The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Can't Wait on April 16, 2014, 10:42:34 AM
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Has anyone considered driving for Uber/Uberx for extra income? From what I've read, you can earn 15-30$ per hour and can do it whenever you feel like it. You use your own vehicle and get to keep 80% of the fare. Does anyone have any experience with this?
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Hmm . . . I wonder what take home looks like when you factor in wear and tear on the vehicle, higher insurance premiums, and fuel costs.
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Hmm . . . I wonder what take home looks like when you factor in wear and tear on the vehicle, higher insurance premiums, and fuel costs.
Yeah, that's what I'm wondering myself. From what I've gathered so far, Uber gives you a 1099-misc so you can deduct a lot of the vechicle costs and what not. Or use the standard mileage depreciation (.56 cents a mile, i think). I'm not sure about insurance though. One guy I read about didn't seem to have to do anything special as far as insurance goes for the vehicle and I think Uber provides 1M$ in liability coverage for you.
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I'm doing Lyft. I just started. The jury is still out. I think it is important to drive when demand is high and premium rates are in effect in order to make it worthwhile.
Some expenses that I already incur are tax deductible, so there is that. For example, car washes and maintenance, and cell phone service. However, I have been pretty frugal about my car wash expenditures anyway, so my expenses there are minimal. I have cheap (crappy) cell phone service and that is presenting a potential problem. I am loathe to upgrade and pay for better service if I am not sure this gig is going to work out long term.
I am giving it a few more weeks to decide if it is worthwhile. I think most people underestimate the cost of wear and tear on cars since it's not immediately apparent.
The great part is that the hours are as flexible as can be. Flexibility has always been a barrier to finding a workable side hustle.
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I'm doing Lyft. I just started. The jury is still out. I think it is important to drive when demand is high and premium rates are in effect in order to make it worthwhile.
Some expenses that I already incur are tax deductible, so there is that. For example, car washes and maintenance, and cell phone service. However, I have been pretty frugal about my car wash expenditures anyway, so my expenses there are minimal. I have cheap (crappy) cell phone service and that is presenting a potential problem. I am loathe to upgrade and pay for better service if I am not sure this gig is going to work out long term.
I am giving it a few more weeks to decide if it is worthwhile. I think most people underestimate the cost of wear and tear on cars since it's not immediately apparent.
The great part is that the hours are as flexible as can be. Flexibility has always been a barrier to finding a workable side hustle.
Do you have to have the silly pink mustache on your car? To be honest, I completely wrote off Lyft because I simply don't want to drive around with that thing stuck to my front bumper.
I figured this would be perfect to do as a side hustle on the commute home or while you're out running errands. I live in the DC area so I could drive around from 8pm to 3am on the weekends and take all the drunkards home from the clubs/bars haha.
You're right about wear and tear on the vehicle. I have a very mustachian car that already has a ton of miles on it so the wear and tear portion doesn't really bother me. Although it would suck to have to pay for a new tires all the time or more frequent oil changes, etc. I suppose those costs can be deducted though.
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Hmm . . . I wonder what take home looks like when you factor in wear and tear on the vehicle, higher insurance premiums, and fuel costs.
Yeah, that's what I'm wondering myself. From what I've gathered so far, Uber gives you a 1099-misc so you can deduct a lot of the vechicle costs and what not. Or use the standard mileage depreciation (.56 cents a mile, i think). I'm not sure about insurance though. One guy I read about didn't seem to have to do anything special as far as insurance goes for the vehicle and I think Uber provides 1M$ in liability coverage for you.
Be careful about your understanding about insurance. Uber's liability coverage is only in effect while you are driving a passenger: http://blog.uber.com/uberXridesharinginsurance
It used to be that you are driving about and listed as available Uber says you should use your personal coverage, but many insurance companies have come out and said that while you are listed as available, you are a commercial driver and thus not covered by your personal policy. Uber recognized this as a problem and thus offered "gap" insurance in those cases where your personal insurer denies coverage because you had the app on.
But, in that case, the "gap" insurance is ridiculously tiny!!! 50k individual/100k incident/25k property which is laughably small. My personal policy is 300k/300k/50k plus an umbrella policy.
So be aware of this, talk to your insurance company and try not to drive too much while you're waiting for someone to request a ride.
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Hmm . . . I wonder what take home looks like when you factor in wear and tear on the vehicle, higher insurance premiums, and fuel costs.
Yeah, that's what I'm wondering myself. From what I've gathered so far, Uber gives you a 1099-misc so you can deduct a lot of the vechicle costs and what not. Or use the standard mileage depreciation (.56 cents a mile, i think). I'm not sure about insurance though. One guy I read about didn't seem to have to do anything special as far as insurance goes for the vehicle and I think Uber provides 1M$ in liability coverage for you.
Be careful about your understanding about insurance. Uber's liability coverage is only in effect while you are driving a passenger: http://blog.uber.com/uberXridesharinginsurance
It used to be that you are driving about and listed as available Uber says you should use your personal coverage, but many insurance companies have come out and said that while you are listed as available, you are a commercial driver and thus not covered by your personal policy. Uber recognized this as a problem and thus offered "gap" insurance in those cases where your personal insurer denies coverage because you had the app on.
But, in that case, the "gap" insurance is ridiculously tiny!!! 50k individual/100k incident/25k property which is laughably small. My personal policy is 300k/300k/50k plus an umbrella policy.
So be aware of this, talk to your insurance company and try not to drive too much while you're waiting for someone to request a ride.
Thanks for the info about gap insurance. I hadn't even thought about that. I don't drive for Uber yet, but I'm definitely considering it. I'll have to do a log of all income I earn as well as all expenses incured to get a true dollar per hour earning potential. I think this could be an easy way to earn an extra 10-15k a year without much effort.
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Bumping this thread.
Do any other posters have experience with Uber?
I really cringe at the thought of driving extra but the flexibility and money and tempting. I'd also have to add data to RW.
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My one and only experience with Uber in Cincinnati was suuuuuper sketchy. I'd rather just take a cab since at least they're regulated. But I avoid all this stuff mostly since I bike, so I guess I'm not the best person to ask.
On another note, their 'tap a button, get picked up' tag is hilarious to me. I could also use my phone as a phone and get picked up in minutes without having to use a service that hasn't had the wrinkles ironed out yet.
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I was interested in being a part time driver. The more I read about personal auto insurance potentially not covering you, the fact that you really should have commercial insurance (unaffordable, especially for part time use), the less interested I am. With all of the risk involved, I don't see much reward from driving strangers around in my own car.
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My one and only experience with Uber in Cincinnati was suuuuuper sketchy. I'd rather just take a cab since at least they're regulated. But I avoid all this stuff mostly since I bike, so I guess I'm not the best person to ask.
On another note, their 'tap a button, get picked up' tag is hilarious to me. I could also use my phone as a phone and get picked up in minutes without having to use a service that hasn't had the wrinkles ironed out yet.
Sure it varies by city. UberX and Lyft are 100x less sketchy than cabbies in Chicago, and slightly cheaper.
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I was interested in being a part time driver. The more I read about personal auto insurance potentially not covering you, the fact that you really should have commercial insurance (unaffordable, especially for part time use), the less interested I am. With all of the risk involved, I don't see much reward from driving strangers around in my own car.
My guess is that a lot of drivers are just doing it without letting their insurance know, it will probably work out for most of them. But their will be a few that get caught.
My friend drove for the other one, I forget the name it worked out great for him, because he made himself available before and after work for a bit and he lives and works in downtown Chicago, so that helps.
Uber just came to our city last week.
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I was interested in being a part time driver. The more I read about personal auto insurance potentially not covering you, the fact that you really should have commercial insurance (unaffordable, especially for part time use), the less interested I am. With all of the risk involved, I don't see much reward from driving strangers around in my own car.
My guess is that a lot of drivers are just doing it without letting their insurance know, it will probably work out for most of them. But their will be a few that get caught.
My friend drove for the other one, I forget the name it worked out great for him, because he made himself available before and after work for a bit and he lives and works in downtown Chicago, so that helps.
Uber just came to our city last week.
Being caught is not as bad as being in an accident and then being told your insurance won't cover it. There's a lot of things I'd want to be sure of before I did this.
Also, what are the risks of picking up strangers in your car in the middle of the night? The murdered-on-the-job rate for cab drivers is higher than for police officers and security guards..
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I'm pretty sure the whole point of Uber's insurance, which is paid for as a % of your fare, is that it's primary insurance in case you get in an accident while Ubering. The safety factor is a much larger caveat than the insurance factor to me.
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My one and only experience with Uber in Cincinnati was suuuuuper sketchy. I'd rather just take a cab since at least they're regulated. But I avoid all this stuff mostly since I bike, so I guess I'm not the best person to ask.
On another note, their 'tap a button, get picked up' tag is hilarious to me. I could also use my phone as a phone and get picked up in minutes without having to use a service that hasn't had the wrinkles ironed out yet.
Sure it varies by city. UberX and Lyft are 100x less sketchy than cabbies in Chicago, and slightly cheaper.
yeah, and also a hell of a lot easier to get a hold of depending on city. good fucking luck getting a cab in Tulsa (and if you finally do get through to a dispatcher, the cab takes an hour to show up and then smells like old cigarettes), but I've had good experiences with Uber here. I was even surprised that we struggled to get a regular cab in Minneapolis (ended up using Lyft which worked great).
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What rate does the driver get from a pick up? Is it a percentage? Are you out driving for 2 hours or at home gardening and your phone alerts you to a pick up a couple blocks away? 10 bucks for a quick 10 minute errand doesn't seem bad.
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My one and only experience with Uber in Cincinnati was suuuuuper sketchy. I'd rather just take a cab since at least they're regulated. But I avoid all this stuff mostly since I bike, so I guess I'm not the best person to ask.
On another note, their 'tap a button, get picked up' tag is hilarious to me. I could also use my phone as a phone and get picked up in minutes without having to use a service that hasn't had the wrinkles ironed out yet.
Sure it varies by city. UberX and Lyft are 100x less sketchy than cabbies in Chicago, and slightly cheaper.
You sure about that? That new $1 safety fee is because my friends little sister was sexually assaulted and kidnapped by an uber driver this spring. Prior to that, they weren't even doing background checks. It took my friend and her family 4 days to even get a hold of a real person at uber after the incident. I only use them by signing up for new accounts and taking free rides. They won't be getting any of my money.
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I have been driving part time in NJ. I started for $200 bonus first ride. You have to go to need place(Train or metro area).
I would say to do it as an extra job. Something you can do so you don't have a fixed shift. Use the money to pay off debt and your under water
car loan etc. Do take into consideration oil changes/brake wear(rotors)/wiper and car washes(including inside deep down).
I would say if you only worked surge hours and when they call you(text messages) you would earn gross $30 they take their cut and your gas, tolls and wear you might
really end up with $10, also sometimes for an hour you might be just driving back to surge area, so average would be around $10.
But again you don't have to wear a uniform (security,pizza delivery etc) and you can use the money to pay down debt and/or increase your retirement accounts.
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I would say if you only worked surge hours and when they call you(text messages) you would earn gross $30 they take their cut and your gas, tolls and wear you might
really end up with $10, also sometimes for an hour you might be just driving back to surge area, so average would be around $10.
I've actually been having email back and forths with Uber about this. I live in NYC. Time and time again drivers cancel on me right when surge pricing appears so they can go pick up someone else on the now higher rate (after they agreed to my ride). They do this without penalty. Uber is going to stop allowing this by either charging cabbies for the cancellation when surge goes up or not notifying drivers until their current ride is finished.
People in Austin told me they were making a killing, people in ny- not so much. It depends on where you are.
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My main concern about being a driver for Uber is the fact that I'm a young single female. There are a lot of great bars in my town, but by default, there are a lot of rowdy guys as well. As much as I'd love more flexible income, this would honestly freak me out. (I've only taken a Uber a handful of times and each time was with a group of friends.)
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I was interested in being a part time driver. The more I read about personal auto insurance potentially not covering you, the fact that you really should have commercial insurance (unaffordable, especially for part time use), the less interested I am. With all of the risk involved, I don't see much reward from driving strangers around in my own car.
The insurance issue is HUGE to me. Sorry I won't risk making an extra $300-500/mo to potentially be sued for $$$,$$$ if I were to get in a wreck and then find out my insurance doesn't cover it. I looked into commercial insurance, but that makes the entire endeavor uneconomical for a side gig (I think $5K/yr is the going rate).
Also, your car has to be approved for UberX and their standards imply cars that are still high up on the depreciation curve. Which mean's you're really working for VERY low wage and selling your car in slow motion...
http://livingstingy.blogspot.com/2011/02/pizza-delivery-real-job-or-just-selling.html
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I've been driving for Lyft about 8 hours a week during downtime for the last 3 months. Its pretty easy and have had good luck so far. My takeaway is that if you don't have a car that costs less than 10K and gets over 35mpg, I just don't see how you can make worthwhile money at it. Also after driving for 3 hours at a time I have to hang up my hat, its tiring driving especially in traffic.
there are some crazy bonuses as these companies duke it out for market share, if you drive for one and switch they have been offering 1K bonus for giving 1st ride.
Worthwhile side hustle if your car is older and efficient
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I've been driving for Lyft about 8 hours a week during downtime for the last 3 months. Its pretty easy and have had good luck so far. My takeaway is that if you don't have a car that costs less than 10K and gets over 35mpg, I just don't see how you can make worthwhile money at it. Also after driving for 3 hours at a time I have to hang up my hat, its tiring driving especially in traffic.
there are some crazy bonuses as these companies duke it out for market share, if you drive for one and switch they have been offering 1K bonus for giving 1st ride.
Worthwhile side hustle if your car is older and efficient
I've seen absolutely no bonuses in my area. I did okay on Valentine's Day (~$30/hr gross with Lyft), but the last time I went out I made $34 in 3 hours (Saturday night, "peak" hours). Not worth it.
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You're right about wear and tear on the vehicle. I have a very mustachian car that already has a ton of miles on it so the wear and tear portion doesn't really bother me. Although it would suck to have to pay for a new tires all the time or more frequent oil changes, etc. I suppose those costs can be deducted though.
If it's an older car, you probably can't drive for Uber. The local DIY garage I use for some of my maintenance was doing Uber inspections, and I was talking with someone about it while waiting for oil to drain.
General requirements: "Your car must have 4 doors (ex. Prius, Fusion, Accord) and meet your city’s requirements (2004 or newer)."
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Last year between July 9 and October 27, I delivered pizzas, indian food, chinese food, burgers etc. Consulting my spreadsheet, in that time I was able to put away 4112.37 purely on food deliveries. I made no deductions for fuel, maintenance, etc. on the car.
In an interesting dynamic, when SWMBO saw the effort I was putting in to bring in the extra cash, she started scrimping and took on a night job cleaning offices.
And so, in 3 months, we found $10,000 - which was really remarkable for us (I know a lot of you do that in a weekend). This allowed us to go upscale and buy a 3 year old Chev Sonic with cash to replace our 30 year old Mercedes Diesel.
I have signed on to Uber hoping to repeat the feat for the duration of the summer. The biggest issue - it means driving the Sonic, and I really, really want to put the Mercedes back on the road for the summer. Cheap to drive, and hella fun. Since the Sonic is so new, I'd like to minimize the miles on it, and the Mercedes can usually be repaired with either a micro-screwdriver or a sledge hammer.
If I could hook up with a half dozen trustworthy locals, I would love to get the delivery business going again, but I can't do it without a second 'bossman' if I want to keep my wife.
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Don't you have to have a newer, nicer car to drive for Uber? The Uber cars I've been in have all been late models. Our two cars wouldn't really work... a 2004 Xterra and a 2001 Acura Integra. Plus, I'm not sure there's much need for Uber cars in Gulf Shores, where we're retiring to. I've had great experiences with Uber in DC and here in OKC. I still have two free rides waiting for me from other friends signing up at my request. That's pretty cool.
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Newer/Nicer may be right. They accepted my car (2012 Sonic), but they do require a 4-door, and apparently the riders rate a larger car higher than a small one. If a driver's rating falls below 4.6 or something they will cut them off. I have only just started this and have no opinions on profitability yet.
Before you start picking on my choice to buy a new car, we were able to get the car for $8500 with only 24,000 km on it, and since it gets 7.3 l/100 km highway, I feel justified. I still want to get the aulde Mercedes back on the road though. On the upside both cars are completely paid for, so no loans.
Out of curiosity, what size of cars were your Uber rides? Town Cars or compacts?
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Now that I think about it I guess a lot of my Uber rides have been in SUVs. There have definitely been a couple smaller rides, though. The only one that actually sticks in my mind was a Honda Element, which I actually think are kinda cool but in this case it was a negative because you couldn't open the rear passenger-side door without opening the front passenger door. Just a little awk for a cab-type situation.
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I've probably taken 8 or so Uber rides so far and they've all been in smaller to mid-size cars. A couple of Prius', a Nissan something or other and a Chevy. I'm not really a car person so I'm not sure what kind they were other than the Prius. Not a town car, no SUVs. They've all been great though... and all were really clean and seemed pretty new.
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Seems to be a good way to monetize some of your free time, although there are a lot of costs that aren't apparent.
Gas is the most obvious cost, but the extra mileage will eventually show up in maintenance (tires, oil changes, and cleaning your car in the short term mostly).
Assuming you are mildly productive and drive ~60 miles per hour (which is high and assumes you are driving on basically the highway and at 60mph nonstop as a "highly productive" base case), that's the base fare plus time plus distance. In my city, that's $4 + (.15 * 60) + (.9 * 60) = $67. Let's factor in two direct costs: gas and taxes.
1) Gas: Assuming a Honda Civic, that's 40mpg hwy, so ~1.5 gal @ $2.5/gal = $3.75.
2) Tax: Assuming 25% total taxes (local, state, whatever), that's also 25% * (67 - (60 * .56)) = $8.35
So, on a net tax basis you'll be somewhere in the range of ~$55/hr (ignoring long term maintenance, cleaning, etc) as a highly productive estimate. Most drivers are not 100% productive with continuous rides and hwy only driving, so I think that helps you to see that. I simplified the above just to illustrate, but you'll want to go through a similar exercise to get a more accurate idea.
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Seems to be a good way to monetize some of your free time, although there are a lot of costs that aren't apparent.
Gas is the most obvious cost, but the extra mileage will eventually show up in maintenance (tires, oil changes, and cleaning your car in the short term mostly).
Assuming you are mildly productive and drive ~60 miles per hour (which is high and assumes you are driving on basically the highway and at 60mph nonstop as a "highly productive" base case), that's the base fare plus time plus distance. In my city, that's $4 + (.15 * 60) + (.9 * 60) = $67. Let's factor in two direct costs: gas and taxes.
1) Gas: Assuming a Honda Civic, that's 40mpg hwy, so ~1.5 gal @ $2.5/gal = $3.75.
2) Tax: Assuming 25% total taxes (local, state, whatever), that's also 25% * (67 - (60 * .56)) = $8.35
So, on a net tax basis you'll be somewhere in the range of ~$55/hr (ignoring long term maintenance, cleaning, etc) as a highly productive estimate. Most drivers are not 100% productive with continuous rides and hwy only driving, so I think that helps you to see that. I simplified the above just to illustrate, but you'll want to go through a similar exercise to get a more accurate idea.
I can guarantee you'll never see 60mph average - between getting on and off the highway, parking, etc, for city driving I tend to have an overall average of 20-22mph (the vehicle's computer keeps track).
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The IRS 2015 mileage rate (expected cost of driving a reasonably new car - gas, maintenance, depreciation, etc) is 57.5 cents/mile. So that's as good a first order estimate as any (unless you have really good long term data on your car - at which point you probably own an older car, and are not in high demand for Uber, or may not be allowed to drive at all).
I'm not convinced it's likely to be radically worth it unless you just drive for surge pricing, which is probably the whole point of that. I've also heard that "side gigs" are common and, while probably against Uber's terms of service for drivers, more profitable. Someone drives you to the airport with Uber, and you call them directly when you get back and take a nice little under the table ride back, paid cash. Or something along those lines.
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Seems to be a good way to monetize some of your free time, although there are a lot of costs that aren't apparent.
Gas is the most obvious cost, but the extra mileage will eventually show up in maintenance (tires, oil changes, and cleaning your car in the short term mostly).
Assuming you are mildly productive and drive ~60 miles per hour (which is high and assumes you are driving on basically the highway and at 60mph nonstop as a "highly productive" base case), that's the base fare plus time plus distance. In my city, that's $4 + (.15 * 60) + (.9 * 60) = $67. Let's factor in two direct costs: gas and taxes.
1) Gas: Assuming a Honda Civic, that's 40mpg hwy, so ~1.5 gal @ $2.5/gal = $3.75.
2) Tax: Assuming 25% total taxes (local, state, whatever), that's also 25% * (67 - (60 * .56)) = $8.35
So, on a net tax basis you'll be somewhere in the range of ~$55/hr (ignoring long term maintenance, cleaning, etc) as a highly productive estimate. Most drivers are not 100% productive with continuous rides and hwy only driving, so I think that helps you to see that. I simplified the above just to illustrate, but you'll want to go through a similar exercise to get a more accurate idea.
When I was doing pizzas I kept a pretty robust spreadsheet on the earnings side. I ignored expenses in order to stave off human nature (I'm not making enough money, I might as well sit at home and get fat and lazy). I see Uber as being a lot like food delivery, just that its a person you are delivering instead of Moo Goo Gai Pan).
In the Pizza world, I got $3 per local delivery. That was guaranteed money. Tips averaged out at around $3.30. So if I got 2 deliveries an hour, my worst case scenario was $6/hr, and my normal would be $12.60 per hour.
On a busy night, a restaurant would give you up to 4 deliveries at once. Best case scenario was that they were all in the same neighbourhood and could be done in under an hour. More common was that they would be spread out and you would be longer getting back. Much more than 4 deliveries and customers would get upset with the wait. Normal expectation was 20 minutes per delivery. One issue we had was when an Indian Restaurant add free delivery to the next town in order to increase business. They upped our delivery fee, but the extra time to get to the town threw off the timing for all subsequent deliveries.
My best night doing pizzas was $125.00 My worst was $16.00. Normal was around $50.00. You wanted to start working at around 3:00 PM and stay until at least midnight. Thurs - Saturday were the best nights. Sunday to Tuesday were garbage, and Wednesday was a crapshoot. Best business was in foul weather. I imagine Uber would be similar for shifts.
A lot of the guys at the office thought it was hilarious that I was doing pizzas at night, but as I pointed out it was better to go out and make $50 than to sit at home drinking beer and watching the Leafs lose - all of which cost more than the gas I went through in most nights. Normal fuel use was about $12.00 per night on the old Diesel Mercedes - I would gas up at the end of the night to take it out of earnings.
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For those still considering this, I've done taxes for about 10 or so Chicago based Uber drivers this tax season. By the time we take out all of the deductions for Uber fees and mileage, most of them are netting something closer to 1/3 of what their 1099-k reported. I've done the math on the mileage for my car based on some reasonable estimates, and I think my own car is closer to $.45/mile, but that's with highway mileage. Unless you have a hybrid, I think the current mileage rate is probably fairly accurate for city driving. I'm just not convinced anyone is making much money doing this, except those who are targeting their driving only to the higher rate "surge pricing" times. Our clients have been shocked when they realize how little they're truly making. Uber is making money, but I don't think the drivers are.
Also, the founder of Uber is a misogynistic asshole. That alone makes me not want to do business with them, as a customer or as a driver.
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Good point mlipps - I guess the follow up question is how much would those drivers be making if they stayed home? Does the wear and tear come into your calcs, and does it throw off the balance by enough to make staying home more profitable??
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Good point mlipps - I guess the follow up question is how much would those drivers be making if they stayed home? Does the wear and tear come into your calcs, and does it throw off the balance by enough to make staying home more profitable??
In theory, wear and tear (aka maintenance & depreciation) should be covered in the standard mileage. But I think it depends a lot on what car you drive. For example, my car with the $.45/mile calc I did is a 2010 Toyota Matrix that we bought for $13k w/25k miles in cash. I plan to keep it for 10+ years and do not expect any major repairs for a long time. I see a lot of Uber drivers in American made SUV's. The repairs are higher, the initial cost is higher, and the MPG is worse. I'm skeptical that the standard mileage rate really covers all their costs.
I don't think any of the drivers are LOSING money unless they are driving expensive cars with expensive financing (totally possible). So, it's probably better to be an Uber driver than to be unemployed or otherwise idle. But I don't think the hourly rate comes close to minimum wage.
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Good point mlipps - I guess the follow up question is how much would those drivers be making if they stayed home? Does the wear and tear come into your calcs, and does it throw off the balance by enough to make staying home more profitable??
I think the best answer would be anything else. If Uber isn't profitable then work on something that does. If Uber drivers took a class or made things or did a different side hustle it might be more profitable. By making so little the opportunity cost becomes significant.
I'm not for being lazy but I am for optimizing time. Additionally Uber gives you no skills or health benefits whereas a side hustle can give you a skill or even just business experience. The things that are scaleable are the best side hustles.
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I don't think any of the drivers are LOSING money unless they are driving expensive cars with expensive financing (totally possible). So, it's probably better to be an Uber driver than to be unemployed or otherwise idle. But I don't think the hourly rate comes close to minimum wage.
Actually... people are that dumb. On the Sonic owners forum, a number of guys have bought their cars on credit, assuming that driving for Uber will make up their loss. One guy was just bragging about getting a deal and buying a car similar to mine (same option package, higher mileage) for twice what I paid, then when I pointed out he could have done better, shrugged it off that is OK because Uber will make up the difference...
As the old saying goes... You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.
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As the old saying goes... You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.
o.O That took me a while...
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Don't you have to have a newer, nicer car to drive for Uber? The Uber cars I've been in have all been late models. Our two cars wouldn't really work... a 2004 Xterra and a 2001 Acura Integra. Plus, I'm not sure there's much need for Uber cars in Gulf Shores, where we're retiring to. I've had great experiences with Uber in DC and here in OKC. I still have two free rides waiting for me from other friends signing up at my request. That's pretty cool.
Yes you do. Because my cars were not younger than 5 years of age, they were not eligible.
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As the old saying goes... You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.
o.O That took me a while...
:)
Its one of my favourite subtle insults. Best said quietly under your breath.
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I don't drive for a ride sharing service. But I did notice that my insurer (GEICO) just amended my policy to explicitly prohibit coverage if I were to drive for one. Thought people might be interested in that. I guess Uber or Lyft's policy would still cover you.
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I'm pretty sure the whole point of Uber's insurance, which is paid for as a % of your fare, is that it's primary insurance in case you get in an accident while Ubering. The safety factor is a much larger caveat than the insurance factor to me.
That's probably the whole point of Uber's insurance, but it doesn't cover you when the app is on and you don't have a passenger in the car yet (you are waiting for a fare to pop up, you are driving to go get said person, etc). During which time your regular insurance isn't going to cover you because they see you as a commercial driver.
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Read your insurance policy. The standard auto policy has a very explicit exclusion for "livery" service, which means accepting fares to drive people places. I'm assuming most Uber/Lyft drivers don't know this or don't take it seriously, but ride-sharing is definetely on ins. company radars.
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We have Geico car insurance, and when we were in an accident last November, one of the first questions the representative asked me was whether I used the car for Uber or anything like that. So insurance really does appear to be an issue.
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I started driving for Lyft this week.
$1000 bonus if I complete 250 rides within 60 days.
I plan to stop after I achieve the bonus because after all expenses are factored in it's low pay/high risk side hustle.
Any other Mustachians doing this in 2017?
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My father volunteers to prepare taxes every year. He says he has seen hundreds of people who have driven for Uber. He has never once seen one who made money- and often has a difficult time convincing them of this, because of course they see money coming in, they just don't account for all the expenses.
Now granted, it is a biased sampe- these are people who likely can't or just don't look at their expenses the way any mustachian would (or else they wouldn't need free tax help); but it seem like Uber is a very difficult side hustle to actually make money on.
(I feel like MMM said he's been experimenting with it; maybe his post will be up soon.)
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Yeah, I agree it is not a high paying gig after you consider depreciation and gas for your car.
But it is a net gain, primarily because I drive an older Prius that get 50mpg.
It certainly pays better than sitting at home and watching sports on tv after work.😂
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I did across 2016, debating when my quit time is for 2017.
In my market, the money is junk. I see plenty of drivers who put in as much as 12hr a day for .70 a mile. Further with Uber changing thier rules on a whim, I cant drive "only" for thier top tier service (called Select in this market) - which ALMOST made it worth it.
I used it solely to offset taxes from my day job. I'll likely stop this year once the depreciation exceeds my other sources of untaxed income (dividends and the like). Will probably perma-stop next year so my returns dont trigger red flags :)
Agreed that Prius owners might best off in the profit/loss category. Having said that - I've seen three Teslas now doing Uber runs, and I'd be willing to bet a shiny nickel that the IRS is/has bought it for the owners.
Oh, and please tip your driver. I keep $2 bills on me for this purpose. I know they're getting shafted.
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My car is too old to drive for Uber. Most Mustacian cars don't qualify.
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It depends on where and when you drive.
In most cities, doing it as a full time job won't make you much money after you factor in the costs. But I recommend anybody who has a car that qualifies at least sign up and do the initial 50 to 150 rides to get the signup bonus (it can be as high as $750 depending on the city)
I rarely drive for Uber, but I am currently signed up as a driver and do it occasionally if nothing is going on a given weekend night.
I live in a smallish centralized college town and if I drive thursday, Fri, or saturday nights from around 10pm-3am I can catch all the club/bar crowd surge pricing and make $25 an hour and not spend much on gas or actually drive very many miles.
Any other nights I have tried I have barely made $10 after gas. Not worth it. As an occasional weekend/holiday side gig it's great, and I recommend it. I don't recommend it as a full-time gig. Not a bad way to make an extra $300 a month or something, but a shitty full-time option in my opinion.
But if you are gonna go full time, get the cheapest car you can that meets the requirement, and drive weekend nights, holidays, and anytime there are events that cause lots of uber requests to be made at once. Surge pricing is the only way to make any money with Uber, so you have to base your strategy around that.
On a 'drinking' holiday like St Patty's day or new years eve when lots of people use Uber, you can make like $300 with one night of driving sometimes. but on some random tuesday night you won't make shit in most places.
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But I recommend anybody who has a car that qualifies at least sign up and do the initial 50 to 150 rides to get the signup bonus (it can be as high as $750 depending on the city)
if I drive thursday, Fri, or saturday nights from around 10pm-3am I can catch all the club/bar crowd surge pricing and make $25 an hour and not spend much on gas or actually drive very many miles.
The highest possible signup bonus you mention, divided by the initial 150 rides, is only $5/ride. Why would you recommend this?
And if I'm working a second job at 3am on my weekend off, it better be paying more than $25 MINUS all of your expenses.
Especially if I'm shuttling a bunch of drunk college students around for hours and house, who reek of smoke/booze/vomit.
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^^ Yeah. I drove the "Drunk Bus" in college for a few years. No way in hell I'd want to do that in my own vehicle. At least you can hose out a bus.
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But I recommend anybody who has a car that qualifies at least sign up and do the initial 50 to 150 rides to get the signup bonus (it can be as high as $750 depending on the city)
if I drive thursday, Fri, or saturday nights from around 10pm-3am I can catch all the club/bar crowd surge pricing and make $25 an hour and not spend much on gas or actually drive very many miles.
The highest possible signup bonus you mention, divided by the initial 150 rides, is only $5/ride. Why would you recommend this?
You still get paid for the rides too, you don't JUST get the bonus. So you are making an EXTRA $5 a trip. I recommend it because it is a reliable way to make a few hundred dollars with not very many hours or work.
I recommend it for the same reason I recommend credit card churning, and selling stuff on eBay. Its a way to make money that almost anybody can do, on your own time, as few hours as you want.
And if I'm working a second job at 3am on my weekend off, it better be paying more than $25 MINUS all of your expenses.
Especially if I'm shuttling a bunch of drunk college students around for hours and house, who reek of smoke/booze/vomit.
So don't do it then. A side hustle that allows you to conjure up a few hundred bucks over a weekend with almost no advance notice or setup or anything is very useful to many people.
There aren't really that many legitimate options that most people have if they decide they want to work a few extra hours one week at over $20 an hour. If you know of others let us know.
I have never had anybody vomit in my car. And if they do, Uber makes them pay you for it.
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I've been toying with the idea of doing it. Not because I expect to make any serious money, but for the experience.
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+1 for the experience.
I like people. I enjoy listening to them and hearing their stories. When bartending or serving in a restaurant, many people shared some wisdom in their short time their. Now that I am working in healthcare, people are not in the best mood to be sharing stories and life lessons. I've also looked into Airbnb for this reason.
My jobs take me 10-40 miles outside of the city. A job within cycling distance would be preferred, but since I am new in my career field, I will take what is available. If my 20-40 minute drive home is stretched out a little longer for some extra cash, then I'll try out uber or lyft.
A 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer is reliable and efficient at 30 mpg on the highway.
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My car is too old to drive for Uber. Most Mustacian cars don't qualify.
So is mine, and it's a 2 door. So I drive for PostMates (delivering restaurant food). GrubHub just started here, I signed up but haven't heard back.
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Anyone know how to fish for the highest driver signup bonus?