Financial Panther

Financial Independence, Side Hustling, and Ebikes

July 2021 Side Hustle Report

July 2021 Side Hustle Report – $1,018.02

Last Updated on 4 Comments
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.

It’s been a busy summer here in the Financial Panther household – and perhaps never as busy for us as it was last month. My wife and I closed on our new house at the beginning of July, which meant moving a decade’s worth of stuff from our old house. We’re also renting out our old house, which means we’ve been spending time between two houses – creating our new home in one and preparing our old house for renters. 

The busy schedule means I didn’t have as much time to do side hustles or work on the blog. That being said, I still surprised myself by cracking the $1,000 barrier last month. It’s not a huge amount of money by any means – but it’s still a decent amount that can make a difference for a lot of people.

Here’s a look at all the side hustle/gig economy income I was able to earn in July 2021: 

Side Hustle Income for July 2021

Total Side Hustle Income for July 2021 = $1,018.02 

In July, I ended up earning a little over $1,000 from 10 different categories of side hustles. I find this pretty good considering how busy I was last month. 

Here’s a more in-depth look at my earnings in each category. 

 

Airbnb/Rental Income: $0 

I haven’t included this category in a while but thought it was worth including this month to provide an update for future income reports. As regular readers know, my wife and I used to rent out a spare room in our house on Airbnb. It was a great way to house hack – the income from Airbnb covered our mortgage most months. We stopped doing Airbnb last year when we had our first kid. 

Since then, we’ve moved into a new house, but decided to keep the old house too. I know I could turn the house into an Airbnb property and do pretty well with it, but ultimately decided to rent it as a traditional rental since I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of cleaning and dealing with guests. Our old house is located near a large university, so it caters primarily to students.

This will be my first time being a landlord and I’m still thinking about whether I’ll include that income in these side hustle reports or treat them as a separate form of income. Most likely, I’ll treat it separately, but it’s worth noting that I’m now adding rental income into my overall income mix. 

 

Rover Income: $102 

Rover demand is definitely picking up these days. My new house is in an area that sees higher demand for dog sitters too, so I expect to be pretty busy with dogsitting over the next few months. 

I ended up watching one dog and one cat last month. The dog was one that we’d watched before – a French Bulldog that we enjoy having around. The cat was new to our home and was super friendly. 

One thing about doing Rover is that our neighborhood and house isn’t the type of place you’d expect to find someone dog sitting. Our last home was pretty modest and didn’t raise too many eyebrows. We now live in an expensive home in a fancy neighborhood and it definitely seems like some people are surprised when they drop off their dog at my house. 

 

DoorDash/Uber Eats/Grubhub Income: $643.30 

July was a slower month for me on the delivery front, primarily because I was busy with moving to a new house and getting my old house ready to rent. Still, I have way too much fun doing deliveries – especially since I get to do them with all of my different electric micromobility vehicles (Himiway Escape, RadCity, and Varla Eagle One Scooter). 

Here’s what I earned with each delivery app in July:

My hourly rate was definitely down in July, with my earnings ranging from $26 to $36 per hour. I think demand drops a bit in the summer since more people are out of town. And we’ll probably never get back to those pandemic earnings when I was regularly pulling in $40 to $50 per hour. 

Still, I can make do with earning in the $30 per hour range. As long as I stick to prime hours, I can typically pull that off without too much issue. 

For more info about DoorDash, Uber Eats, or Grubhub, be sure to check out my in-depth posts about each: 

 

Trash/Flipping Income: $113.52

I sold a few random things in July, mainly old furniture that we didn’t want to take with us to our new house. I listed up these pieces of furniture on Facebook Marketplace and they were all sold within a day.

One interesting thing I sold last month was a stack of Airbnb magazines. I got these magazines for free from Airbnb and have had them sitting on a shelf in our guestroom for the past 3 years or so. When I was cleaning things up, I stumbled on these magazines, and rather than throw them away, I checked eBay to see if they had any resale value. I ended up listing up the magazines on eBay and someone paid $21 plus shipping for those magazines. Not bad for something that probably would have been trash to most people. 

 

ProductTube Income: $23 

ProductTube remained fairly steady. I haven’t been getting as many good gigs, but still got a few gigs that were worth doing. ProductTube pays via Amazon gift cards, so this money went straight into my Amazon balance. 

 

Gigwalk/EasyShift/Field Agent/Merchandiser/Observa/IVueIt/Pickl Income: $44 

This month, I earned income from two of these apps – Gigwalk and IVueIt. I made $3 from Field Agent and $41 from IVueIt.

The Gigwalk assignment required me to take a picture of a product at a convenience store. When I arrived, the convenience store was no longer there – replaced with a law office. All I had to do was snap a photo of the location and I got paid $3 for my time. It worked out well because it was on my bike route to my son’s daycare. 

IVueIt worked out well for me last month also. Two of the gigs I did are close to my new house. It looks like these gigs pop up every few weeks, so that could be a consistent source of income for me. The other gigs I did were nearby also. They only take a few minutes to complete, so the time spent to earn this money is worth it.  

IVueIt is a good app that I think is worth having on your phone. If you’re interested, be sure to check out my in-depth IVueIt review, where I go over how this app works. 

 

Google Opinion Rewards/Surveys On The Go/1Q Income: $18.42

July was a solid month with these short survey apps. Here’s what I made with each app.

My survey income was up this month because I hit the $10 cashout mark for Surveys On The Go. I find that most months, I can get a few surveys that take a few minutes to complete and that pay decently. The rest, I purposefully disqualify myself and collect my 10 cents (Surveys On The Go pays 10 cents even if you don’t qualify for a survey). 

Google Opinion Rewards has been down lately. I seem to go through stretches where I don’t get any surveys from them, although I don’t know why that happens. 

 

Secret Shopping Income: $41 (plus free food) 

It seems like most months, I’m able to earn around $40 from secret shopping. For the most part, I don’t actually care about making money from secret shopping. I do it mainly for the free food, but if I can earn some money too, that’s not bad either.

For more info about secret shopping and how it works, check out this post, Restaurant Secret Shopper Jobs – A Strategy To Eat For Free And Hack Your Food Expenses.  

 

ProductLab Income: $12.25 

ProductLab remains consistent every month. I submit a screenshot of my weekly earnings on DoorDash and Uber Eats and make $3 or so each week. It takes me 3 seconds to do this, so it’s basically free money to me. 

 

ReceiptPal/Receipt Hog/Fetch/CoinOut/Amazon Shopper Panel/NCP ReCap Income: $10.50

I think at some point, I need to write a dedicated post about how these receipt apps work. The short of it is that they essentially allow me to monetize the receipts I’m already collecting.

This month, I cashed out $10.50 from Amazon Shopper Panel. This is a must-have app for everyone. I earn at least $10 per month each month, just for taking pictures of 10 receipts each month. It’s one of the easier ways I earn money. 

 

Medium Income: $10.03 

I’ve put Medium on the backburner since I found myself spending more time on Medium than it was probably worth. Even though I didn’t publish any content on Medium in July, I still made $10 from the posts I’d already written. If I had hundreds of articles on there, I could probably make some decent passive income. 

At some point, I’ll probably go back to Medium, as I find it to be an interesting place to write. I just need more time if I’m going to do that. 

 

And that concludes the July 2021 Side Hustle Report! 

This side hustle report is a little shorter than usual, as I’m already late getting it out and figured it was worth sharing the numbers as soon as possible. If you want additional detail on anything I wrote here, please feel free to ask in the comments. 

If you’re interested in seeing what I’ve earned in previous months, please check out my past side hustle reports. I also have a post titled The Ultimate List of Gig Economy Apps that has almost every gig economy app I’ve ever used or heard about.

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.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Brian says

    Congrats on the July 2021 side hustle of $1k+! Further shows how hard work and dedication turn into great results. Keep grinding to FI!

    Reply

  2. Liana says

    Hello. Thank you for another great post on side-gigs. Just FYI, NCP ReCap got rolled into CoinOut, so it’s gone bye-bye.

    Reply

  3. Jon says

    Would love to know more details about your mystery shops for the month! Seems like regional differences can be pretty incredible.

    Reply

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