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Financial Independence, Side Hustling, and Ebikes

January 2025 Side Hustle Report – $1,087.20

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This post may contain affiliate links. Affiliate Disclosure.This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

January has come and gone, so in this post, we’ll take a look at what I earned from side hustling and gig economy apps in January 2025. Here’s what I was able to make last month.

Side Hustle Income for January 2025

Total Side Hustle Income for January 2025 = $1,087.20

January was an unexpectedly strong side hustle month, mainly because Rover did so well for me in January. My side hustle income wasn’t very diversified though, with the vast majority of it coming from Rover, and a small amount coming from just four other sources. This is very different from prior months where things are split up more evenly and where I often have income coming from from ten or more different sources.

Here’s what my side hustle income looks like when put into a pie chart.

Rover made up a staggering 86% of my side hustle income for the month, with the other side hustles making up just a small slice of my side hustle income. Most of this is because of the weather. January is typically a slow month for me for food delivery because I don’t enjoy biking around in the cold. 

In the remainder of this post, we’ll go into more detail about my side hustle income in January.

 

Rental Income: $2,400

January had one stressful incident with the rental property. As a quick reminder, I manage one rental property, which was our former primary residence before we moved. It’s in a college neighborhood, so it’s currently rented out to four college students.

Anyway, one of my tenants gave me a call one evening letting me know that the heat wasn’t working. To make matters worse, it was very cold outside (January in Minnesota, so you can expect it to be really cold), and they didn’t know that the heat wasn’t working until they got back that evening. Since it was late in the day, I wasn’t able to find anyone who could come to the house right away, but I did get one reputable company scheduled to come first thing in the morning. Still, since it was so cold, the concern was that the pipes might freeze and cause even more trouble for me.

Fortunately, while the temperature in the house did drop a lot, it stayed around 40 degrees and I returned the next morning to find that nothing had frozen. The repair guy was also able to fix the boiler easily (it turned out the ignitor had failed, so he just had to replace the ignitor). I also got lucky that it was winter break, so most of my tenants were home for the holidays, and the one tenant that was around had family in the area and was able to stay with them for the night. 

Having the heat go out like that is one of my big nightmares, especially because the boiler is old and I’m always a bit concerned about what I’m supposed to do if it goes out in the middle of the winter. In the past, I have preemptively replaced some large items (I did a roof replacement with insurance last year and preemptively replaced a water heater a few years ago), but I’d like to avoid replacing the boiler if I can. For now, I’ll continue to have it tuned up each fall and hope I can catch any problems before they arise.

 

Rover Income: $935.85  

Most of my Rover income in January is a carryover from stays I had during the Christmas holiday in December. The big payout came from a three-week stay that started in December and went into the first week of January. This was a new client, but the pup was so well-behaved that it was essentially no additional work for me to watch this pup.

The remainder of the pups I watched were regular clients. I’m in a good spot where the majority of the pups I watch are repeat clients, so it’s easy work for me. That being said, I think I need to update my profile and try to get some new clients in the rotation.

 

DoorDash/Uber Eats/Grubhub Income: $54.95 

Here’s a look at what I made with each delivery app in January 2025.

I didn’t do a lot of food deliveries in January because of the weather. Since I do all my deliveries on my bike, the weather does play a factor in how motivated I am to get out there. Even though I bike year-round, doing deliveries when it’s single digits or snowy isn’t the most fun.

Some of the deliveries I did in January were also done while I was in DC visiting my parents. The nice thing about DoorDash and Uber Eats is that you can generally do deliveries in any city they operate in. I keep an electric scooter and an ebike at my parent’s house, so while I was visiting them, I did a few deliveries in the neighborhood using the scooter and ebike.

One issue I have coming up is that my license expired and while I did renew it, it seems like it could take months before my new one arrives. Grubhub requires a valid driver’s license but doesn’t accept my temporary paper license, so I’m locked out of Grubhub until my new license arrives. DoorDash and Uber Eats are also telling me I need to update my license to a non-expired one, so it’s possible I get locked out of my accounts if my new license doesn’t arrive soon.

 

Google Opinion Rewards/1Q/Facebook Viewpoints Income: $5.40 

Here’s what I made with each short survey app in January:

Not much to report here. Google Opinion Rewards is always good for a few bucks each month. And 1Q usually gets me a dollar or two each month. I’ll keep using these apps because they don’t take up much of my time or mental energy.

 

Secret Shopping Income: $88.50 (plus free food) 

I earned about my usual amount from Marketforce in January. The nice thing about secret shopping is you can do it anywhere, so I did several secret shops while I was in DC visiting my parents. 

Unfortunately, my secret shopping income is going to drop dramatically going forward because Marketforce terminated me seemingly randomly. I did send an email asking why I was terminated but only received a generic response saying my independent contractor agreement was terminated as permitted by the contract. This is now the second time I’ve been terminated by Marketforce – the first time I got terminated because I got in a fight with them about an assignment they rejected.

I still have other secret shopping websites that I use, so I’ll still get plenty of free food this month. It just won’t be as plentiful as it was before.

 

ReceiptPal/Receipt Hog/Fetch/CoinOut/Amazon Shopper Panel Income: $2.50

Amazon Shopper Panel brought in $2.50 for the month. Amazon Shopper Panel isn’t the amazing app it once was, but it should still make me a few bucks each month. 

 

And that concludes the January 2025 Side Hustle Report!   

January was a boring month for me from a side hustle perspective. I’m very happy that I was able to crack the $1,000 mark, but not so happy at how poorly diversified my income was for the month. As the weather warms up though, the food delivery income should improve. 

Anyway, that’s a quick look at my side hustle income for January 2025. I hit my goal of $10,000 of side hustle income last year, so hopefully we’ll be able to keep it up this year. However, with the secret shopping income dropping, it’s possible I might not be able to hit that mark unless I get the food delivery income up. We’ll see what happens.

This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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.

Recommended Bank Account Bonuses

If you’re looking for 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.
financial panther

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.

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