AviatorPop

Any advice on how to get through the first couple years as a CFI/Regional Pilot? I'm pretty frugal right now but any advice or tips would help me out. thanks

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"A word to the wise is infuriating." -HST

Pilotpip

Buy a lunchbox that's big enough for a four day. That alone will save you hundreds of dollars a month.

Don't go to Starbucks every day.

Take notepads/pens out of your hotel rooms.

Take a bottle of water and a can of coke with you off the plane every day.

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Frank was RIGHT!

CFIcare

I lived in Florida during my tenure as a CFI.

Locals, some of whom were literally fishing to feed their family, taught me just about everything. Before long I could take my rod with me after work, head down to the bridge, pull up dinner and be home in an hour.

I always had a freezer full of grouper, snapper, flounder, stone crab claws, blue crabs, cobia etc that I'd catch off piers/docks/boats in Tampa Bay and the Gulf. Those crab claws sell for $18/pound in stores. I caught them with a string basket, and some chicken necks stuffed in some nylon stockings and tied to the bottom of the basket.


That and Ramen. Lots of ramen...

AviatorPop

Good ole ramen..........That's awesome you caught all those types of fish. I'd love to CFI and fish

__________________
"A word to the wise is infuriating." -HST

CFIcare

Well, fishing for food is pretty desperate, but that's because I was making $150 a week (average) and rent alone was $405.

If you don't happen to live near easily fishable water, (I could actually fish off the seawall at my apartment complex too) another option is to find one of those discount stores where they have a lot of generic brands and dented cans and stuff. I think Sav-a-lot is one of them.

Another really desperate thing I did at one point was I netted about 25 mullet (first time doing this) and when cleaning them I discovered this weird yellow hot dog sac inside each one. One of the guys at the pier told me they must be females and that was the roe sac. So I figured maybe an Asian grocery store would be willing to buy them for sushi and that kind of thing. I got paid $17 for each one, and that's just the sac, not the fish.

Paid better than an hour of dual, actually!

AviatorPop

That's awesome! yea we have ALDI and they have pretty good prices.

__________________
"A word to the wise is infuriating." -HST

Pilotpip

Just to give you an idea. I just bought a $39 Luggage works lunchbox. Packed lunchmeat, cheese, tortillas, chopped up some veggies and snack food (wheat thins, carrots, fruit cups) and plasticware. In the first four days the money I saved paid for the bag. Oh yeah, I ate better too. The wraps were easy to do in cruise and quite tasty.

I ate out with the crew once at a pricey seafood place, and my food expenses for the trip were $50. Had I not gone out to eat it would have been around $20. Looking at my trips last month I averaged $85 per trip.

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Frank was RIGHT!

crewdawg

Pack your lunch.

Reader? Use the library or half.com.

Some people raise deductibles on car insurance. Can be risky if you don't have a decent emergency fund saved.

If your not home much cut the cable, go with netflix.

Sell stuff you rarely or don't use anymore.

Buy a pair of clippers and have a friend or significant other cut your hair. A friend of mine cuts his own hair and you'd never know.

Go shopping with a list, buy only what's on the list.

Don't pay interest.

Check this thread. Frugality Tips In A Budget Squeeze

1st overnite

Eat lots of Ramen noodles. Lay off of them when you get close to your medical because that can really raise the blood pressure. Way too much sodium.

Have a roommate.

Visit thrift shops. When I was an istructor and had to move, everything I owned fit into a 89 Honda Accord. If it didn't fit, I'd sell it and buy another one at a thrift shop.

Most important, don't have a high maintenace girlfried or wife.