Threw the towel in 6 months ago...
I'm one of those guys that's been in it for a long time, tried it every which way but loose, do ALL my own repairs including, but not limited to, services, brakes, most of the engine work I've needed, electrical, just everything and anything to save a buck. And I did. Bought a '97 in 2000, drove it and paid for it, and ran it 2 more years while enjoying the "no payment plan", and still ended up having a hard time.(This isn't my first rodeo, just telling the latest story of my adventures in truckin'...) The maintanence costs associated with a used truck, in my situation anyways, were excessive to say the least, even with all my sweat equity. But I justified it with continuing to say, "at least she's paid for..."
I was getting deeper in debt with the KGB (I mean, IRS,) due to the fact that it was hard to retain that reserve quarterly tax money when I was having trouble paying all my bills due to the spike in fuel costs. It wasn't for lack of effort or knowledge on my part, it was just a matter of economics as I see it. We all love what we do, and continue it because of that love, and that's honorable for sure. But sometimes, when things get "out of shape" financially and we find ourselves struggling harder than we used to, it pays to stop and take a survey of what's going on. I certainly did one day, and saw that I wasn't producing enough surplus revenue to allow for equipment replacement, or have a decent cash reserve for emergencies, etc. It's a good rule of thumb to have a cash emergency fund of 3-6 months of operating expenses including household expenses on hand, in case of a major hiccup in work, revenue, etc. With that said, it's obvious a lot of us are running close every week/month.
I parked the 'ol gal 6 months ago, and adjusted my once-ignorant attitude to enable myself to be gainfully employed, and since then, my wife and I are seeing that the 8-9-1000 bucks a week I bring in is actually sticking around now, instead of morphing into a set of steering tires, or fuel, or one of the many other incidentals related to this sport.
I'm not getting rich working for the man, and even lost my job suddenly last week and am scrambling for another one currently, but I can't muster up the 5K I'd need to register, insure, tire-up and fuel my 'ol Pete again, so it's off to the breadline once again...
Mama didn't say it was gonna be easy...
Thanks fer listenin'.
My wise Uncle Bill always said, "The harder you work, the luckier you get..." Ain't that the truth guys...
__________________
"Made some bad decisions as a youngster, I've been paying for it ever since..."
|