Welcome to this month’s side hustle report! If you’ve been following along, each month, I document what I made using various sharing economy and gig economy apps. It’s pretty great to have a little bit of extra income coming in each month for things that I’m basically already doing.
I primarily have four sources of side hustle income:
- Renting out a spare guest room on Airbnb
- Dogsitting using DogVacay or Rover
- Making deliveries using Postmates, Doordash, and Uber Eats
- Selling trash finds using Craigslist or OfferUp
Side Hustle Income for January 2017
I calculate side hustle income based on the payout date. Accordingly, if I perform a side hustle in December, but get paid for it in January, I count January as the date the income was earned.
For January, my side hustle income was as follows:
- Airbnb: $395
- DogVacay/Rover: $127.50
- Postmates/DoorDash/Uber Eats: $153.36
- Selling Trash Finds: $105
- Jobspotter: $25.98
Total Side Hustle Income for January 2017 = $806.84
The side hustle income continues to stay steady as we go through the winter months, although it’s a pretty big drop from what I saw in the warmer months. This is pretty expected, though. Deliveries naturally decline in the winter since I’m not really biking around as much when it’s cold. And Airbnb income decreases in the winter months since not too many people are coming to Minnesota in the winter.
You might notice a new side hustle source this month. I recently found an app called Jobspotter and have been having a blast trying it out. Basically, you get paid by taking pictures of hiring signs outside of businesses.
While the side hustle income isn’t enough to live off of, I’m still pretty happy with what I’ve been bringing in. I don’t rely on any of this side hustle income, so any amount I earn beyond my day job is basically icing on the cake. The great thing is, when you don’t need the income, you can have a lot of fun trying things out. There’s not a lot of pressure to make money. Plus, my startup costs for all of these gigs are basically zero.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown of how I earned my side hustle money this month:
Airbnb Income: $395
Airbnb income continues to be pretty low compared to what I brought in during the summer months. It’s sort of expected that Airbnb demand would dip during the winter. There aren’t a ton of people itching to come to Minnesota in the dead of winter!
Even with the chilly weather, we still had a decent number of people come into town. As in past months, most of our guests were students who were coming to town for interviews. I always love these type of guests because they’re super considerate, are easy to talk to, and basically only come to my house to sleep.
An upside of the lower demand is that we’ve had the house completely to ourselves a little bit more often. I have to admit, it’s been pretty nice to have the open space on our calendar and I suspect that we may host a little less often this year.
Related: Making Money With Airbnb: Why I Rent Out Our Guest Room
DogVacay and Rover Income: $127.50
We’ve been dog sitting now since 2015 and I’ve noticed that the beginning of each year is always pretty slow. A lot of people probably aren’t going on vacation to start off the year.
We only ended up watching one dog this past month – a younger pup belonging to a couple that lives not too far from us. The pup was a fine pup, but since she was younger, she was a bit more energetic compared to what we usually like. In a rare moment, we managed to capture the pups cuddling up on the couch together:
My goal each year is to bring in around $2,000 from dog sitting. I’m not quite sure if I’ll reach it this year, but I guess we’ll see. My listing on Rover basically gets no action these days, while my DogVacay listing is staying fairly consistent.
For whatever reason, my Rover listing keeps falling down in the page ranks. I really don’t understand how their search algorithm works because it seems to push sitters who have no reviews towards the top. Rover also appears to be way more saturated with sitters. If you don’t end up on the first page, it just makes it much harder to get bookings. That’s why, if you’re interested in trying out your hand at dog sitting, you should put your listing up on both platforms.
If you’re interested in trying out dog sitting, consider signing up to be a Rover sitter using my referral link here. If you host a pup within 90 days of signing up, I get a small bonus! DogVacay doesn’t offer a referral bonus, but you should also set up a profile there too. It doesn’t take any more work to have your profile up on both platforms.
Related: How I Make Over $2000 Per Year On DogVacay and Rover
Postmates/DoorDash/Uber Eats Income: $153.36
I only did a handful of deliveries this month due to cold weather, but surprisingly, the bike delivery income stayed high. The reason for this can be traced back to a referral promotion I signed up for several months ago. Back in November, I found out Uber Eats had opened up in my city and I signed up to be a bike messenger for it using a referral link I found online. I then promptly forgot that I had done that.
Fun Fact: the Uber people told me that I was the first person to sign up to be a bike messenger in my city. People are missing out on the possibility of getting paid to bike!
Two months later, I decided to pick up a random order on my way home from work. Once completed, I got a ping on my phone notifying me that I had earned a $100 bonus for completing 10 deliveries. Score! And a nice little bonus that I had completely forgotten about.
I’m all about taking advantage of those referral bonuses while they’re there, so you can probably guess what happened next. I signed Ms. FP up using my referral link. The plan is to have her do 10 deliveries whenever she gets the chance. Since it doesn’t appear that there’s any specific time limit in which the ten deliveries need to be done, we can pretty much take our time. If successful, we’re looking at $200 for me (my bonus for referring her) and $100 for her. That’s good for a $300 payday for just 10 deliveries, which honestly, shouldn’t take us more than a few hours to do.
If you’re interested in taking advantage of this pretty easy referral bonus, you should sign up to do 10 deliveries on Uber Eats using my link here. Uber Eats isn’t available in every market, so if you’re considering it, double check to make sure that it’s available where you live.
Related: My Postmates Side Hustle: How I Get Paid To Bike Around Town
Trash Income: $105
January was another pretty good trash income month. The big money sale was a dining room table we found back in August. I actually had this listed up for $80 originally but didn’t get many bites on it. I ended up lowering the price down to $50 this month in order to get it moving. That must’ve been the market price for it because it sold pretty much right away after that.
Tables are pretty easy to pick up because you can take them apart. Once you get the legs off, it’s basically just a flat piece of wood that you can store in your garage.
Another decent sale was this chair that we found at Ms. FP’s mom’s apartment. It was still in great shape and I sold it for a quick $30.
We’re starting to run through our trash haul from August, but I imagine we’ll see more stuff out there when spring rolls around and people are doing their spring cleaning.
Related: Making Over $1000 Selling Trash Finds Found In One Dumpster
Jobspotter Income: $25.98
Jobspotter is a fun new app that I recently discovered that I think might be worth trying out some more. It was created by Indeed, which is the big job search engine you’ve probably used before.
The idea of the app is to help crowdsource hiring signs. Anytime you see a hiring sign, you just snap a quick picture of it with the app. Jobspotter pays you between 5 cents and 1 dollar for every hiring sign that you see. You make more for businesses that legitimately look like they are looking for someone to work (as opposed to generic hiring signs that a lot of large businesses have).
Here’s what I made in my first month using it:
It’s a fun little app that’s perfect for when I’m out walking my pup or doing deliveries. I plan to write a more in-depth review about my experience with this app in a future post. Right now, I think it’s worth trying out next time you’re walking around town or hanging out at the mall.
And that concludes this month’s side hustle report! An extra $800+ in a month isn’t a bad thing to have! Be sure to tune in next month to learn more about my side hustle adventures.
And be sure to check out my side hustle report page, where you can find all of my monthly side hustle reports.
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More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
- Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
- Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
- Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – 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 Ebike – 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.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R 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 ($100) – 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 $100 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 just $10 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Webull (20 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 20 free shares 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 shares using Webull.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 2 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- 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.
- Upgrade ($200) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $200 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $200 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- Ally Bank ($100) – Of all the banks out there, Ally is, without a doubt, my favorite. At the moment, Ally is offering $100 to customers who open an eligible Ally account and meet the requirements. Here are the step-by-step directions to earn your Ally Bank referral bonus.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($175) – 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.
- 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.
- US Bank Business ($900) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- GO2Bank ($50) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $50 referral bonus.
- 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.
- 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.
- Varo ($25) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $25 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.
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.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $900 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- 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 $100 for opening an account.
- Empower. 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.
The diversity of your side hustle income sources is seriously on another level. I love these updates, you always point out different ways of making money here and there that I never knew were even available, keep the updates coming 🙂
Love the trash finds. I can’t believe what people throw away! Great month of side hustling income, FP! 🙂
It’s crazy. I just snuck into my old apartment building today and peeked in the trash. Found a perfect condition Sterilite storage bin (the kind you keep under your bed). Like why throw that out!?
Jobspotter seems interesting. I think that is small potatoes but everything adds up and it really takes no effort. I love how you do all the little things and are willing to try different stuff. Kudos to you !
-Brian
I’m a life time experimenter. I always like trying weird stuff out, and this Jobspotter app is pretty darn funny.
Love this side hustle report FP! You find such interesting side hustles to add to the list, referring to Jobspotter. Very inspiring!
Thanks MMM. It’s funny how much every little bit adds up.
Another solid month FP! I started my flipping side hustle this year and my goal is to make over $750 by the end of March. I might have to add Uber Eats to the list for a quick $100 too!
Awesome job Gary! Let me know how that flipping side hustle goes. Are you talking about buying stuff then selling it for more? Or finding trash like I do?
Nicely done, $800 in extra income is nothing to sneeze at! I’ve never heard of the DogVacay service – might be interesting to do it sometime and eliminates the concerns of actually getting a dog. I look forward to reading your full review on JobSpotter as well.
It’s a great way to get to play with dogs without actually having to own a dog. The good thing is you can learn about different breeds of dogs from doing this. Check out my previous post on my experience with DogVacay and Rover if you’re interested in trying them out.
Love reading your side income posts because you come up with such creative ways to hustle! Well done!
I actually never heard of Jobspotter until now! Very cool concept!
And even though your side income dropped a bit, $806.84/month gives you a $9682/year side income, which saves you a whopping $242,052 in the portfolio using the 4% rule! If you think about it that way, it’s shaving years off your retirement date. Well done!
I didn’t even think about it that way but you’re totally right! This is one thing I absolutely love about these gig economy/sharing economy apps – they’re perfect for someone who’s going for FIRE. If you wanted to rely less on your portfolio, all you need to do is pick up some of these on-demand side gigs whenever you’ve got the time. I can’t think of many part-time jobs that let you just work whenever you feel like it.
And a lot of these apps let you do it from any city that has the service, meaning you don’t even need to be tied down to any specific place necessarily.
I love these side hustle reports, FP. Great job! It just goes to show you, money really is everywhere if you’re willing to look for it.
Since your original article, we’ve hosted about 6 dogs on Rover/DogVacay now and made almost $1,000 since the fall. Thanks for the heads up!
That’s awesome! I didn’t know you were still doing it, but glad to see you’ve enjoyed it! Hopefully, you haven’t been hit with any nightmare dogs!
Great update, FP! It make sense that things would slow down during the winter months, but hey some income is better than none.
$800 is better than nothing. Puts me on pace for an extra $10k per year. For a normal person making something like $50k a year, that’s like a 20% raise. And my startup costs to earn that extra $10k basically equals zero.
Great job with the side hustles. And thanks for sharing the new one…I think that’s one I can do when I’m out and about without eating much of my free time. How many pictures did you have to upload to get to $25? Look forward to your review of that app.
I took a ton of pictures, but it really depends on how good of a hiring sign it is. If its like a McDonalds sign, for example, you’ll basically get just a few cents. But if you see a handwritten hiring sign on a small business, that’s a “big money” one. Just as an example, I was in my old college town a few weekends ago and just walking from a coffee shop back to my friends apartment, I made 5 bucks. There were tons of hiring signs all over the place! And each one probably takes me 10-20 seconds to take. Obviously, I wouldn’t go around actively doing this, but if you’re just walking by and notice a sign, why not just take a quick pic.
Is this something where you can snap the pic in passing and upload later? Or do you need to take the pic through the app and upload it on the spot?
You gotta take the pic with the app and upload it right there. It’s two pictures – take a picture of the hiring sign and take a picture of the front of the store.
Hi there. I use jobspotter, too and often on my spare phone which only has a Wi-Fi connection at home or through a public hot-spot. No data, in other words. To provide a few more details to your answer, I must say that you have to take the two photos through the app. You can’t use the native camera or any other app. But, you don’t need an internet/data connection when you take them. Just take them through the app and then upload them the next time you connect. You have to remember to manually do this or they’ll just sit end up sitting there unused and unpaid for, but it’s super easy and just takes one click.
You need to take them through the app, but you don’t need to be connected when you take them. Just remember to go back into the app and click the upload button the next time you do connect.
Awesome job!
I hadn’t heard about the Jobspotter app; I’ll have to check it out. Sounds like a more fun version of Pokemon Go since you actually earn money! 🙂
It’s exactly like Pokemon Go! I find myself looking at stores a lot more too when I pass by.