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Financial Independence, Side Hustling, and Ebikes

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November and December 2023 Side Hustle Report = $1,349.70

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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.

Another year of side hustling and gig economy work is in the books, but I still need to recap November and December 2023’s side hustle income before we can close the books on 2023. Here’s what my numbers look like for each of those months:

Side Hustle Income for November 2023

Total Side Hustle Income for November 2023 = $430.21 

And here’s my side hustle income for December 2023:

Side Hustle Income for December 2023

Total Side Hustle Income for December 2023 = $919.49 

My side hustle income for the last two months of the year wasn’t bad. In total, I ended up making $1,349.70 over those final two months.

Taking a closer look at the numbers, November was very slow for some reason. I’m not sure why this was the case. I didn’t get a lot of Rover requests and then I didn’t do a lot of food delivery either. December was busier though, so I’m happy I made close to $900 to close out the year. 

Anyway, here’s a more in-depth look at my earnings for each side hustle. 

 

Rental Income: $4,800

The rental property continues to do well and I’ve been fortunate not to have any issues with the house or the tenants so far. This winter has also been very mild, which has saved me time with snow shoveling (I handle the snow removal for the house).

For maintenance, I had the roof replaced earlier this fall thanks to an insurance claim from a large hail storm this summer. This winter, the contractors also replaced a screen door for me.  Getting this screen door replaced was nice because the door was already decades old. I’m assuming that this new screen door should last me for the next several decades – at least as long as I own this house.

I’m still waiting for potential siding repair and to get some storm windows installed. Now that I think about it, I need to follow up on those items. 

Overall, being a landlord hasn’t been too difficult and I have been fortunate to get good tenants. Most months, I don’t have to do anything, but it’s definitely not passive income and it does come with a level of stress since I’m always worried about large maintenance things I might have to do one day.

 

Rover Income: $674.25  

Rover income was weak in November but came up strong for me in December. The holidays are typically a busy time for me – I’m always watching a dog during Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I’m usually doing some catsitting as well for people in the neighborhood.

I’m not sure why November ended up being so slow. I ended up only watching one dog in November – a French Bulldog that I’ve been watching regularly for the past few years. This was an easy boarding that I’m happy to do.

December was much busier, however. I had a long stay over the Christmas holiday with a new dog that might be my favorite dog now of all the dogs I’ve ever watched. I expect to have more stays with this dog in the future, so definitely happy that I’ve added a new dog to my boarding list. 

For 2023, I ended up making $4,902 from Rover. That’s slightly down from 2022, when I made $5,361. For the year, I averaged $408 per month from Rover, which is very nice for a fun side hustle.

I started doing Rover in 2015, so I’m now going into my 9th year of dog sitting. Time really does fly! With so many years of dog-sitting under my belt, I might even be considered a professional sitter at this point.

 

DoorDash/Uber Eats/Grubhub Income: $393.73 

Food delivery isn’t as big of a money maker for me these days, but it’s still an important part of my side hustle and gig economy earnings. Here’s a breakdown of what I made in November 2023 from my food delivery apps:

And here’s what I made in December 2023:

Uber Eats was my busiest food delivery app, with DoorDash coming in second. Grubhub, as you can see, has been slow for me. 

I’m still uploading some of my delivery runs on YouTube, so if you’re interested in seeing how I do DoorDash and Uber Eats, check out my YouTube channel. I’ve been primarily focusing on YouTube shorts too, which are a lot of fun to create and edit. My goal is to get my YouTube channel to 1,000 subscribers, which I think I can do by this summer if I keep pushing out more videos.

 

Trash Finds/Flipping Income: $17.50 

I don’t focus much on selling things anymore, so the income here is always fairly random. I didn’t sell anything in November.

In December, I sold a board game that I bought at Goodwill. Selling board games can sometimes work, but I’ve found they’re often a pain to ship since the games always seem to be slightly bigger than all the boxes I have. 

Going forward, selling and flipping stuff is likely to be like this, where I earn bits of random income over the year. I don’t go out of my way to sell things anymore like I used to do in the old days, so anything I do sell is because I happen to stumble upon something I think is worthwhile.

 

ProductTube Income: $45 

ProductTube was a bit slow for me the past few months, but still good enough to be worthwhile. I need to write a full post about how ProductTube works, but basically, you’re tasked with filming short videos inside certain stores. The videos are usually easy to film and never take more than a few minutes to complete, so from an hourly earnings perspective, they’re well worth it. ProductTube is never going to be a huge part of my side hustle income, but it’ll always stick around for me because of how easy the assignments are. So long as I can finish these assignments in a few minutes and they’re convenient to me, I’ll continue to do them.

 

Gigwalk/EasyShift/Field Agent/Merchandiser/Observa/Pickl Income: $4.30 

I don’t use these picture-taking/auditing apps much anymore, but I did happen to grab a quick Subway secret shop in December. I was reimbursed for the cost of the sandwich (I’m shocked at how expensive Subway is now) and paid $4.30 for my work filling out the survey in the app. This assignment worked out well since it was at a Subway near my house (i.e. I didn’t have to go out of my way to do this shop).

 

Google Opinion Rewards/Surveys On The Go/1Q/Facebook Viewpoints Income: $17.85 

Here’s what I made with each short survey app in November and December:

Google Opinion Rewards is a good app that I’d recommend everyone use. The surveys take seconds to complete and I’m usually able to make about $5 or $6 each month from it. 1Q isn’t as good of an app, but they do pay 25 cents for each question they ask you, which means it doesn’t take much time and pays pretty well.

 

Secret Shopping Income: $176 (plus free food) 

I do secret shopping with many different apps and websites, but the one I earn fairly significant income from is Marketforce. For the year, I ended up earning $1,154 from Marketforce. In addition, I received over $3,200 in free food from the app. I’m surprised that I ended up with that much free food. And that doesn’t include the thousands of dollars worth of free food I received from the other secret shopping websites I use. I haven’t added it all up, but I must have received over $5,000 of free food this year.

Secret shopping is a bit complicated, but I did my best to write a post about how it works. Check out this post for more information.

 

ReceiptPal/Receipt Hog/Fetch/CoinOut/Amazon Shopper Panel Income: $21

I made $21 from Amazon Shopper Panel in November and December. This is my favorite receipt app and is one that I think everyone should have on their phone. I have a system with my receipts where I take photos of them with all of these receipt apps, but Amazon Shopper Panel pays the best since it gives you $10 each month that you take pictures of 10 receipts.

 

Medium Income: $0.07

Passive income! I’m still earning a few cents each month from some blog posts I uploaded to Medium over 2 years ago. I’ll continue to include this income as I get paid, but I’m not doing anything with Medium these days.

 

And that concludes the November and December 2023 Side Hustle Report!   

Things are slower for me when it comes to my side hustles and gig economy apps, mainly due to the challenges of balancing a busy home life with this blog and other work I’m doing. Still, I’m happy with what I made. November was particularly slow, but December wasn’t so bad. It helps that this winter has been mild, making it easier for me to get around.

That’s all I’ve got for this side hustle report. I’ll likely follow this post up later with an overall recap of what I did in 2023.

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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