Mexico oil boom on the way????

Personally, I think it will cost more than $20k to live..especially in the patch... but yes, with some saving and investing, a 30 y/o could set themselves up very well by the time they turn 40.

BUT... how do I save all that money while driving my new $60k pickup pulling my $80k RV? I do have obligations ya know? [emoji12]

 

Lol, right.

 

I am easily living off $1200/month in the Bakken. $600/mo RV spot (older, paid for RV), and that leaves $150/week for everything else. I live across the street and walk to work daily in order to save on fuel costs, I consume about $50/week in groceries (PB&J in the lunchbox daily, grill meat on my night off in order to microwave good meals after work, and an everything bagel with butter and cream cheese for breakfast), and I don't spend frivolously (buying everything possible on Amazon instead of paying the steep markup here). I live very comfortably on about $75/week, and the other $75 is saving for the winter propane fund. The rest of the check is sent home to the wife in order to fix up the house and pay everything off (car, bikes, cards, house, etc).

Its all about self-discipline.

 

That's the ticket. It's not about how much you make...it's about how much you keep. Paying off all debts is the 1st priority, then build from there. I would hate to see myself or anyone else make the sacrifices that we make to be out here in this industry and have nothing to show for it when/if the worm turns. I preach "stack it and pack it" to these young guys all the time. They don't wanna hear it, but I tell em anyway...lol.

 

It's hard to save when you're a "family" man, too. A wife means house and cars, then come kids, kids pull pets and influences of consumerist friends in the social circle, then kids need college, then wife says kiddos are gone so time to upgrade to a new man. She takes the assets and leaves you the debt.

Solution? Make your money first, stay single, wear a rubber when you go prowling(never trust her saying she's on the pill!), then when you are set up, kick back and buy a boat, find a steady woman but never get married in the USA and never let her see your account balances.

 

Precisely. OTR drivers can deduct so much including retirement contributions I pay well below 10% a year in taxes on a $60K-$70K gross. Apart from working OTR some of my other key strategies are residing in a state without an income tax, renting a box in a UPS store in Oregon just so I can purchase consumer products tax-free on Amazon, and saving as many of my brick-and-mortar purchases as possible for when I'm passing through Oregon (I run the western 11). One of my cars is registered in WA too, which still charges very low annual registration rates (thanks to Tim Eyman's well-known ballot proposition from about 15 years ago). You don't need to hire a CPA for any of this stuff either. I've always done all my taxes myself going by the IRS documents posted online.

This is a great thread. Lots of good advice.

 

I just saw article(sorry no links) that stated MORE visiting Mexicans, non drug related or illegal, are killed in U.S, than vice versa. Would make sense since our population far exceeds theirs.

While I heavily disagree that it is more dangerous than Iraq, I do agree the wages may be low. In this case the really skilled experienced workers would benefit. Actually I hear there is something like 1 million Americans working in Mexico and am sure some are in oilfield there already.

 

The logic of your second sentence eludes me. Mexicans have more Americans to fend off when they arrive than vice versa? I have little doubt that your first sentence is true, but unless I'm missing something, the second one doesn't explain to me why.

One clearly logical explanation would be that more Mexicans travel to here than vice versa. Then if the murder rates were the same, more Mexicans would be killed up here than vice versa. But I doubt that's true...my hunch is that more of us vacation down there.

If I am not mistaken there is a huge difference in the way guns are regulated in the two countries. It seems like that could possibly play a role but I'm just wondering aloud. I really have no clue what the cause might be, but the populations alone definitely don't seem to explain.

If it were just a matter of sheer population comparisons then China would be the most dangerous country on Earth to visit and Iceland one of the least. Actually Iceland really is one of the least dangerous ones probably, but I doubt that China's that dangerous compared with lots of other countries.

 

Maybe it's partly because when Americans visit Mexico (I've never been there by the way, except to walk across at Laredo and Tijuana), aren't they often going to places that are sort of "Americanized" and well insulated from danger? Mexicans probably have fewer such "safe" places to visit here that are specially catering to their nationality. Again just wondering aloud and taking stabs at explanations...with a very dull knife I might add!

 

If you ever have stumbled upon the consulate in Juarez(btw, IS the most dangerous city on planet according to CNN), you will be in shock how many Mexican citizens come legally to U.S. for various reasons. We concentrate on all the illegals so we often forget about the legal ones. Also take into consideration many upon many border residents on Mexican side come here for purpose of purchasing goods with a special visa. Then there isd the many with the tourist visa.

The article I read actually took the statistics of tourists and work related visitors. I remember they went by population of U.S and Mexico then did their % configurations or ratios. They also went by murders not accidents. In the end U.S. was the winner of more murders of Mexicans. I really need to start bookmarking articles.