Welcome to this month’s edition of the side hustle report. If you’re new, each month I document exactly what I earned doing various side hustles using sharing economy and gig economy apps. I think there’s a lot of value in showing exactly what you can make with these types of apps. They’re super flexible and cost pretty much nothing in upfront costs. There aren’t a lot of businesses that allow you to make money pretty much overnight, whenever you want.
When it comes to side hustling, I have four main sources of income:
- Renting out a spare guest room on Airbnb
- Dogsitting using DogVacay or Rover
- Making deliveries using Postmates, Doordash, Uber Eats, and Tapingo.
- Selling trash finds using Craigslist or OfferUp
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out my post on How I Made $14k Through The Sharing Economy In 2016. I document exactly what I made last year using these types of apps.
Side Hustle Income for April 2017
I calculate side hustle income based on the payout date. Accordingly, if I perform a side hustle in March, but get paid for it in April, I count April as the date the income was earned.
For April, my side hustle income was as follows:
- Airbnb: $0
- DogVacay/Rover: $148.75
- Postmates/DoorDash/Uber Eats/Tapingo: $143.43
- Selling Trash Finds: $70
- Jobspotter: $16.86
- WeGoLook: $20
Total Side Hustle Income for April 2017 = $399.04
It was a low earning side hustle month but pretty expected considering the fact that I got married on April 22nd, then spent a week in Puerto Rico on my honeymoon. As you can probably imagine, my time was pretty limited in April. Turns out that last month of wedding planning is ridiculous. We were pretty much driving all over the metro area getting all of the last bits of stuff we needed for the wedding.
Still, even with very little time, we managed to bring in an extra $400. That’s pretty incredible when you consider how little free time I had in April between planning a wedding, my day job, and this blog.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of my April 2017 side hustle income:
Airbnb Income: $0
Nothing to report here on the income front. Since we were getting married in April we decided to block off the entire month just to make things easier for us. It’s a good thing we did because our house was pretty much a disaster for all of April.
This flexibility is exactly why I think Airbnb is such a valuable tool for anyone looking to monetize their home. When you think about it, in the world of rental income, flexibility is pretty much non-existent. If you’re doing a traditional rental, that basically means you’re giving up your property to someone else for at least a year. Who knows what might come up during that time? With Airbnb, you can make some extra money while keeping your options open.
From the guest front, Airbnb is my preferred way to travel because you can stay in great areas for way cheaper than a traditional hotel, especially if you’re willing to opt for a private room instead of a whole house rental.
If you’ve never used Airbnb as a guest, sign up for Airbnb using my link and you’ll get $40 off your first stay. That’s a terrific deal for pretty much anyone! If you use my link to become an Airbnb host, you’ll also get a $75 bonus once you host your first guest!
DogVacay/Rover Income: $148.75
Our dog sitting income for April actually ended up being higher than I expected. This can be attributed to a week-long stay we had at the beginning of the month. Since we were getting married, we only made ourselves available for the first half of the month in order to avoid getting overwhelmed.
Our single guest pup for the month was terrific – an older black poodle that got along really well with Financial Pup. I always like watching older pups because they’re almost always pretty calm and well trained. You’re usually not going to get a ton of surprises with an old dog.
Our guest pup had a cloudy left eye and was pretty much deaf. He wouldn’t even get up when we got home because he couldn’t hear us. I’d always have to be loud as I approached him since I didn’t want to scare him while he was sleeping.
Hopefully, we can watch this pup again because he was just terrific!
If you’re a dog lover, you should definitely sign up to be a sitter on Rover here. You should also sign up to be a sitter on DogVacay as well. It’s always best to put yourself on as many platforms as possible.
Postmates/DoorDash/Uber Eats/Tapingo Income: $143.43
The delivery game continues to be fairly consistent, although I haven’t had as much time for deliveries as I’d like. A part of it is just laziness. The other part of it was dealing with planning a wedding and working on this blog in my spare time. My hope is that I can make some more time for deliveries during the summer, especially since the days are getting longer and warmer now.
In terms of where the money came from, the majority of my delivery income this month came from Tapingo. Basically, Tapingo is a delivery service that’s aimed only at college kids. I like to grab those Tapingo orders because I live right next to campus and can usually pick up and deliver orders while I’m walking around. Unfortunately, since they’re aimed at college kids, they shut down once the semester ends, which means I’ll be short one delivery platform until school starts up again.
As for a breakdown, this is what my earnings looked like with each delivery platform:
- Postmates: $14.44
- Doordash: $47.44
- Uber Eats: $0
- Tapingo: $81.55
If you live in a market that has these delivery services, I think you should definitely consider signing up for them. It’s a great way to basically get paid to bike around town. And it’s seriously fun!
Here’s what the referral bonus landscape currently looks like.
- Postmates – Unknown referral bonus. Typically requires completing 30 deliveries within 30 days to qualify for a bonus. Ms. FP and I made $500 once by having me refer her.
- Uber Eats – This is a super easy bonus to get. All you have to do is make 10 deliveries to get a $100 bonus. I think it’s worth signing up, doing the ten deliveries, and snagging the easy $100 bonus.
Trash Income: $70
The trash income remains fairly steady even though we were super busy for most of the month with wedding stuff. We didn’t sell a ton of great stuff, but all the little things we sold added up.
One thing I was really happy to get rid of this month were three dining room chairs we found last August. I listed them up sometime during the winter for $30 and they’ve just been sitting in our garage for months. They’re great chairs, but it didn’t seem like anyone had any interest in them. I think the problem was that they were listed up as three chairs and pretty much no one needs just three chairs. You usually need four chairs to have a set.
On the day we came back from our honeymoon, some guy texted me and said he could pick them up that evening. A pretty easy sale and he commented on how nice these chairs were. Definitely better they’re in someone’s house than in a landfill.
Other things we sold for the month were a TV stand, a few office chairs, and an Ikea frame we found in the trash a while back. We’re up to $420 worth of trash sold for the year, which puts us right on pace to hit my goal of $1,000 worth of trash sold.
Related: Making Over $1000 Selling Trash Finds Found In One Dumpster
Jobspotter Income: $16.86
Jobspotter income remains about the same. I even managed to snag a few hiring signs while I was in Puerto Rico, including signs written only in Spanish. I’m not sure if Jobspotter works internationally, but it looks like it works in U.S. Territories.
I’m fairly certain that I should be able to hit around this amount in Jobspotter income each month, which means that hopefully, I should hit around $120 or more by the end of the year.
Most people don’t realize it, but there are hiring signs everywhere. All you have to do is keep an eye out when you’re biking or walking around. Anyone who says otherwise has no idea what they’re talking about. Or they just drive everywhere and never actually see any storefronts since they’re just in their car all the time.
Be sure to check out my post, Jobspotter App Review: Earn Extra Money By Taking Pictures of Hiring Signs. I go into more detail there about how Jobspotter works. It’s a fun app to try out.
WeGoLook Income: $20
I snagged another easy 20 bucks from WeGoLook last month. My parents were in town for my wedding and I needed to bike over to their hotel to meet up with them for dinner. Earlier in the day, I had gotten a call from WeGoLook asking me if I could take pictures of a parking ramp entrance located downtown. Turns out a car had pulled out of a parking ramp and collided with a biker. The insurance company needed someone to go down there and take pictures of the scene so that they could see what it looked like.
Since I was already going that way, I accepted the request. It was only a block away from my parents hotel. Once I got there, I snapped a few pictures and uploaded them through the app. Then it was off to meet my parents for dinner. Pretty easy money.
The WeGoLook income is pretty inconsistent and I reject way more requests than I accept, but when there are gigs close by, it’s a pretty easy source of side income that I can just incorporate into my day.
And that concludes this month’s side hustle report.
April was a low earning month simply because we had to block off a lot of days for wedding stuff and our honeymoon. But that’s the beauty of these sharing economy gigs. They’re so flexible that you can just do them whenever you want.
Related: How I Made $14k In One Year With The Sharing Economy
Be sure to check out my side hustle report page if you’re interested in seeing what I’ve made in other months. And to make it easier, here are some links to my recent side hustle reports right below! Enjoy!
March 2017 Side Hustle Report – $1,251.91
February 2017 Side Hustle Report – $800.33
January 2017 Side Hustle Report – $806.84
December 2016 Side Hustle Report – $704.43
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes/scooters I've had the chance to do a review for:
- GEN3 Outcross Bike – The GEN3 Outcross is a solid, affordable fat tire ebike that does a good job of doing what I need it to do. It works great for city riding, giving me a smooth ride in all conditions. It’s works really well as a winter ebike since the fat tires give it good traction over snow and ice. Check out my GEN3 Outcross Review.
- Himiway Escape Bike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Bike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($10) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $10 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Moomoo (5 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 5 free stocks (usually worth around $75-$100) if you open an account using a referral link and deposit $2,000. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Webull (5 free stocks) – Webull also gives you 5 free stock valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free stocks using Webull.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- Upgrade ($100) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $100 referral bonus if you open an account and complete three debit card transactions. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Importantly, this bonus says that it’s now scheduled to end on October 31, 2022. As long as you get your account opened before October 31st, you should be eligible. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $100 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- SoFi Money ($350) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $300 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Fifth Third Bank ($250) – This offer is limited to customers in the following states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and South Carolina. If you don’t live in one of those states, you won’t be able to open an account online but you can still open an account in-branch if you happen to be visiting a city that has a branch. This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, especially since there are plenty of data points showing what will trigger the direct deposit requirement. In addition, you can open the Fifth Third Momentum Checking bank account, which comes with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. Read my guide on this bonus here.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link.Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- OnJuno ($100) – OnJuno is a fintech/neobank that is currently offering a $100 referral bonus if you open an account using a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $250 or more. The account has no fees or minimum balance requirements. Even better, the bonus posts immediately after you meet the requirements. If you can meet the direct deposit requirements, OnJuno is an easy bank bonus that’s worth snagging. Check out my OnJuno referral bonus guide here.
- Varo ($50) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $50 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($100) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Spiral ($50) – Spiral is a fintech bank that's currently offering new customers a $50 signup bonus after opening a free checking account with them. The Spiral referral bonus is especially good because it's a free checking account and doesn't require a direct deposit to earn the bonus. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Spiral Bank bonus.
- One Finance ($50) – One Finance is a fintech bank that’s currently offering a $50 signup bonus if you open an account using a One Finance referral link and have a direct deposit of $250 or more. This is a completely free bank account with no minimum balance requirement, so if you can meet the requirements, it’s worth doing. Check out my One Finance referral bonus guide here.
- Albert ($150) – If you can manage to do a real direct deposit, Albert is an easy account you can use to earn a referral bonus. Here’s a review about Albert I wrote. And here’s a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Albert referral bonus.
- Netspend ($20 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $20 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $20 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
- Upgrade Bank. Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $100 referral bonus if you open an account and complete three debit card transactions. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Note that it’s now scheduled to end on October 31, 2022.
- Novo Bank. Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. It’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $10 for opening an account.
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
Congrats on the wedding! That ocean view looks nice 🙂
Thanks Troy! I’ll definitely be sharing more about my honeymoon soon!
Nice job on the small streams of income. They add up! I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy who bought the chairs paints the wood some bright funky colors.
Have your heard anything good about people using DogVacay for cats? And by the way, Financial Pup is like the cutest dog, EVER! I want to reach out and pet him.
I always wonder what happens to some of the trash I end up selling. Would be fun to find out what happened to it.
I actually haven’t heard of any cat version of DogVacay, but could be a startup opportunity there! Only thing holding it back is that cats are more self-sufficient, so maybe not as high a demand. And Financial Pup loves the attention!
I can’t believe with everything else you had going on that you found time to do any side-hustling! I’d love to do the Dogvacay, but we have 2 cats that wouldn’t love it quite so much.
Congrats on the wedding and your honeymoon looks fantastic!!!
I really probably didn’t have much time! But that’s sort of what’s good about these side gigs, yeah, they’re not a ton of money, but they also don’t necessarily have to take up much time either.
Congrats on the wedding! This is what I love about side hustling: if life gets in the way, then you just hit the pause button on the side hustle. No harm no foul. It’ll be there waiting for you when you’re ready.
I love older dogs! They’re so sweet and mellow. I just updated my DV/Rover profiles to accept boarding dogs at my house, and so far I have one request, but I haven’t done the meet-n-greet yet. They said he was older and sweet, so here’s hoping 😀 I’m getting really burnt out on puppies…
Yeah, young pups are tough. I usually can’t take really young pups because I have a day job, so pups need to be able to stay at home alone.
What do you think of the DV/Rover merger. I’m not liking it at all – and might be a topic of a future post.
Looks like Rover and Dogvacay have finally merged. Any advice for someone new to one of those to get more attention for bookings?
Yeah, I’m still figuring out the impact of the Rover DogVacay merger. I haven’t been happy with Rover for a while now, and time will tell whether my dog sitting side hustle is going to be destroyed by the change. Really, the key is just getting those first few reviews under your belt. Once you get them, you’ll start to get a few more bookings. The problem with Rover compared to something like Airbnb, is that people can watch multiple dogs at once. It essentially means you have more competition because one person could, in theory, watch every single dog in the neighborhood.