How to save money on the road?

One other thing you might want to buy is a large thermos/mug. Some can hold up to half a gallon of fluid. Most truck stops sell them. I fill mine with water and ice. Some use them for coffee or soft drinks. If you use it for coffee or soft drinks you can fill it with points from your loyalty card that truck stops give out.

 

Don't spend money on useless crap. We just had to clean out a truck that was being reassigned... previous driver broke his hip. And it was like an episode of Hoarders. Don't get me wrong - I'm glad he had the foresight to carry some tools with him, but when they're buried at the bottom of his sidebox, and most of it was still in the package, what good was that going to do him? Topping it off, he bought those crappy Barjan and RoadPro tools that weren't worth a ####, and most of the stuff he bought.. let's face it, he was never going to use it in that truck. Do you really need a TV in your truck? Personally, I had no use for one. I see people with the DirecTV dishes and such.. IMO, if you're getting your money's worth out of it, you're spending too much time sitting.
Can't hard wire an inverter? Well, they make little propane camp stoves. Don't spend all day sucking down sodas. Don't feel like you need to keep up with the Joneses. If the only thing you'll ever use a CB for is to call the gate at a customer, or call your lot lizards at truck stops (those will cost you money, too, and potentially a lot more, so maybe you should avoid them, as well), then you don't need to spend hundreds on CB equipment. Stupid little novelty t-shirts they sell at truck stops, knicknacks you'll only break and lose... you don't need that crap.
Oh, and if you have a significant other - leave them at home. Seriously.

And here's one - and I love how this never seems to get mentioned in these threads - do your ####### pre- and post-trips, and make sure your vehicle is roadworthy. Because guess where else you can lose money? In Barney's hands, that's where!

 

Didn't see anyone mention this but buy a little 12v lunchbox oven they sell at the truck stops for about $30. After you get some Pilot/J, Loves, T/A points you can use this to get it for "free" with your points. I bought mine with my points at the Fly J and got another 1000 points back for it. DO NOT buy the little foil insert refills at the truckstops. They sell the same thing at the dollar store ($1 for 3) versus the same ones they sell at the truck stops (about $4 for 3) and sometimes there are Dollar Generals that share the same parking lot with Walmarts. Then when you hit up a Walmart, Target or grocery store you can cook and eat for cheap. And to keep it even cheaper buy a cheap roll of tinfoil from the grocery and line the lunchbox cooker's foil pan with a piece of tinfoil and you can keep using the same foil pan for a long time without it getting too messy. Just keeping using a fresh piece of foil inside the foil pan.

I avoid buying anything other than fuel at the truck stops. I fuel there, get my free shower and leave. Buy your food at the grocery store/Walmart and you can eat cheap. I wouldn't mess with the soda as it's more expensive and you will have to stop to evacuate it more often. I buy a case of 20 or 24oz. waters for about $4.00 at Walmart and then add those little water flavor packets. For some variety I buy some V8 type juice and keep it all in my cooler. Like someone else said, get that 12v Coleman cooler you can plug in and keep your stuff cold. For comparison, they sell it for around $110-120 or something at the truck stops but at Walmart it is $88. It's worth the investment. I always have extra canned goods in the truck for those times when I don't have fresh food or for an emergency. Personally, I'm probably the extreme in this sense, but I stay at Walmarts about 5-6 nights out of the week so I can always have fresh food. Plus it's quieter, gets me away from truck stops and depending on the town there are sometimes cute ladies working there.

For entertainment, it's up to you depending on what you feel you need. Me? I need a tv or at least like the luxury. I don't have a home to go home to ever so I make my sleeper area as comfortable as possible. I have a 300w inverter with a Blu-Ray/DVD and a 39" Vizio HD. What can I say, I like my movies. I'm almost tempted to upgrade to a 42" as it will fit. The only drawback to this set up is that if it's not extremely hot or cold and I'm not running my truck, I can't run the TV. So for me I wait until I run the truck at night and then it's like my own personal theater back there. That's probably not keeping it cheap. An alternative to that is to get yourself a tablet like a Google Nexus 7 and when you get wifi (McDonalds, some rest areas, restaurants, some truckstops, etc.) you can download some books and movies to it for entertainment. There are a lot of free books online and through apps. I would suggest buying a "regular" book but they start to take up space if you have more than a few. However, if you feel charitable, what I do sometimes is I'll buy a used book, read it and then leave it near the door at the truckstops. I figure someone else can use it.

Cellphone I use a straight monthly plan like Straight Talk. $45/month plus tax is $51 and 2gb of web use. Unlimited texts/unlimited calls.

 

I've found that you can get an OTR truck into most grocery store lots. The trick is to go around behind the store, and park away from the dock. Yes, it's a bit of a hike, but it works.

Another trick is to look for a grocery store that's in a shopping center/strip mall.

The only thing worth buying in the truck stops are the 12V appliances, provided that you actually use them. Anything electronic will be cheaper at Walmart or Amazon unless it's on sale, and maybe not even then.

I love the Coleman 40 quart electric coolers. Don't pay $129 at the truck stop for one; a little looking can typically find them for $99 at a local store. When I bought mine, it was $79 at Walmart, and came with the 120V home adapter. One word of advice: The outside fan will start making noise after a couple months. A 92mm double ball bearing computer fan (about $10) will last a couple of years. If you can't find a 92mm fan, an 80mm fan works just fine. (I've used both.) The only hassle with these coolers is that the inner heat sink will freeze up during humid weather. I unplug mine while I sleep once a week or so, and that lets it defrost.

And if you're at a TA/Petro with a buffet in the restaurant, you can get a good bit of food in the Buffet To Go box for under $5...

 

Stay away from cash advances as much as you possibly can. You'll wind up with a zero pay check one week and get stuck in a trap that takes a long time to work out of. Always remember - a cash advance is money you ain't earned yet. It will come out RIGHT after taxes do. All of it. Think of it like a pawn or a payday loan. On occasion a necessary evil, but the less you owe the Devil - the less you have to repay to get back straight.

 

Anyone know of a solution to keep the electric coolers dry? I got a coleman from walmart and when you wake up water is on the bottom.

 

Also, fueling at Loves exclusively you can easily get into 3x and 4x points earnings and can use these points at select food options located at Loves facilities.

The best way to keep spending too much money is to keep the wheels moving when you're not at home. If you're with a company that does not have sufficient freight or miles, and causes you to sit idle for 10+ hours every week waiting in dispatch, move the first chance you get

 

Two ways I have seen it done. The easy way is to put a towel in the bottom and just rotate the towel out every couple days.

The other is to drill a drain hole and plumb in some fish tank plastic tubing to drain it out somewhere. (Under the bunk and then down and out the vents in the back of the cab.)

I used towels, as I like having the ability to move the cooler around when I wanted.

 

No drinkin-smokin-gamblin-womin-lead footin-

You could also lump your own loads and do your own washouts at times.