The exciting part of writing my own blog is that I get to comment on a few silly topics from time to time. Most of these come from observations I have just watching people through the daily trials and tribulations of life. Having been in and around salespeople the past 21 years, I have witnessed many a salesperson trying to fit in a lunch or dinner while driving on the road hustling to make it to their next appointment. Sometimes at the end of the week, you can ascertain pretty quickly where you stopped to eat by checking out the stains on your clothes as you bag them for the dry cleaner. As most of you know, dry cleaning bills can add up pretty quickly between the shirts and suits you drop them off for cleaning every week.
Before I give you my list of what not to eat in your car, let's set some ground rules. If you are wearing a jacket (any kind of jacket), simply take it off and put it on a hanger before you get ready to drive on the road. Your jacket is generally the most expensive garment to clean and the piece of clothing that is most likely to get hit by some projectile ketchup dripping off your burger as you are cruising along the highway. If you do stop for food, see if you can get some of the higher grade napkins to spread out on your lap or carry a cheap blanket in your car to place over your lap before you eat as this may stop some of the spillage on your pants. Your pants will be the most next expensive item to clean after your jacket. After you have hung up the coat and have your lap blanket handy, here is my list of the food I see salespeople eat on the road that can just be a plain bad idea to munch on while driving to your next appointment.
1. Subway (or any kind of overstuffed sub) - You would think that a sub sandwich would be a relatively harmless meal to eat on the road. However, subs that are not in a wrap type sandwich will be bound to leave you with some sort of stain on your clothes. First of all, at least fifteen shreds of the cut up lettuce will end up falling out of the sandwich on to your clothes somewhere from the very first bite. This can be problematic because the lettuce will have oil, vinegar, or some type of condiment spread over it when it goes on the sandwich. If you enjoy some sort of mustard or mayonnaise on your sandwich, you need to be careful about this leaking out the side of the sandwich if you are trying to take big bites to finish the sandwich quickly. My advice on subs is to stick to a sandwich without any type of condiments which will give you your best chance to keep your clothes stainless.
2. Fast Food Drive Through Burgers - You can't possibly think that any type of burger (or chicken) sandwich made at any of the major fast food chains is a good idea for driving between appointments food. The last thing you want to happen at your next appointment is for your client to see the special sauce all over your favorite tie. In addition, don't ever convince yourself that you can do anything that involves dipping. Even if you have your ketchup packets and French fries all laid out neatly in the parking lot, it will be a disaster a few miles into the trip when ketchup goes flying as you hit a pothole in the road. Let's face it, any sandwich with lots of toppings and oozing sauces is bound to make your dry cleaning bill go up.
3. Anything You Need To Eat With A Spoon - One of your goals is to stay healthy and avoid those fast food type restaurants while you make sales during the day. Even though some of us believe we are octopus type drivers with eight arms, trying to eat foods like yogurt or soup on the road isn't going to make for a productive road trip. I would avoid juicy fruits like apples and oranges as well as they can be clothing killers as well even though they are healthy for you.
The great news about new automobiles today is that most of them come with some sort of center console that has storage space. If you make a smart money move (and health move), there are a number of foods you can probably leave in that console to eat if you need a snack as you travel throughout the day. I like to leave things like a bag of natural raw almonds, beef jerky, or raisins as good alternative to tide me over until the next time I can sit down for a meal. Obviously, avoid leaving foods that melt or health bars made with chocolate in your car.
Remember, by using these tips you might be able to save money on your cleaning bill. You'll also be a little be safer as you won't have to worry about catching the tomato slipping off your burger sandwich while you are in stop and go traffic. For all those salespeople out there who are road warriors, use these smart money moves about what not to eat in your car as your prepare for the week ahead of you!
Written by:
Ted Jenkin, CFP®, AAMS®, AWMA®, CRPC®, CMFC®, CRPS®
Co-CEO and Founder of oXYGen Financial, Inc - The Leaders in Gen X & Y Financial Advice and Services
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