>I have a question to all that have posted here.
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>What is it exactly you are looking for?
Notwithstanding my "computers suck" opinion, I am proficient in computers and do use them daily for business, personal, and entertainment purposes.
In business, computers can help you analyze things that pencil and paper analysis can also yield, but not easily so, and thus not likely to be done.
For example, and this is just one of many, we once ran our dispatch information through a number of computer filters. This was information about dispatcher name, run count per dispatcher, type of load, average pay per load per dispatcher, average miles per load per dispatcher, etc. We were surprised to discover that we'd received loads from a far larger number of dispatchers than we would have guessed. We also discovered that one diapatcher in particular had given us more loads than any other and her loads were way below average in loaded miles but above average in pay per mile.
That analyais suggested corrective action, which is to tell the dispatcher that while we're happy to accept the large number of short runs she offers (they paid well), we'd feel a bit taken advantage of if short runs is all she offers. No other dispatcher gave us as many runs as she did. And no other dispatcher gave us shorter runs (on average) than she did. By identifying her as an exception, we learned to be more judicious with offers coming from her.
The funny thing is, that was a year-2005 analysis. Here we are all the way into May 2006 and she has yet to call us with an offer of any kind. We have no complaints about the runs she gave us. If they were bad, we would have turned them down. It's just that we feel we've done more than our short-run share for her and it's time for some longer runs too. That discovery may one day be the difference between a Friday offer for a Monday pickup that pays $900, and a Friday offer for an immediate pickup that delivers cross-country and pays $6,000. If that happens just once, it pays for several laptop computers.
Without the use of a computer and the spreadsheet I use, this dispatch information would have been missed.
Computers can save you time if you set them up correctly. Our banker wants from us a statement of net worth from time to time. Upon request, I can produce one with just a couple of mouse clicks. Using the pencil and paper method would be just as accurate, but much more time consuming. I'd rather watch a football game than use pencil and paper to generate a common report.
You don't need a computer to tell you to shop around for the best rate on a truck loan. But a spreadsheet can be very helpful and financially beneficial by helping you to decide the optimal amount to finance (compared to other uses for your money and credit); It can help you convert the variety of terms different lenders offer (prepayment penalties, length of the loan, skip a payment features, etc.) into a true apples-to-apples analysis. You can even set up different scenerios that may show that while one lender may charge a slightly higher rate, he or she may be the best option.
I mean secnerios like,"If I pay the loan off a year early, which lender is the better choice?" or "If I go with a variable-rate loan and rates jump one point next year and two points the year after that, how will that affect my cash flow?"
Running such scenerios help you make the best decision you can today and help you prepare for a variety of developments down the road.
With computers you can take your personal prosperity planning to another level. "Which is better, paying my truck loan off a year early or paying the loan off on schedule and investing the difference in my IRA account?"
The accelerated truck payment/IRA question requires you to factor into your analysis things like your age, planned date of IRA withdrawls, investment return scenerios (good and bad), and a time-value-of-money analysis. Yes you could do it with pencil and paper and a calculator, but the entire football season would likely be done before you were.
Finding the answers to such questions can very well be the difference between you relying on social security when you retire or driving around the country in an RV. It can be the difference between shopping at Wal-Mart or Dillards when you look for that new favorite sweater. It can be the difference between having an English-speaking health care worker coming to your home to feed you and change your diapers when you are old, or having a Spanish-speaking one doing so in a cut-rate nursing home.
Another example is using the computer to track detailed truck info like tire pressure, tread depth, fuel economy, and other such items. Establishing baseline figures for a truck over the years and then using a computer to detect variances and even plot graphs that make variences easier to view may help you spot developing problems early.
Another example is life on the road items, like finding a Wal-Mart to park in when you don't have an internet signal. I built a nationwide directory of Wal-Mart stores on my computer. It says which ones are SuperCenters and includes phone numbers for all stores. Some stores are not SuperCenters but are open 24 hours. Calling for store hours helps us find the 24 hour stores. When looking for a place to park and sleep (and it seems always spend some money of some sort at Wal-Mart), I can enter a zip code and find the stores in the area. Using a computer, we can find our home for the night in no time at all.
Another example is getting online to go to DieselBoss to plan fuel purchases on long runs. Even within states, where the fuel tax structure is the same, and even among the same truck stop brand, fuel prices can vary by several cents per gallon. Computer-aided fuel shopping can be a significant money saver.
Internet access opens you to a host of other resources that when used on the road can make life much more pleasant and profitable. Examples include:
- Going in for eyeglasses while we are on the road (which is pretty much all the time), and downloading a coupon that saves us $75 on new lenses.
- Searching for city and county parks and libraries to go to while waiting for freight (beats the heck out of sitting in dirty, noisy truck stops)
- Using online mapping resources for the rare times when neither Qualcomm directions nor our computer mapping programs pinpoint the pickup or delivery location.
- Using mapping software to quickly find good detours if we run into stopped traffic, closed roads, etc.
That extends beyond bookeeping, but helps justify the time, effort, and cost one must endure to get good with computers.
