App Gigs to bring in some extra income

[MySunrise271]

Anyone doing side gigs with the plethora of apps, Uber, instacart, grub hub, DoorDash, etc.?  What’s your experience been?  I’m enjoying DoorDash, flexible enough to allow me to knock out a few debts on my down time and have a little fun while doing it🙂

[CBartowski]

So I drove for Uber and Lyft for a while and have to say I loved it. If my current situation allowed it and I didnt drive a SUV used to transport dogs consistently I'd be out there.

However, if you decide to do the same, a few pointers:

-DO NOT sign up for their lease "deals", they are indeed garbage my friend if you run the numbers and you will take a HP

-Plan ahead for taxes. You are treated as an indepenent contractor so you will pay self employment taxes as neither company will withhold taxes from your checks

-Pick your times stragtegically (ie. rush hours, weekend/weekend nights, etc). I always had a rule though, I would always love to take people out TO bars but not FROM the bars BUT to each their own. This makes the most sense if you have flex schedule at work and have driving part time

Driving part time and not relying on the income was incredibly freeing and allowed for better customer service, IMO, I was able to make stops and turn down rides at will and not worry about the nasty grams I got from Uber. My customers appreciated the extra effort and service. This was pre-tipping.

My girlfriend actually uses Rover (dog watching) full time and makes good money doing it. Would be a decent side gig for sure! 

Anyway, good luck with the search, I'll be checking back to see what others post.

[Anonymous]

I've looked into some of them, unfortunately 99% of them do not work in my area. The downfalls of my current situation, picking up extra income outside normal channels is very limited.  

[Anonymous]

Uber is a scam.. 

Uber the Car Value Advance Company | BeatTheBush

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqV14VTKTAk

[Revelate]

Pretty sure there are math problems with that analysis.

Namely 3 years in Uber drivers have made more money after taxes than 10k annually and hell they can deduct all the miles too from said taxes, and that wasn’t factored at all.

Not saying Uber is all peaches and cream financially especially in all areas at all times but that analysis isn’t the full picture.

[Anonymous]

I've known some TaskRabbit taskers. They seem to love it.

[MySunrise271]

Not remotely interested in transporting people or packages. DoorDash is it for me...as I said just enough fun in my down time to pull in a few dollars.  I have a new appreciation for the service workers...🙂

[Anonymous]

I started out doing UberEats, DoorDash and Postmates because the car I had wasn't nice enough to carry around passengers but was fine to deliver food. Recently I got a different car, which is nicer and is good enough to drive around passengers so I signed up for Uber and Lyft. In my opinion, I make much more money driving around passengers vs. food deliveries but that will differ depending on your area. There's the pros and cons of each of those like the amount of personal interaction required, the condition that you have to keep the car in for passengers, etc etc. I know that driving around people isn't for everyone and driving around just food can definitely be profitable as a side gig. I've been planning a trip across the country for vacation and seriously the only reason that I'm going to be able to afford it is because of me doing the food delivery and rideshare gigs. My regular job doesn't generate enough money for me to be able to save very much very quickly, and I'm extremely glad that these side gig apps exist. 

I use Everlance to track my mileage and expenses for gas and car maintenance. There's both a free and a paid version. There's many other apps that do the same thing though, it's a matter of personal preference really. I didn't end up owing anything at tax time. If you have enough deductions to submit, you'll probably owe little to nothing in taxes at the end of the year. If you don't keep track of your expenses though.....you'll end up owing big time. I learned the hard way with a different 1099 job, years ago. Now I keep track of everything.