OTR Weekly Expenses

If you eat at the truck stop restaurant after a while all you will really want is a simple peanut butter sandwich...

 

I am not a slave. That's sad you see it that way. I could eat anything I want. But I am paying off high interest credit card debt and loans at home. So I budget. I save. I buckle down for a couple years. Debt is being confronted. I call that freedom.

 

Im not saying you are a slave... Im saying its more akin to being a slave because thats what it was like for me the 1st year. The pay sucked and the food at the truck stops sucked. I survived off ramen noodles, ham sandwiches and the like...... I understand thats good eating for many....lmao.. i just have a higher standard than many...

 

Them coolers arent worth much... If you get that coleman from walmart.. mke sure u get the warranty... (2 years for 4/5 dollars)... Its gonna fail within a year so its worth it..
They may be good to hold a few sodas and water.. Just buy enough to what you are gonna eat so you not wasting monies on food going bad. That means trying to get to a walmart or grocery store often

 

Oh sorry I thought you were saying its a bad situation or it was a negative . Since you did it, that's awesome. Ya ramen and ham sandwiches! My wife is back home earning. She loves my weekly addition to our household income. Together we are currently making more than we ever made before. I am at my 1 year mark. We are attacking our highest interest debt first. I don't ask her to eat or survive like I do. But I feel great about the choices I have made and going OTR with a decent company.

 

Im proud of you. You are making great sacrifices and thats what it takes. Discipline and sacrifices combined with consistency wil get you to the finish line.

 

I see this as a multi-stage mission:

1) First weeks in the truck you are going to learn a lot about what works and what doesn't. I suggest you lean heavy on stable goods like canned and dry foods. They last a while and are your back-up when the fresh foods don't survive the journey. Have some food you can eat one handed so you can eat and drive if the meal you spent your break trying to make fails.

2) Next stage, you have figured out some fresh foods you can keep edible during the time you need to be in operation. Find more of these, trial and error. Try some new things as you hear about them.

3) Final stage, you are driving a rolling buffet of your personal favorites. And you are sitting down occasionally for a real meal in a restaurant with no feeling of guilt for wasting money.

I have lived for months on MREs and TrayPacs. It can be done, but you really want fresh food as your regular diet. Don't go all can and box all the time. It's bad for your body and your brain.

 

Don't dis the Spam. It's quite good on occasion, But really needs to be pan fried or baked.

 

This is good advice. Food, eating, and what one is willing to accept and put up with is very personal. We all have out own unique combination of what will be enjoyable to them and work for them long-term, and it will take lots of trial and error over a period of time to find out what works and what doesn't, based on what THEY prefer and what they have available to work with.