Drivers Finances

one quick and easy way to curb your spending is by actually sitting down and crunching the numbers its amazing how much it cost's us to live out here on the road....

For Example: Eating just 2 meals a day can add up to alot of money spent if you purchase your food out of a truck stop..

example:
subway-breakfest $4.50
Truck stop Dinner $13.00
thats a total of $17.50 a day just for 2 meals

now add that up for 7 days a week your spending $122.50
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now lets say you stay out 3 weeks a month with 1 week off your spending 367.5 dollars just for food while your out on the road


One of the quickest ways to curb this problem is to purchase your own food from your local grocery store and prepare it on your semi most companies allow 1,000watt power inverter

One time investment of $297.92

Flying J Big 100oz drink mug... Lasts all day cost's $1.05 to refill, and free to refill at Flying J, Petro, and Loves with 50 gallon purchase

Cheapest food to buy and stay healthy

If your company allowes you to have a 1,000 watt power inverter you can purchase a GE fridge from walmart and Turn the inside temperature all the way down to where it turns into a big freezer. then you can purchase frozen dinners from a grocery store i used walmart heres what i got

60 Frozen Microwavable dinners 30 of which were the cheapest at $0.98 a pice that limited me to 30 meals a day at a buck a pice, then i got 30 of the other larger diet dinners that ranged between $1.50 and $2.50 a pice to bring my total for food to roughly $90.00 for a month, but i gave my self a 200 dollar a month food allowance just like i got in the army so that leaves me with 110.00 i could spend on any other foods i would like to have on the truck...

other good foods are
Crystal lite on the go flavor packets for the bottled water
Mac&Cheese
Roman (24 packages only cost $2.40)
Zatrans Precooked rice
Hormel Compleats Microwavable dinners
or anything else and if i wanted to buy a new video game or dvd i would take it out of my food money that saves you money in the long run

Its amazing how much more money goes back into your pocket once you wean yourself off of the truck stop don't buy anything there that you don't have to its too expensive always buy what u need before you leave the house its cheaper...and restricting yourself to a given amount of money your willing to spend a month for just food expenses and not a penny more is a start to better budgeting of your finances already if you take my example after 3 months you are already seeing a return on your investment of purchasing a fridge, microwave, and power inverter by slightly controlling your spending and setting limits for yourself, not only that u will feel healthier

 

WOW....truckin juggalo you are so right.....truckstop food is nasty anyway....folks can save a wad of dough if they just follow your advice....

another great thing people can do is follow the advice of Dave Ramsey....he's a financial guru, but he doesn't sell specific investment advice.....it's just a series of steps anyone can take to turn their financial life around....it did wonders for me and my family....

the steps are:
1. save $1000 for an emergency fund
2. work the debt snowball (pay off smallest debt, then roll it to bigger debt)
3. once debts are paid off, finish saving emergency fund to include 3 to 6 months of living expenses
4. Save for retirement (15% of income)
5. save for college for your kids
6. finish paying off home mortgage
7. continue building wealth

this plan has done a miracle for my family, and don't say it can't be done......it has been done!!!.......

later,
toe

 

Truckin Juggalo I somewhat agree with your practice of self reliance for food. However, I do it on a smaller scale.

Being a tanker yanker I have to spend a lot of time waiting at tank washes, and shippers dealing with the extracurricular activities involved in hauling chemicals. I keep fruits, nuts, bread, pasta/potatoes salads, sandwich materials, cookies, milk, water, and a few sodas. I scarf this stuff if I'm waiting and can't leave the site. If I can leave, like bob-tailing from the tank-wash, I head straight for restaurant row. I can eat cheap at McD's, but not too often because it ain't healthy. WaffleHouse don't break the bank, but again, can't eat there every day.

Variety of foods is important, just as getting out of that truck for a while is, too. I'll eat cooler food most of the day, but at some point, I'm gonna' have a real meal.

 

well its not really about the food you eat, but its a easy example truckers aren't exactly the slimmest creatures on the planet, how ever the point i am trying to make is if u actually take the time to write out or track what you spend then take a step back and say #### i spent 6,150 on food this year (if u only spend $20.50 a day for 300 days a year.... when u look at that 6,000 figure whats the 1st thing that comes to mind... in my mind it was WOW just think what i could have gotten if i cut back a little every day, just 3.33 dollars less a day would have put 1,000 back into your pocket?

Thats what i am getting at you have to shock yourself into seeing what your wasting its a huge figure, small changes add up when your talking about money, If everyone sat down every day and started trying to budget you would be amazed how much money you could save or direct towards things you want...

 

How in the heck do you people manage to find the time to eat three meals a day in a truckstop? Sounds to me like you spend more time backing into parking spaces than you do making deliveries and running up and down the road!!!

I eat once a day, usually sometime in the evening. I tend to grab something relatively quick, so I can either husltle to sleep, or move on down the road a little bit further. once in a while, I end up at a truckstop for the night, and in those cases, I may go inside and grab a meal. And, as long as i keep the cost under 12 dollars for the day, my employer reimburses me for up to 12 per day for meal expenes.

I carry a small 12v cooler in the truck, stocked with flavored fou fou water and some iced tea. For snacks, on the weekend I will buy some candies or potato chips at the local grocery store, and put them in the truck where they last me all week, or most of it.

There are the occasional times i grab a soda or some chocolate milk in the morning, but that's about the limit. I typically start the week with about 150 cash in my wallet, and usually end the week with at least 80 of that still in place, and have 40-60 a week returned to me as my meal allowance.

I'm a bit of a cheapskate, don;t spend it unless I need to, and most of the time i simply don't need to. Try keeping the left side door shut, instead of stopping three times a day to gobble chow in a truckstop, and you'll get further and make more money in the long run.

 

I sort of agree. Not really in the sense of what to eat however.

I think that for many people...its the little things. At every stop, getting a can or bottle of pop or coffee or candy bar, beef jerky...etc. If people just stopped to get gas and then took off, theyd be fine. Same thing with eating out. Dinners are usually reasonably priced, but then add in an appetizer and or a pop and the price goes up.

I think one idea would be to get a large cooler / fridge that can be plugged in, in the truck. Then while you are at home, make fresh home made food for however long you are going to be out. Stuff you can microwave or toss in a lunchbox heater...etc. Boxed dinners are handy....but I try to stay away from moxed boxed or easy to make stuff because its just not healthy for ya. All the sodium and stuff...thats not good to eat. If you make the food and freeze it at home (or have your wife freeze a portion for you every night)...you will be eating healthier, fresh, home made food. Im going to be running a dedicated route and while I would like to have a fridge...I just might end up getting a cooler or something I can carry instead. Not sure if I want to be chugging lots of water anyways if Im out in the middle of nowhere, lol.