For over a year now, I’ve been tracking what I’ve been earning each month from side hustling using sharing economy apps. Â I never really tracked what I was earning before starting this blog – I just knew that I had some extra money coming in.
Tracking this income has really opened my eyes up to what’s possible. Â And my hope is that these reports have helped to show people that anyone can make an extra $500 or $1,000 per month without a ton of extra work. Believe me, as a lawyer and blogger, I’m not sitting on a bunch of free time or something.
The thing that stops a lot of people from making extra money is that they let fear or laziness stop them. Starting up a side hustle can be risky. It takes time and costs money. Time and money are what stops most people from trying out ways to make extra money on the side. The nice thing is that with these sharing economy apps, anyone can get started without spending very much time or money at all. Â It’s just a matter of going out there and doing it!
I primarily earn my side hustle income through four avenues:
- Renting out a spare guest room on Airbnb
- Dogsitting using Rover.com
- Making deliveries using Postmates, Doordash, Uber Eats, and Tapingo
- Selling trash finds using Craigslist and OfferUp
Side Hustle Income for July 2017
Here’s what my side hustle income looked like for July.
- Airbnb:Â Â $1,129
- Rover:Â $191.25
- Postmates/DoorDash/Uber Eats/Tapingo:Â $74.89
- Selling Trash Finds:Â $356
- Jobspotter:Â $19.21
- WeGoLook:Â $40
- Field Agent/Gigwalk:Â $6.15
Total Side Hustle Income for July 2017 =Â $1,816.50
Things look pretty good this past month on the side hustle front. For the vast majority of people out there, an extra $1,816.50 of extra income is huge.  And this is all done on top of my full-time day job. I always have to remind people about that.
As usual, Airbnb was the big income generator for the month. Â But the big surprise, I think, was how much I earned from selling trash this month!
Here’s a detailed breakdown of my July 2017 side hustle income:
Airbnb Income: $1,129
July was a huge earning month in terms of Airbnb income. We ended up booking 17 total nights in July – a little over two weeks – for an average rate of about $66 per night.
As you might expect, summer tends to be higher demand here in the Twin Cities. If you’re a smart Airbnb host, you’ll take advantage of higher demand by raising rates. My goal is to always get as much income as I can while having the fewest nights books. Â That way, I can have the house to myself more often.
To achieve this, I use Beyond Pricing to dynamically set my prices in a manner similar to how a hotel does it. When demand is higher, it raises rates for me. When demand is lower, it decreases rates for me. Basically, my prices change every day. Using a tool like Beyond Pricing is definitely something that any serious Airbnb host should do.
Being able to make over $1,000 in a month just by opening up our spare guest room for a few weeks is pretty astounding when you think about it. It’s literally a room in our house that would otherwise sit unused. We currently just save all of our Airbnb income, but the income that we do make could easily be used to offset our monthly mortgage payments if we wanted to, essentially allowing us to live for almost free. Not a bad house hack at all.
If you’re on the fence about Airbnb, I’d still say to just give it a shot for a few days a month, just to see if it’s for you. Even if you hate strangers, I think that anyone can manage to host a guest for just a few days in a month. If you find out that Airbnb isn’t something you enjoy, then just stop doing it. Honestly, you won’t know if something is for you unless you actually go out there and give it a shot.
Related:Â Why I Rent Out Our Guest Room On Airbnb
Recommendations:
- If you’ve somehow never used Airbnb before, sign up to be a guest here and you’ll get $40 off your first stay.
- If you’re considering hosting, sign up to be an Airbnb host using this link.
Rover Income: $191.25
As many of you might know, Rover bought DogVacay earlier this year to become the primary player in the dog sitting space. I was worried that my dog sitting business would suffer simply due to the fact that I wasn’t getting a ton of inquiries on Rover and my listing seemed to be getting buried in the search.
Luckily, it looks like my dog sitting business is staying decently strong. I hosted two pups this month, both of whom were easy to watch. Â Our favorite pup for the month was definitely this guy (the pug on the left):
We’ve watched pugs before and in my experience, they’re super easy to watch. The only issue we had with this pup is that he doesn’t fit in well with out active lifestyle – we like to walk a lot with Financial Pup, but this guy couldn’t really walk all that far without laboring a ton to breathe. He’s a true couch potato.
The other pup we watched this month was a tiny, 14-year old pup. A very cute pup that couldn’t really do a ton due to his age. He also made Financial Pup look huge in comparison.
Overall, July was definitely a good dog sitting month, with two pups that I hope we get to watch again in the future. For anyone who already owns a friendly dog, making a bit of extra income with dog sitting is a natural fit. If you’re already taking care of one pup in your daily life, it doesn’t add much work to take care of a second one at the same time.
I’m not making a ton of money dog sitting, but an extra $1,000 or $2,000 in a year isn’t chump change for most people. In a way, I see it as Financial Pup pulling her weight in our household. We wouldn’t be dog sitting if we didn’t have to take care of one pup already. It’s a way that my dog helps me earn money.
Related: How I Make Over $2000 Per Year On Rover
Recommendations:
- If dog sitting sounds like a fun way to make a little extra money, then sign up to be a Rover sitter here. You’ll learn how to run a business and you can get paid to watch dogs! Sounds like a win-win to me.
Postmates/DoorDash/Uber Eats/Tapingo Income: $74.89
Not a ton to report on this front. I’ve been doing deliveries pretty sparingly lately just due to lack of time. Unlike Airbnb or Rover, doing deliveries is pretty active income – I can only earn money by going out and actually doing deliveries. Â In general, my goal is to make about $50 a week doing deliveries, which should be easily done in most situations.
Related:Â Click Here To Read More About My Experience Biking With Postmates
Otherwise, I don’t have a ton to report here beyond that I think deliveries are still my favorite thing to do. If I could make a living doing it full-time, I probably would.
Remember that if you want to do deliveries, I think the only right way to do it is by bike. You get all the benefits of biking – exercise, saving the environment, low costs – and get paid to boot! This is something I think Mr. Money Mustache himself could try out even.
Recommendations:
- If you’re a hardcore Mustachian and like biking, be sure to sign up to do deliveries with Postmates, DoorDash, and Caviar if they’re available in your city. They’re available in most decently sized cities in the US. If your market doesn’t let you sign up to be a bike delivery person, one way around it is to just sign up as a car delivery person, then ask to switch over to a bike. I’ve found that works for a lot of people.
- Also, sign up to deliver with Uber Eats and snag yourself a referral bonus.  They usually offer at least a $100 signup bonus and depending on your city, it’ll require you to do between 10 to 30 deliveries to earn the bonus (in my market, it was 10 deliveries, which was really easy to do).
Trash Income: $356
My trash income this month was off the charts – the highest trash earning month in Financial Panther history! Remember, this is money we’re making from stuff we literally found in the street! There’s a ton of treasure out there if you’re willing to keep your eyes peeled.
Without a doubt, our biggest sale of the month was this dresser that my wife and I found when we were on our way home from my sister-in-law’s apartment.
It was just sitting there on the side of the road and was in great condition except for the fact that the bottom drawers weren’t rolling out properly. My wife is the handy one in our relationship, so she went off to Home Depot, bought some replacement rollers, and fixed up all of the drawers. The total cost to fix the dresser up was about $20. We ended up listing the dresser for $175 and found a buyer within two weeks. Â Not a bad return on investment! Honestly, we’d have kept this dresser if we had space for it in our house.
We sold a bunch of other things that are too numerous to list here – mainly desks and other bits of furniture that we found or had sitting in our garage from earlier in the year. It doesn’t seem like much at the time – $20 here, $20 there – but it adds up. It’s surprising how much you can make from selling stuff that other people are throwing away.
With July in the books, we’ve now sold $888 worth of trash in 2017. Â Just think about that for a second. Â That’s $888 worth of stuff that we’ve literally found in the street.
Related:Â Making Over $1000 Selling Trash Finds Found In One Dumpster
Jobspotter Income: $19.21
I’m still making between $13 and $25 per month by taking pictures of hiring signs using Jobspotter. Sometimes, people tell me that they’re not finding any hiring signs, but honestly, I don’t believe it. There are hiring signs everywhere, no matter where you’re located. I doubt you’re in a city that just doesn’t have hiring signs.
Through 2017, I’ve now made a total of $132.30 just from taking pictures of hiring signs! That’s crazy when you think about it.
Related:Â Jobspotter App Review: Earn Extra Money By Taking Pictures of Hiring Signs.
WeGoLook Income: $40
For those of you that don’t know, WeGoLook is basically an app where you take pictures of things on behalf of insurance companies. When a gig is available, I get a notification on my phone and if it’s nearby, I’ll go ahead and take the gig.
I did two pretty easy intersection photo gigs this past month that paid me $20 each and took me about 10 minutes to do. Â I did one of the gigs while I was out running with my wife – the intersection that I needed to take photos of was about 3 miles away, so I figured I could get some exercise out of it by running to that spot instead of just running around randomly. Â This is exactly why I like these type of apps – they let me earn money while I’m out doing what I’m already doing.
Field Agent/GigWalk: $6.15
I’ve mentioned these apps before, but both of these apps are picture apps where you take pictures of things in stores for audit purposes. Â They’re not always worth doing and they don’t pay much, but some of them only take a few minutes to do and can easily be completed while you’re out doing your errands. Â To be honest, I don’t even remember what I did to earn this money. I know I didn’t go out of my way to do it though. My guess is that I was in a store and happened to see these gigs available. Â Hey, it’s still $6 that I made randomly on the side.
And that concludes this month’s side hustle report.
I’m always surprised at just how much side hustle income I can bring in each month. Â Remember that this is made on top of a full-time day job and with running this blog. Time is precious to me, but I’m still figuring out a way to make extra money on the side.
Being able to make an extra $500 or $1,000 per month might not seem like all that much, but it’s significant if you look at the value it has in your portfolio. Â An extra $500 per month, for example, comes out to $6,000 per year of extra income. You’d need $150,000 saved up in order to generate that same amount of income. In other words, figure out a way to make an extra $500 per month, and you can save $150,000 less! Â Figure out a way to make $1,000 per month and you can save $300,000 less in your portfolio!
Be sure to check out my side hustle report page if you’re interested in seeing what I’ve made in other months. You can also check out my most recent side hustle reports below.  Thanks for stopping by!
June 2017 Side Hustle Report – $1,071.14
May 2017 Side Hustle Report – $1,625.11
April 2017 Side Hustle Report- $399.04
March 2017 Side Hustle Report – $1,251.91
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.
- 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.
- 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.
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 ($150) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $150 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 $150 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- SoFi Money ($275) – 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 $250 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.
- 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 ($800) – 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.
- Fifth Third Bank ($350) – 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.
- GO2Bank ($75) - 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 $75 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.
- Netspend ($40 + 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 $40 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 $40 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
- Digital Federal Credit Union ($20) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a saving account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. Check out my in-depth post on how to set this account up.
- 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 ($30) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $30 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 $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.25% 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 $800 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.
- 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.
Excellent side hustle! 🙂
That’s so amazing. You are having a diversified side hustle income.
Can’t beat that. Amazing Growth.
Thanks! It does help when you have income coming in from multiple sources.
Cool site, keep the ideas coming! There has got to be a ton more apps in the works to make some side bucks with.
Inspiring! you clearly aren’t messing around.
I tweeted about side hustling earlier so its great to see it in action
Thanks! When it comes to side hustling, I don’t just talk the talk. I walk the walk too!
I love the side hustle report! It definitely makes me consider Airbnb as we have an empty spare room too. I get a little nervous though with strangers considering we have two little kiddos. Maybe as they get older!
Admittedly, I’ll probably change my tune once I have kids as well – although you could consider just accepting very limited guests. I get a ton of grad students and folks in town for residency interviews that I’d be perfectly comfortable having around kids. Just depends on what’s around you that is bringing people into town.
That’s impressive with Airbnb, and good on your on raising prices too. I wish I could do Airbnb if if weren’t for our stupid HOA (which I am a board member), maybe I should initiate a change haha.
I had no idea that Rover bought Dogvacay, but good to know that nothing really changed. I love dog sitting on my spare time. Great way to make some $ while having fun (for the most part).
Yeah, if you’re living in an apartment or some sort of community, Airbnb will be a little tougher. You’ll have to rally them to make a change. Dogsitting is usually fun! Every once in a while you’ll get a bad dog, but it’s part of the territory. Just have to be discerning.
I don’t know how you do all these side hustles while still keeping a full-time job. Very impressive!
You are setting an example for people who always complain about not having enough money or opportunities for making money. Your example shows, it can be done and opportunities are there all around us, it’s up to us to get over the fear and laziness and hustle.
I mean, I think I’m proof that anyone can do this. Some things take up more time than others, but once you’ve got a groove going, this stuff really doesn’t have to take up a lot of time.