I can understand how both not knowing where you will sleep or paying too much would be cause fir anxiety. With prior planning, you can scope out deals and lock them in. Often, last minute reservations are expensive (but not always).

Take a look at alternative options like camping. It can be expensive to accumulate all the things you need to camp, but there are many state and national parks with nice campgrounds or places like KOA for based travel. KOA used to have cabins for a reasonable price. Some state parks do, too. You’ll need some basic supplies. For non US travel, look into hostels.