Eating on the Road & Saving money

When i did OTR in 05+06, i spent about $75 a week in food and only ate out----i didn't cook in the truck because we were not "allowed" to.


1) If $75 is not too steep for you, why not try eating out all the time for a week or so and saving your reciepts. You might be suprised at how low the cost really is.

2) i did not eat s__t either; Fast food was rare--maybe once or twice a a week. i did alot of buffets and pizza places.

3)This $75 figure includes tips; i did not tip much for buffets--maybe .25-.75 cents depending on the waitress. And even that's kind of high.

 

you are a cheapskate lol

My tips rarely go below $2.00

 

As a former waitress, that's just insulting!
Even given that you eat the buffet, I keep your drink glass filled, your table cleared of your dirty plates, regularly check to make sure there is nothing else you need, or want, and you leave me a QUARTER??!!

Gee, the kids will eat well tonight because of you...

Judi Kay

 

Actually most aren't worth two face down pennies
But reasonable Service should be rewarded

 

i'm sorry but bringing me one glass of water (which you should do anyways) is not worth more than .25cents and even that's high---i'm being generous here. i'm also not asking, caring, or requiring the plates be removed after each "trip." Now if i "gel" with the waitress then she gets more.

If this is a regular order, then i usually do 10%. Again if there is a "gel" then more.

 

When I worked as a waitress, even for the folks who ate the buffet, I did MORE than bring just one glass of water...I made sure that drink glass was filled when half empty, and as for clearing the dirty plates, whether you want them cleared or NOT, that is part of my job, and what I work for to earn my tips.

I never really cared if I "gelled" with a customer.
I was friendly, helpful, and did my job well. If there was a problem, I did my best to fix it for the customer. For that, I made darn good tips, ($500+ a week, at Denny's no less!), except from cheapies such as yourself.

When a waitress, or waiter, does their job well, regardless whether you eat the buffet, and/or "gel" with that person, they deserve more than a quarter.

Judi Kay

 

Here's what I do for Highlander. First is a loaf of bread, a pack of cheese, lunchmeat, chips, crackers and 2ltrs of Pepsi at a minimum. I also send him out with cans of soup, spaghetti, ravoli, tuna, microwave mac & cheese, chip dip made from scratch. If I have fresh fruit, it goes. If I have salad, it goes. Basically, if there are leftovers from when he's home, it goes with him.

I bake cookies for sweets. Sometimes I'll send him with a loaf of baked bread.

Nearly every meal that I make, I make extra. This goes into the freezer into a Ziploc Freezer bag. This way he can have stew, spaghetti, chicken, roast, hamburger, whatever was left over from when I cook when he's on the road goes into the freezer.

When it's time for him to go back on the road, he takes the frozen ones with him and puts them in his cooler. The only downfall of this is it takes about two days for those to thaw out, and then he's got about another two days to eat them, safely.

Then he will rely on his backup goods, such as the canned goods, lunch meat, etc.

If he's stuck somewhere there's no microwave, then he can heat items up in a 12v stove.. I dont know what its called. Its the rectangular one.

Usually, he's back home just about the same time all that runs out.

If you get your hands on a 12V crockpot, there are literally thousands of options of what you can cook in a crockpot and you can find many recipes on the web. Just cut the recipe at least in half, or it wont fit in that little crock pot.

 

I do not have an APU on my truck, but my company did allow me to install a 1500 watt inverter. I have the large Coleman cooler, which does an adequate job (blue ice helps a bunch!). I have a coffee maker, microwave, toaster-oven, and electric skillet in the truck. I always keep 4-5 gallons of water in the truck for coffee, clean-up, etc. As time allows, I can cook nearly anything in my truck that my wife can cook at home. The microwave is great for soups, frozen dinners, reheating leftovers from home, etc. The toaster oven bakes frozen pizzas, canned biscuits, makes toast, etc. The electric skillet does the rest, from grilled cheese sandwiches to burgers, etc. I spend almost no money eating out, generally eat whatever strikes my fancy, and am healthier and wealthier for it.

One tip, always idle your truck while cooking, especially with the microwave. They can run down your truck batteries in a matter of a few minutes if you don't.

The above might not work for everyone, but it works for me