Question

Long story, extremely short.  Effective Monday I will be out of a job, not by choice but forced out due to a myriad of reasons.Long story, extremely short. Effective Monday I will be out of a job, not by choice but forced out due to a myriad of reasons. That being said, I don't really want to continue to do what I've done for 20 years. I need a break from the crazy stress. Are there people out the there who survive and thrive by doing instacart, doordash and the like? My budget is bare bones and I know exactly what I have to make in order for it to work I'm just curious to see if there are people who run gigs for a living, at least for awhile. Thank you!  

Answer 1

You can definitely make money on doordash

Comments

@todd79191 how many hours per week?  

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@todd79191  I thought I was doing good making 400 a week! How do do that?  

Answer 2

I do instacart. What sort of money are you looking to make and how busy is your area?  

Comments

@thrice36130 in order to keep with my current budget (stripped to the bones as it is) I'd have to make around 500 a week. Instacart is booming where I'm at. Even pre-pandemic. I'm not opposed to doing more than one hustle, I am just curious if people make this work for them as their "real" income.  

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Doing it FT its absolutely reasonable depending on your area. Just remember to track your mileage and keep money to the side for taxes.  

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@preston if your area is popular and your willing to shop quickly you can make that a week if you treat like a real job when i just ehhh it on weekends i make about 85-120 for 4 hours but also doordash too and make about 30-65 in 4 hours if i could put more time and your area is busy you could do it probably worse case try it and if its not for you at least u have options to pick up side hustles

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@preston you can make $500 a week if your area is busy, especially if you do a combo or you plan to do it full time. My goal is $250 a week as a true side hustle as I am working full time from home (albeit with reduced pay). I’m averaging about $300 a week but only doing jobs before 9am after 5pm or on the weekends. About 15 hours a week. Keep in mind you would need to account for taxes though, so you would want to ‘make’ more than $500 if that’s what you need in your bank account. I set aside 30% in a separate account for taxes.  

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@thrice36130 exactly! I'm fully willing to get up early (I'm up anyway! ), do weekends, whatever I need to do. Thank you for your input, I really appreciate it!  

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@poucher oh for sure it would be considered real job. Hit the ground running! My guy dashes and in our area the incentives were up to $4 a dash this weekend. He made over $100 in three hours.  

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@preston that’s exactly why I do early morning! I’m up by 6am, might as well make some cash!  I have a 10am call this morning so I skipped it, but I like being able to work when I want to. Although they have onboarded a ton of new shoppers so it can hard to get jobs around here, but hopefully as businesses open back up people will get back to their real jobs and that will slow down. But I see a lot of people in a group I’m in making good money with the food deliveries right now. And apply for Shipt too. They send you jobs. You don’t have to ‘fight’ for them. A little more stable. (They turned me down, I think because I have a full time job still)

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@preston then you should do really good my area has slowed down a lot and is hard for me to go more than 4 hours that being said if your area is that busy you could do 5 hours every other week and make what u need or more

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@thrice36130 I tried shipt awhile ago and I didn't get on either. I will try again though.  

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@poucher I live about 45 minutes south of Cleveland. A ton of larger towns and cities. We would just drift from one city to the next via deliveries. And he was showing me how to do a few at a time and all that. I'm glad I have someone I can go with and learn from otherwise my anxiety would get the best of me

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@thrice36130 Please keep in mind there are so many issues with instacart right now. I was making around 600-700 a week but there are bots that are stealing batches as well as an influx of shoppers so it is very hard to get orders depending on your area. The app crashes a lot (while you’re in the middle of working) and it is a nightmare sometimes.  

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@redhead I’m aware. I just finished for the day. That’s why I asked how busy her area was. I could still make $500 a week if I did it full time. I’m averaging about $300 a week for 15 or so hours.  

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@redhead my area (Atlanta) is supposedly one of the worst for batch grabbers. At least according to a FB group I’m in. ‍♀️ it’s annoying for sure

Answer 3

I’ve had to reinvent myself several times over during my career. While I’ve worked as a consultant to fill in, I’ve never done gigs like the ones you mentioned. I think for me it would have diverted my efforts to see where I was going in the long term. But I know a lot if people who do them. I think it’s all in your mindset because some like it and some have developed a lot of anger towards it. So like anything else in life, it’s whatever works for you.  

Comments

@berchtesgaden0 too true! I was in the beginning phases of starting my own business a few years ago, all while working and going to school full time. Because I love working with infants and new parents, but the preschool environment with so many children, high ratios, and poor treatment of employees has began to weigh in me. I need to just unplug from that for a bit. And maybe I'll go back and maybe I'll find something else to do.  

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@preston me too.  

Answer 4

I do shipt, doordash and uber eats. Shipt has a local Facebook group I belong to and there are several ladies that do these delivery places as their full time job. And they rock at it. Sometimes they have to put in long hours and they do more than one. That way if one is not busy one day, they can switch to another company to fill the gaps. But they are also looking to gross about $2, 000 a week as they have kids to support. As long as you keep accurate records, track your mileage, put away at least 25-30% for taxes and aren’t afraid to hustle - it’s totally doable.  

Comments

@necrophobia6072 thank you for the feedback! I guess I know it's doable just wanted to see it!  

Answer 5

Also try amazon flex

Comments

@todd79191 this is a new one to me, will definitely look into it

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@preston i do it and it’s pretty decent

Answer 6

I have been doing postmates and unfortunately it’s my only income right now I made $1800 last month

Comments

@ferdie Postmates here is awful. I'm glad you're having luck with it though!  

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@preston why is it awful

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@ferdie it's just not popular at all and you rarely do you make more than $4 a run.  

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@preston I understand it’s really the tips that are helping I’m burned out on it to be honest I used to do it for side money but now since I lost my job I have to do it more

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@ferdie it is so rare that anyone even tips here. My guy delivered 200 POUNDS of dog food and made $4. That was enough to turn me off of it. But I am still available to them if I really need it

Answer 7

I do door dash, I make about 400 a week, I work 5 days for anywhere from 6-8 hours

Answer 8

Keep in mind the jobs you mentioned are 1099 and you need to hold back $$ for taxes. You mentioned $500/week in a comment, but in reality you’ll need to make more then that to afford the the annual taxes.  

Comments

@siskind i never hold money back for taxes and i never owe. but people should know that information just incase lol but yeah I’ve been 1099 forever and have never owed

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@siskind thank you for the reminder! I know I need to keep some back, I was just sort of guesstimating  

Answer 9

Look at this as your opportunity to do what you want to do! Write down all of the things you are in interested in. For instance after my cancer diagnosis I decided to be a consultant while I figured things out. Found out I do not like working alone and added NuSkin - free and no investments because the products helped me survive all the cancer treatment and save my skin, hair and teeth. It will always be my side hustle. Wish I would have had a side hustle through my 30’s & 40’s for debt, savings and life. I hope you got severance and I suggest 2 weeks of just relaxing, then refreshed you can start seeking what makes you happy!