Financial Panther

Financial Independence, Side Hustling, and Ebikes

June 2021 Side Hustle Report – $1,514.67

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It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me due to moving and balancing an increasingly rambunctious toddler, but even with a really busy schedule, I’m still here with a new side hustle report. I’ve been writing these reports for 5 years, documenting everything I’ve made in the gig economy – and I don’t plan to stop now. 

We’re now halfway through the year, which is always a good time to look back on how things have been working out. This year, things have been fairly consistent. I generally earn between $1,000 and $2,000 each month – allowing me to support my lifestyle while I continue to work on this blog. 

Here’s a look at all the side hustle/gig economy income I earned in June 2021: 

Side Hustle Income for June 2021

Total Side Hustle Income for June 2021 = $1,514.67 

June was a busy month for me. My wife and I closed on a house and finally moved right into it around the end of the month. Since we’re both self-employed, the underwriting process was more of a pain, which meant I was wasting a lot more time last month getting documents and going back and forth with the underwriter. Luckily, we managed to close on our house on time, although it was up in the air towards the end as to whether that would happen. Combine all this with coordinating all of the stuff that goes into a move and it meant I didn’t have a lot of free time on my hands.

Now that we’re moved in, the next step is going to be getting my old house ready to rent. We’re keeping the old house because it’s in a good rental neighborhood and should have a good cash flow. We also don’t necessarily need the equity that we have in that house, so renting it out seems like a good bet. At a minimum, we’ll try renting it for 3 years and if it really doesn’t work out, we can sell it and still get any gains tax-free. 

That said, even with a busy month, I still managed to make a solid $1,500 from all of my different side hustles and gig economy apps. We’re now halfway through the year and I’ve managed to make a little over $9,700. I think that’s really good, especially when you consider I typically dedicate just an hour or so each day to these different gigs. 

Let’s take a closer look at my earnings in June. 

 

Rover Income: $190.40 

Rover was pretty good in June. I ended up watching three dogs during the month, all of whom worked out pretty well. Two of the dogs were repeat dogs that I’ve watched before. One of the dogs I watched last month was a new dog. He worked out very well and is one I hope I can watch again.

I’ve mentioned it before, but Rover is the most passive of my side hustles because my earnings aren’t really tied to the amount of time I work. When I watch a dog, it’s basically no different than taking care of my own dog. I’m still able to do what I need to do during the day and when I get home, I have another furry companion to greet me at the door. I don’t make a crazy amount of money from Rover, but $2,000 to $3,000 per year to watch dogs in my house is not a bad deal at all.

If you’re interested, you can sign up to be a Rover sitter with this link. I also have a more in-depth post about Rover that you can read here: Rover Pet Sitting – How To Make Money Dog Sitting With Rover.

 

DoorDash/Uber Eats/Grubhub Income: $940.16 

I had a bit of a down month with the food delivery apps. Some of it was due to a decrease in demand, likely because it’s summer and a lot of students have gone back home now. The other reason was that I had people visiting me last month, which gave me less time to do deliveries.

That said, even with a down month, I still managed to make almost $1,000, which I’m happy with. Here’s the breakdown of my earnings on each delivery app.

Postmates was officially rolled into Uber Eats last month, so going forward, you’ll only see the three main delivery apps – DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. I’m actually happy that Postmates rolled into Uber Eats. It gives me one less app to manage and Postmates was always the lowest paying of the delivery apps. It was also really annoying because even if you rejected an order, Postmates would keep sending it back to you if no one else took it. This meant I’d reject a crappy order, but constantly hear my phone buzzing for the same order later. 

My hourly rate was good last month, ranging from $35 per hour to $43 per hour. I track my earnings using an app called Gridwise, which is a free app that I’ve found very useful. 

I did a lot of my deliveries last month using my Himiway Escape electric bike. I wrote a review of that bike if you’re interested in reading about my experience with it: Himiway Escape Bike Review – A Fun Moped-Style Electric Bike. 

I also did a lot of deliveries last month using an electric scooter. A company called Varla was kind enough to send me the Varla Eagle One, which is a high-powered electric scooter that goes up to 40mph (I never go that fast though because it’s terrifying). This scooter is very different from the typical Bird and Lime scooters I’ve used in the past. I’ll have a review about my experience with the Varla Eagle One soon, but the short of it is that it’s super fun doing deliveries on a scooter like this. 

 

Trash/Flipping Income: $13.05 

I didn’t sell much in June. The only thing I did sell was an old suit that I bought years ago for probably $100. I haven’t worn it in years and wanted to get rid of it. It’s been up on eBay for over a year and someone finally bought it. Given my current lifestyle, I really only need 1 or 2 suits, so getting rid of old suits I’m not wearing is fine by me. 

There will likely be a lot more furniture sales coming up in the next month because we moved and have a lot of old furniture that needs to be sold. 

 

ProductTube Income: $15 

I had a down month with ProductTube in June. That’s okay though – I’ve always known that ProductTube isn’t something you rely on for consistent income. However, it’s good to have on your phone because the jobs pay well for the time they take. If you haven’t downloaded this app, seriously, you should download it. There’s money to be made with it.

 

Gigwalk/EasyShift/Field Agent/Merchandiser/Observa/IVueIt/Pickl Income: $15

As has been the case in past months, the two most useful picture-taking apps for me last month were Field Agent and IVueIt. I made $3 from Field Agent and $12 from IVueIt.

The Field Agent gig was a buy-and-try shop for some hard seltzer. I always take these gigs because you not only get paid a small amount, you also get fully reimbursed for the product you’re buying. There are no other apps out there that let you get free beer! Unfortunately, the seltzer I was tasked to buy wasn’t available at the store. I still got paid $3 for trying, but I didn’t get my free drinks.

The IVueIt gig I did last month was a funny one. I had to take pictures of a storage unit building and make sure their signage lights were working. The place was close to my house, so I scooted over there one evening and snapped the photos. It took me about 10 minutes and I made $12 for my time – so that was worth it. 

 

Google Opinion Rewards/Surveys On The Go/1Q Income: $3.01

I didn’t make much from the short survey apps in June, but I still include them here. Here’s the breakdown: 

My earnings were lower this month because I didn’t hit the $10 cashout mark for Surveys On The Go. Next month, I’ll be over the cashout mark, so these earnings will be a bit higher. 

 

Secret Shopping Income: $27.50 (plus free food) 

I made a little bit of money from secret shopping last month. More importantly, I got a lot of free food, which is the main reason I do these gigs. I use Marketforce the most because it has so many secret shop gigs around me. I’m hoping that as restaurants start picking back up, more of the old secret shopping gigs I did before the pandemic will return.

If you’re looking 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 

ProductLab is an app that pays DoorDash and Lyft drivers for submitting screenshots of their weekly earnings. Each week, I send a screenshot of my DoorDash earnings and make $3. It takes me about 3 seconds and I’ll happily take the money. 

 

ReceiptPal/Receipt Hog/Fetch/CoinOut/Amazon Shopper Panel/NCP ReCap Income: $21.82

These receipt apps are a great way to earn a bit of money from receipts that you’d otherwise throw away. Whenever I get a receipt, I quickly snap a picture of it with each of these apps. 

In June, I made $1.57 from CoinOut, $10.25 from Amazon Shopper Panel, and $10 from Fetch. Amazon Shopper Panel is the no-brainer app you need to get. At the moment, you earn $10 each month for 10 receipts. They also occasionally have 1 question surveys that pay you 25 cents. I can’t imagine this app will stay around forever, so get it if you can.

 

Medium Income: $26.73 

Medium income has been on the decline because I’m not spending much time on it. I find Medium to be an interesting platform and if you don’t have your own blog, it can make sense to use Medium as your writing platform. My issue is that the amount you can earn from Medium really can’t compare to what you can make with your own blog. I’ll probably continue to post the occasional post to Medium, but if I have limited time, I have to focus on the areas that matter most, which is writing here.

 

Freelance Writing Income: $250 

Writing on my own blog has opened up a few freelance writing opportunities that I’ve been trying out. I never did freelance writing before, but I find it interesting and pretty fun to do some of these freelance writing gigs. I’m not sure how steady these gigs will be, but I’ll keep trying a few of them out to see what I can make. 

 

And that concludes the June 2021 Side Hustle Report! 

June was a slightly lower earning month than I had hoped, but still not bad at all considering how busy I was. A lot of people could do a lot with an extra $1,500 in a month.

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. 

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments below.

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.
  • 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.
  • Moomoo (15 free stocks and 1 stock of Tesla or Google) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 3 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
  • Webull (12 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 12 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.
  • 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.

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.

  • Chime ($150) - 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • GO2Bank ($100) - 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 $100 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.
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 $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.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. PN81 says

    thanks for detailed posts on Door dash and Uber eats. I signed up as Dasher after reading your reviews and doing a dash when i go out grocery. It is very simple process. Uber eats on other hand wants my picture, not really comfortable tagging my picture at this point so opted out. Thanks once again!!

    Reply

  3. David @ Filled With Money says

    Congratulations on moving into the new house and on a great side hustle month! Could you give us further details on the process to get a mortgage without having a W-2? I read somewhere that “if you don’t have a W-2, you are dead to banks” and I really believe it and part of the reason why I am delaying early retirement until I can secure a mortgage.

    I can’t help but ask!

    Reply

    • Financial Panther says

      Let me tell you – it sucks getting a mortgage when you’re self-employed. It’s sort of funny. Every employee is working for a business, but for some reason, banks think the employee has it more stable. Let me tell you, if something happens, every employee is getting laid off and the owner is going to be the last one standing.

      Reply

  4. Jordan says

    Hi there – longtime reader, first time commenter. Thanks for your blog, it’s one of the best in the PF space in my opinion! You’ve inspired me to start my own bike deliveries in downtown Chicago.

    You may be doing a separate post on this, but what influenced your decision to rent your old home? Would love to hear the general numbers/percentages behind the cash flow you’re expecting vs. the equity in the home.

    Thanks again keep hustling!

    Reply

    • Financial Panther says

      Thanks Jordan! I do deliveries in Chicago everytime I visit – I just grab a Divvy bike and get to work. Fun way to explore the city!

      I’ll probably put together a post about it. The gist of it is I’m in an area that should rent well (large university), I don’t really need the equity, and the cash flow should be good. At a minimum, I have three years to try it out as a rental and if it really sucks, I can sell it and avoid any capital gains (primary residence for 2 of last 5 years rule).

      So, my thinking is, at least I should try and see. Plus, I don’t have a “real” job right now, so as my brother tells me, I need a job.

      Reply

  6. Angelo says

    Saw some of your articles on Lili Bank and thought “Hey I know that guy!”. I am a recent law grad that’s taking the bar in a month and is jobless haha. I love your content. Look forward to your future updates!

    Reply

  7. Debbie says

    It’s great to read about what works and doesn’t work so good in the gig economy. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

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