentive, Cooper also has great offers on many of their tires during the Summer Drive Event.

Cooper Tires come with premium 65,000-mile treadwear protection warranty and 45-day road test. With this kind of guarantee, you can be sure you made the right decision.

Budgeting for Summer Road Trip Expenses

The last thing I want to do is get to summertime and realize we can’t pay for fun things like road trips.

Our cars aren’t brand new (2001 and 2011 models), and we’ve found they typically require $1,000 to $2,000 per year in maintenance on average. This includes spending money on tires, replacing worn out parts, oil changes, service work, etc.

To account for car maintenance expenses, we set aside about $150 per month in our saving account, earmarking it for vehicle costs. This gives us $1,800 per year in a ready-made vehicle budget so we aren’t blindsided by expenses when they come up.

This in addition to saving $200 per month to pay for vacations. This is usually enough to pay for a week-long beach trip. Additional vacations require a bit more than we budget for, and that’s what I use my blog income for. 🙂

These amounts add up, but since we don’t have car payments, it all works out. If you need help setting up your own budget, I have a free monthly budget template you can download.

If you are in the market for new tires, you can take advantage of the Cooper Tire Summer Drive Event at a participating dealer near you. Here’s a handy Dealer Locator you can use!