Week Two Review

It’s hard to believe I’ve been out on the road for 14 days already – time has flown by – something I am happily surprised about. I, like most people, was a bit worried when I left that I might find myself extremely bored just being the passenger however it has been just the opposite.

This past week we got a visit into Destination Daytona Harley Davidson, followed by a trip to the Spanish side of Miami (I did not know there was such a thing). Once we picked up our load we hit the Florida road again making a quick stop at the local Wal-Mart to purchase some groceries and of course we had to get oranges. This is where we learned that if you want Florida oranges you don’t go to Wal-Mart – because their oranges come from California and are nasty. Needless to say the whole bag ended up in the trash and we never got our Florida oranges. From there we were Georgia bound where I would watch the peanut and peach stands pass me by every mile. We were in Georgia just long enough to drop off one load, take a 10 hour break and head to a Wal-Mart distribution center in Virginia – and if you thought the Wal-Mart stores were big you should see these distribution centers, they take up acres upon acres.

This past week we’ve conquered scary roads, bad drivers, and lots of interesting CB radio talk. I’m gaining a better understanding of what it is really like to be out on the road every day and was so grateful for a break this weekend at a nice hotel. The eating part is still slightly difficult, breakfast and lunch are easy but after sitting all day I can’t wait to get out of the truck and generally that means walking towards the truck stop. Even when it’s not truck stop dinner it’s some sort of pasta, either soup or quick noodles and we know what pasta is filled with – carbs, carbs, carbs – and when I’m not exercising regularly those carbs just sit (and you can just guess where they sit on me).  

I’m looking forward to more adventures this week, getting some more reading done, and enjoying the time with my husband.

The Plan - Part 1

Throughout my time on the road I will be providing you with an inside look on how I was able to quit my job, and join my husband on his job in the month prior to our Texas move.

WE PLANNED! We didn’t just wake up the weekend after Thanksgiving and look at each other and decide I should quit my job and leave our home. It was after we arrived home from our April Texas trip when we started discussing our desire to move and for me to be able to spend some quality time with Ray prior to our move. We quickly realized if we were going to do this we needed to have a plan.

·  We immediately reviewed the schedule for the master’s degree program I was currently enrolled in and decided that I would not quit my job and we would not leave our home until I had completed the program (completion date of Nov. 12, 2011);

·  We reviewed our finances and determined what we could do to decrease our monthly expenditures:

o Pay off a small $500 student loan immediately (we used money from savings to do this – money is fungible – this could be replaced later and would save us from paying interest on the loan );

o Pay off the gas credit card ($600-800) over 4 months;

o Sell my paid off car and split the proceeds in half: using ½ to pay off a credit card and putting the other ½ aside for future down payment on another vehicle. This still left us with Ray’s truck which I would use until we left because he didn’t need it;

o Changed insurance companies: this took about 1-2 hours total and saved us $300+ per year;

o Cut driving down to only necessary trips I would do all of our errands on my way to or home from work to avoid wasting gas on the weekends;

o I would continue couponing to save money on groceries.

·  I cut back my IRA contribution – while this generally isn’t advisable I was contributing almost 20% of my paycheck to my retirement account – which is a lot for a 26 year old – so I cut it down to 6-7% which is average for a 26 year old.

These three things were all just part of the plan. Each person and family is different and thus there are likely areas you can’t cut back where we were able and likely there are areas you might think we should have cut back on but we chose not to.

Again the key is come up with a plan and be realistic – for us knowing we “couldn’t” move and I “couldn’t” quit my job until I completed my master’s degree program was a perfect speed bump. It allowed us time to think things through and adequately prepare. 6 months was enough time for us, but you might need 9 months or maybe your plan would work on a 3 month time frame – whatever the time frame its best to set one because then you have something to work towards.

In the planning posts to follow I’ll detail more how my couponing obsession helped us save a ton and allowed us to help others too.

Week One Review

I’ve made it through my first week, and I know the most important issue to my friends and family is “how are you eating?” and “has your butt gotten big yet?” I can say eating has been a bit more challenging than I hoped however my pants still fit so I must be doing ok. I equate the eating challenge to walking into an office with a candy dish, you can’t just ignore it. Walking into a truck stop is similar – the freshly steamed hot dogs just smelled too yummy to leave without one and they were only $2 for 2 – What a deal! After that last bite I proclaimed to Ray “ok that’s it for eating out today… and I think my butt just got bigger”. I try and make up for the bad hot dog choice by walking around the drop yard where we delivered next and that night Ray parks the truck in the spot furthest from the truck stop entrance.

We have the cooler stocked with waters, apples, carrots, cheese sticks, and lunch meat. We have canned veggies, soup, peanut butter, almonds, and bread for making sandwiches in the cupboard. We have the ability to make good choices and despite the hot dog incident we are actually eating ok most of the time and we ALWAYS park as far away from the entrance as possible. I actually think I am exercising (really just walking) more now than before I got on the truck, which truly isn’t hard to imagine because I gave up exercise this past year in lieu of more sleep.

More exciting than my eating and exercising habits have been the adventures. My first few days I actually did a lot of sleeping – and I can sleep through anything so sleeping in a moving, constantly jerking, truck didn’t faze me a bit. Once I got caught up on my sleep we ventured through New York City bumper to bumper traffic and I got to listen in to C.B. Radio. It’s amazing what people will say when they can hide behind a radio and I heard it all. However it was going into Kentucky where I covered my eyes and sat nervously listening to the radio. Traffic was bumper to bumper on an up-hill corner leading to the bridge where it was condensing down to one lane. Drivers were not paying attention jetting in front of 18 wheelers and many apparently missed the sign that read “left lane ending”. After about 40 minutes of anxiety we were out and it’s been smooth rolling ever since. Today we are headed to the Sunshine state (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) for delivery on Wednesday and I am looking forward to the predicted 82 degrees.

The Big Rig Passenger

Welcome to the Big Rig Passenger Blog. In April of 2011 my husband and I decided we wanted to relocate to the Houston, TX area to be closer to his son. Subsequently, this decision led us to make many other changes in our life. Our move to Texas wouldn’t occur until the end of 2011. I was scheduled to complete my master’s degree in mid-November and we decided that it would be fun if I could join my husband on his truck for a month before we moved. This would give us a chance to enjoy quality time together and allow me to focus on looking for a job in Texas. We knew that this wouldn’t be possible without a thorough plan so planning is exactly what we did.

Through this blog I will share with you: the adventures I encounter while riding in the Big Rig Passenger seat, how we planned for this month long excursion, news from the trucking industry and maybe we will even have a guest post or two from others out on the road.

I look forward to keeping you all up to date and hope you enjoy following the Big Rig Passenger.

You can expect to see updates as follows:
Monday's at 7am: The Week in Review
Wednesday's at 7am: The Plan
Friday's at 7am: The Industry News
Weekends: More Road Stories & Guest Posts