Who Drives Over The Road Now !!

Good: seeing the country and getting paid for it.
Good: not having anyone over my shoulder telling me every move to make

Bad: not having a life and getting tired of it.

I've made a decent living as a driver, and had I better handled my finances I could be sitting in my dream house right now in just 4 years.

Keep in mind, I'm single, no kids and didn't even have an apartment or any other place of my own when I first started driving. Somehow I've managed to let over $200,000 in earnings pass right through my fingers without much more to show for it than a $400+ car payment and rent on a house I only spend 4-8 days/month in.

 

I like the midwest and the south the best. I despise the east coast and am glad I don't have to go there anymore. Driving out west is nice until you hit California.

 

55 mph speed limit for trucks, 70 for cars on the interstate,
traffic that doesn't seem to stop making it even harder to make a lane change,
EVERYTHING costs more,
most times a driver will wait longer for a back haul out of CA than other states/regions,
hope your fluent in Spanish...most places in southern and central CA that drivers will venture into are mostly manned by Latinos.

basically, I can think of at least 40 other states I'd much rather be in

 

What have been your biggest pitfalls on the road that have led to your financial woes? Any advice you can give newbs to prevent us from making the same mistakes?

 

To call them woes would be a bit of an over statement, but I digress...

Basically it's a matter of not budgeting at all. I've never known how to create and maintain a proper budget. As a result, money is spent without any accountability. My bills are always paid in full on time, but whatever might be left over just gets spent. Also, I've never been one to bring my own food with me. I always do the fast food or restaurant thing available at the truck stops. As a result, not only has my expenses increased, but so has my waist line. I wore a size 34 when I started 4 years ago, and now I'm up to a 38.

My excuse for not budgeting is that I don't have a consistent income, like every other OTR trucker in America. Also, my monthly bills fluctuate moderately. With the way my brain works, if something isn't consistent then it can't be controlled.