Budget question concerning food

I would wait until you are issued your truck because you don't know what you will have for space. There are many different size fridges you could go with so wait till you see what you can fit in your truck. Once you get your fridge you can stock up at Walmart every week or so. This will probably be your cheapest source. Plus most walmarts are usually accessible in a big truck.

 

yes, as suggested, WAIT till you actually get a truck. till then eat at the truck stops. as for foods, carry with you some "essentials" like peanut butter crackers, bottled water and maybe some candy bars as well. you'd be surprised at what you can fit into a mini fridge, which by the way, i'd also recommend buying at a wal-mart.

also, YES i would "treat myself" to a regular dinner or breakfast someplace. DO NOT STAY in your truck 24/7.

you will sicken of it as well as maybe perhaps tire of the whole driving job.


for me, back in my day, i did not have any fridge in my earlier years, so i carried (on average) $150.00 per week for food, tips and sodas, snacks.

i am sure that today's prices..?? it would be about $300 i'd have to carry with me.

 

As chompi said, eating in the truck will be your cheapest route. Walmarts are your most likely food source but there are some truckstops that have grocery stores near them as well. You'll learn those locations with experience. A plug in cooler will work if you don't have room for or aren't allowed to take a fridge. Look into a lunch box oven, propane camp stove(use outside the truck only!), microwave, and crock pot as useful cooking utensils.

You should also watch your salt and calories. Salt will give you High blood pressure and most of the truck stop food as well as canned food is full of it. Watch your calories because you are not going to get a lot of exercise driving and the weight gain is often a problem for drivers. One of the best ways to combat this is to be a flatbed driver or work for someone where you unload the freight. The extra exercise you get doing either of those will help your health and also are an additional source of $$ besides your pay per mile.

 

Ya, like Gizmo said, you can buy the fridge or cooler at Wally world instead of a truckstop. Will be way cheaper. Also good point, get out of the truck and treat yourself every once and awhile! Be a penny pincher and watch your diet but also allow yourself to have some good meals out there and splurge every once and awhile.

 

I have one of those Koolatron coolers that look like a fridge. Here's what I typically stock it with.

Great Value yogurt 4 packs
1/2 gallon of milk
frozen breakfast burritos or biscuit sandwitches
frozen sandwiches (I love the GV BBQ rib sandwiches)
hotdogs
sandwitch items (I prefer making Italian subs, so I stock provolone cheese, ham, salami and pepperoni)
string cheese for snacks
Starbucks double shot in the small cans (my morning fix)

Now you might be wondering, frozen sandwiches? Well, if you look at the boxes, they give cooking instructions for thawed sandwiches. I found that they will last for the 12 days that I'm usually out as long as they are sealed. Tossing them in the cooler frozen helps bring the overall temperature down as my trucks low voltage cutout will usually turn the accesory circuit off after 12-14 hrs or so of running the cooler so it's usually a bit warm when I get back on the truck. I cook them by wrapping them in foil and placing them on the intake manifold. Usually after an hour or two driving (longer in winter thanks to all the cold air coming through the radiator), they are nice and hot. For example, I throw the breakfast items on when I'm doing my PTI and usually get them when I stop for a bathroom break to rid myself of that aformentioned Starbucks.

I will usually eat a few times in the restaurant, just to get out of the truck for a change, lol.

 

Ok, I've admitted in the past that I have no mechanical knowledge, and I always hear about this type of thing, so my question is, where do I find the intake manifold under the hood? I just today learned what the turbo is and what it does, is it part of that? I tried Googling without any definitive results (image search) Anyone have 27 color glossy photos with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one is?

 

Moe just find whatever is hot under the hood and that should work. Just don't forget about it and drive off! Some lucky driver would find a nice hot sandwich in the parking lot!