Things We Can Do Or Buy To Save Money On The Road

delta5 · #1 (**permalink**) 02-04-2009, 02:11 PM

Lets start a list of things that we waste too much money on while on the road and what we can do to save more money. I will start it off with COFFEE. Lets add up how much we spend on two or three coffees from Pilot a day. Im sure it will be enough to make a car payment in a month... How about buying a 12v 4 cup coffee maker and grabbing coffee that is on sale at walmart for 3 dollars a can?

delta5 · #2 (**permalink**) 02-04-2009, 02:13 PM

Cigarette smokers can save money by purchasing tobacco in bulk and rolling their own cigarettes.. They would probably taste better too...

delta5 · #3 (**permalink**) 02-04-2009, 02:27 PM

How about food? We all spend too much money on truckstop food that is usually mediocre at best and we eat way too much at the buffets. FMCSA is starting to crack down on health issues, so for those of us that cant see our feet or our belt buckles, we need to start looking at other options. Walmart now has a great selection of healthy frozen meals under several labels, similar to the NutriSystem diet. Lean Quisine and many others. How about buying a microwave for the truck and grabbing a few days worth of frozen meals that you can keep in your 12 cooler (you DO have one right?).

Cerberus_Kelpie · #4 (**permalink**) 02-05-2009, 02:05 AM

What's a 12 cooler?

Is it better than a Coleman?

Why bother with a cooler in Winter when one can just place cold items under the Bunk (for those that HAVE under the Bunk storage)?

One CAN SAVE a lot of wasted money by NOT EATING THE SLOP offered at any truck stop.
Go to Walleye Wurld and buy a mess of canned goods especially of Veggies and Fruits.
Get a small manually operated or Military Field can opener.
Go to Wendys for the Plastic ware.
Get some Crackers, Bread, other goodies, etc...and make your own meals IN THE TRUCK. Eat a carefully selected meal out of the truck once a day or every other day that isn't some fast food slop house.
Microwave(provided it is not able to drain batteries or blow fuzzes), 12v Crock Pot or similar, Coffee Pot 4-10 cup with 1000 watt Inverter.

Park IN THE BACK or the furthest from buildings at truck stops and other places when/where feasible for the extra walking distance/challenge.

Buy smaller sized clothes and work yourself to fit them.

Incentives help.

Boydtruckrswife · #5 (**permalink**) 02-05-2009, 06:06 AM

All of these ideas are very good ones, and do save a lot of money IF the converter you spend a lot of money on will work more than three times. The one's sold at the TA's will burn out fast. We've been through three of these, and the cost of those alone was more then my monthly car payment. We couldn't get a refund either.

I'd like to know where to get a decent multi plug converter that will do what the company claims it will do. My husband has diabetes and really needs to eat responsibly. The food served at these stops scares me, it's a heart attack or stroke waiting to happen.

delta5 · #6 (**permalink**) 02-05-2009, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boydtruckrswife

All of these ideas are very good ones, and do save a lot of money IF the converter you spend a lot of money on will work more than three times. The one's sold at the TA's will burn out fast. We've been through three of these, and the cost of those alone was more then my monthly car payment. We couldn't get a refund either.

I'd like to know where to get a decent multi plug converter that will do what the company claims it will do. My husband has diabetes and really needs to eat responsibly. The food served at these stops scares me, it's a heart attack or stroke waiting to happen.

Are you sure you are buying a big enough inverter for your needs? You need to know the power requirements of all the things you are using with the inverter. This includes using more than one item at a time.