If you don't recommend trucking then what?

There’s all sorts of things I enjoy doing, when away from the truck. If I decide to not renew my cdl before I ‘retire’ look out world! Home remodeling, lawn irrigation, estate sales, just to name a few. Truck driving is not the only occupation out there.

 

if one is the least bit capable with the computer then I think taking the IT route is completely reasonable. It doesn’t require a degree but boot camps and other means to get started are sufficient. These recent days it may be more difficult to access considering the layoffs and of course the future of AI is an unknown, but then so is trucking for that matter.

 

I was with you until this part:

I buy everything possible on credit cards, and only missed paying them all off one month, when I happened to be in a coma. I paid a whopping $5 in finance charges that month, but I average over $1000 cash back on those cards each year. Its like paying myself an extra weeks' wages just by properly using those cards. Between the cards, I get 3% back on dining, entertainment, streaming services and groceries, 2% back on gas, and 1.75% back on everything else... provided I pay attention and use the right card for the spending. Imagine that... a little self-discipline goes a long way.

Then again, I don't make payments on depreciating assets (cars), I pay cash for solid, used rides and keep them on the road a long time. My DD is a 2011, my wife's is a 2003, and her winter beater SUV is a 2006. Even my Harley is over a decade old (2010), and I am looking to get myself a winter SUV before next season, looking in the 2008-2013 range (realistically, I'd take hers over and give her the newer one). I also throw half my earnings in savings every month... trying to get the wife on board with her spending habits so she can pay an extra $600 toward the mortgage every month and rebuild her savings.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Winner....

-- Lual

 

I agree with that except the buying used vehicles. I bought a
75 Maverick in 75 (11 years), a
86 Thunderbird in 86 (11 years), a
97 Thunderbird in 97 (17 years), and a
14 Mustang in 14 (9 years and counting).

Other than a 68 Cutlass S I had in high school in 73 (which I got used and blew 2 engines in), those are the only cars I have ever owned.

 

Wages reflect suplly and demand

the easier it is to replace a worker , the lower their wages .

Someone mentioned grocery stores

if you randomly plucked someone off the street , and taught them the necessary skills to Work in the following positions ;
Cashier . How many days / weeks of training ?

The technician working to repair the milk cooler ?

the truck driver backing into the loading dock ?

the Electrictian wiring up the new beer cooler ?

if it takes one week to train someone to be the cashier , but takes two years to train someone to repair the milk cooler , shouldn’t the guy fixing the milk cooler make a lot more
Money ?

 

Congratulations.....BUT...... That makes you a very slim exception.

More often then not its the other way around. Otherwise the card companies would not use that carrot on the stick because they then would lose money. They know the average consumer doesn't do math. They see the cash back and forget the cash spent. Treat it like tax returns. Same as why a lot of retail, entertainment and now grocery products are attempting to push people into subscription models. They know the average consumer sees the low initial number, then sets and forgets. Come the end of the month or year , the consumer can't seem to figure out where all their money has gone.

I applaud you for your discipline. However the majority does not have it yet or is convinced it doesn't have to be that way because they are taught debt is a good thing.

Myself being one of the late learners. Ofcourse my back ground growing up was our family budget was figuring out which grocery store waited the longest to deposit checks and how long it took to get to the parents account so it didn't bounce. So in my younger days- credit cards were very attractive, school loans even more so. Untill you learn the hard lesson of how hard they can be to get out from under after getting all the shinies that did nothing more than entertain you for a week or two.

 

I was a late learner, thanks to my ex wife. Her idea of having money was "there's enough room on the credit card to buy it." I divorced her, and filed bankruptcy to get out from under her debts (community property state). My current wife is much better about it, but still makes some bonehead decisions. When she lost her job, she started paying the minimum on her card because she didn't want to use any of her savings. Uhh... you're spending 24.99% on that balance to hold onto money earning 0.1%??? She realized it when I put it that way and paid her card off.

Growing up was similar. Young adulthood was the same. I knew I could float a check at Albertson's 3 days before payday. These days, I don't have to think about it. I buy what I need, and the occasional want. Every week, after my kid's preschool tuition comes off the top, I look to put $500 in savings and the rest towards a CC balance. On the first of the month, my military retirement comes in, and I pay off the remaining balances in full when combined with my weekly check, and usually put another $1500 in savings that week. All bonuses go to the savings account. Any tax refunds go there as well. It took until my 30s before I grasped that I don't need to keep up with my friends, that my $174 Motorola cell phone on a $14/mo plan does the same thing as their $1400 Samsung or iPhone on their $75/mo plan. The only real luxury bills I carry are my home phone/cable/internet bill, and that's purely by choice. If times got tough, that bill would be the first to go.

 

OP, keep your ears to the ground and don't be shy having conversations about with others about what they do for a living. Most people like talking about themselves.

I met a guy walking the dog who just bought 1.5 million dollar house by selling <$2 unless widgets on the internet. All destined for land fill in 1 month but they sell.

When I was a tradie I worked at a couples hose doing a 350K+ renovation, they sold sex toys on line. Butt plugs where their biggest seller. Go figure.

I met a guy who lived in a van for a period, while he saved and bought an Industrial shed. He now makes 30K a month in rent from it.

My 13yo son has a 15yo mate who makes 2k a week showing other kids how to do "work arounds" on difficult sections of online gaming. Effectively a how to thing. The kids pay nothing, the sponsors do though.

The guy I deal with at work, has a daughter who is a fitness lover. Her and her husband are making 300K talking #### about how they love life, what they do, what they eat, and where they go. All from bored people watching them on line. Again sponsors pay not the bored person.

I'm following the path of creating a useful item for trucks, something that will benefit any truck around the globe for a reasonable price rather than a gouging one the industry like to charge. I wan't to make it locally and from recycled plastic, but I get the vibe from people in the game, make it in a foreign land for very little and charge 1000% mark up.

I more than half suspect the cost of living is so high due to this mentality. A fair bit if it is to do with people are no longer happy with 20% mark up. But hey if you think you're worth it than I guess you are.

 

Start with windshield wipers that dont ice up