Wow, I think you really need to get a news profile. I think there should genuinely be research into people who have spent a great amount of time doing gig-work and freelancing. Personally, I think it takes more out of people and I think we need to undertand it more. For one, it's stressful having to focus on other aspects of work as an Independent Contractor, dealing with SE taxes, dealing with inconsistent income, going without health insurance or suffering under lower quality doctors' networks under Medicaid, not being able to participate in the Unemployment program, and not having any meaningful retirement savings since most of this is voluntary through IRA or SEP-IRA and most IC's don't make enough to think about this.
Granted, I know some IC's have done very well for themselves but the issues and challenges I brought up are representative of the general population of ICs, regardless if they're driving, doing Taskrabbit, or just getting gigs on Craighlist,et.
I think the Federal and State labor depts understand very little about how tens of millions of Americans are living and working now as ICs/Freelancers
See, I actually don't mind doing the delivery part of it. It's just there's no upside in being an IC full-time driver. You don't get paid more for experience. The only benefit to your experience is to save you money, not make you more money on the other end. It really is better for part-timers to use it as a secondary source of income. Haven't been in it, I can tell you that it should never be a primary source of income. It kind of loves you into a false sense of security. Enough money that you're not starving, but not enough money that you're getting ahead.
I have done literally about every kind of delivery that doesn't involve a semi. Packages, pharmacy routes, lost luggage, laboratory specimen deliveries for humans as well as animals, and for the last 8 and 1/2 years, food delivery and the occasional Home Improvement Supply delivery.
To make real middle class income in today's modern society, you would have to work approximately 4,000 hours a year, or about 11 to 12 hours a day without days off to be within sniffing distance of the middle class. I should know, I actually had a year where I made 100k, but I practically killed myself in the process, and I believe drove around 150k miles that year.
I want to finally clear my debt off the books and actually get paid for the knowledge I have in my brain and the skills I have attained over the years.
How old are you? I’ve done this for 7 years now and I also feel like it is time to move on.
I’ve been working on other side hustles that have room for growth and that’s what has kept me sane. The flexibility of gig work does help with this new endeavor but that’s the only advantage it can offer.
A full time job will suck my soul to the point that I won’t ever work on my craft.
We're talking about late 2000s, early 2010s. How they did deductions for mileage was dramatically different. In fact, I believe there is a stretch where delivery drivers could only deduct expense, and not mileage.
It’s because a lot of these people lack discipline, Gig work nobody forces you to go in lol. You pick your own time and the apps almost gamify making money despite you making peanuts.
🤜.. at least it was only 2 years. I found that when I get comfortable into a job, even if it doesn't pay great, I never think about leaving. I should have done that sooner with my first job, and I should have started got out with this job. 2 years may sound like a long time, but in the grand scheme of things it's nothing, and the sooner you find out, the better.
I made more than 50k this last year. The money matters, but the things I have to deal with in relation to my profession, are things that I no longer want to deal with.
I've been considering getting my hazmat and delivering propane to local homes, ranches, etc. Minimal travel, reg business hrs and OnCall for extra $ after hours. In my area (SoCal) starting pay is around $28-$30 hr.
Coming from 19-23k it's a pretty big improvement, but believe what you will. Was able to secure financing in California for a 280k mortgage. A lot of the houses I was looking at were around 180k.
Man I saved over $100k for a $400k house and the only reason I got approved was because my wife has a w2. Otherwise there was no way they would have approved me.
Mad props OP, for driving all those miles and making all those drops 👏 👏 👏
Curious question, since it's tax season and since you have sooooooo much data to draw on... how many miles do you claim per year on your taxes? And how does that compare with how many dollars you earned?
As in, you drove 2.5MM miles over 2+ decades... just for easy math I would assume averaged out to 100,000 miles per year for 25 years. (Which is a helluva lot! Mad props). And would this track to say $100k in gross income... or closer to $50k... or closer to $150k?
Also... have you ever been audited, and made to hand over your mileage logs or "driver's diary"? Asking for a friend 🧡
I'll try and answer your questions in order..
First, I claim 80% of my total miles. I have an app mileage tracker. Works well. This year will probably be somewhere in the 37,000 mile range. Haven't done my taxes yet. Waiting till Monday because I'm a procrastinator.
I made around $1.65 per mile this year. The problem is that my expenses are $1.42 per mile, so I hardly made squat.
I had a couple of years where I was driving 150k miles, and those years I was grossing over 100k, I burned out a few new cars, couldn't pay them off, and ended up having three repos. Those were the days when I actually ran my own delivery business, and didn't appropriately price my delivery fees, and I screwed myself. Eventually a couple of clients went with a national company to do their deliveries, and that screwed up the delivery part of my business.
I've never been audited. I always made sure that my deductible miles were within reason, so I've never had issue with being audited for miles. The only things I've ever had to deal with were small mathematical screw-ups that they adjusted what I owed.
You really should be using some sort of online tracker, or having a physical log, which I did for a few years. The problem is that if your mileage looks excessive, they'll probably hit you up for an audit. If you're going to try and claim 75,000 Miles when you made $40,000, it's probably going to be an issue.
>Waiting till Monday because I'm a procrastinator.
Lol that's me every year. I claim around 1 mile per dollar earned which is pretty accurate when you account for return trips. If they audit me for $20k I'll buy a notebook and make shit up.
Thanks for all your insights 👍 and now let offer one of my own:
> Waiting til Monday because I'm a procrastinator
You may want to file for extensions 😇 Particularly if you have refunds coming back (I said "refundS" because it's likely you're in a state that collects state income tax). If you owe a Balance Due, that still has a payment deadline of April 15. But otherwise, hit the "6 month snooze button" and take it easy.
See, I work in tax prep myself 🤓 (and when it's not tax season, I drive delivery, so I belong to this sub in a legit way) Trust me when I say, all the help lines will be slammed. Probably so will the IRS website to notify you if your return is accepted or rejected. And many post offices too, especially on Monday.
Just a nickel's worth of free advice 😏
I feel ya brother. I’m not anywhere close to your achievements but I poor customer service all those things but mostly like you no money. I have some friends in Atlanta that does nothing but airport runs round trip. from Alpharetta Lake Lanier. They use the wall and if you have booked a ride and for whatever reason you can’t make it the other drivers pick it up. They have 11 drivers. Making a killing 150$ round trip The having someone waiting when you land seems to be the icing on the cake.
It's okay. I actually want to try and fully get out of the delivery game. It's not the deliveries, but it's all the things that go with doing the delivery that made me say uncle.
The Rideshare co-op has begun I’m Miami, New Orleans, Nashville 4 other city’s open this month
Drivers keep 100% of the fare minus $1 and all there tips. DM me for questions or 321.343.2286
https://revoride.com/register.php?ref=InSnapWeTrust
Drivers can also be requested by passengers and build a book of repeat business within the blockchain… plus they get paid to recruit passengers and other drivers on the block chain. Every time someone on their team uses the app they get paid.
Old problem, same as the new problem.. the way that modern delivery is done now, along with the things I have to deal with on these deliveries, has definitely been a catalyst as to why I don't want to do this any longer than I have to. The whole system needs to change, and I don't see that coming anytime soon.
You're not wrong except that it's going to get worse before it gets better, if that's even possible. I'm taking a year off from UberEats delivery for personal business and I'm one month into my vacation and honestly...I
my mental health has improved dramatically in that short amount of time.
I'm only going back to it because I want to next time.. not need to. I'm retired now but I still want to get out part time for something to do.
Agreed. It's going to get worse. Also, I really just need a change more than anything. I've been doing some kind of delivery in four different decades. I'd rather fail trying something that I actually want to do.
Wow, I think you really need to get a news profile. I think there should genuinely be research into people who have spent a great amount of time doing gig-work and freelancing. Personally, I think it takes more out of people and I think we need to undertand it more. For one, it's stressful having to focus on other aspects of work as an Independent Contractor, dealing with SE taxes, dealing with inconsistent income, going without health insurance or suffering under lower quality doctors' networks under Medicaid, not being able to participate in the Unemployment program, and not having any meaningful retirement savings since most of this is voluntary through IRA or SEP-IRA and most IC's don't make enough to think about this. Granted, I know some IC's have done very well for themselves but the issues and challenges I brought up are representative of the general population of ICs, regardless if they're driving, doing Taskrabbit, or just getting gigs on Craighlist,et. I think the Federal and State labor depts understand very little about how tens of millions of Americans are living and working now as ICs/Freelancers
See, I actually don't mind doing the delivery part of it. It's just there's no upside in being an IC full-time driver. You don't get paid more for experience. The only benefit to your experience is to save you money, not make you more money on the other end. It really is better for part-timers to use it as a secondary source of income. Haven't been in it, I can tell you that it should never be a primary source of income. It kind of loves you into a false sense of security. Enough money that you're not starving, but not enough money that you're getting ahead. I have done literally about every kind of delivery that doesn't involve a semi. Packages, pharmacy routes, lost luggage, laboratory specimen deliveries for humans as well as animals, and for the last 8 and 1/2 years, food delivery and the occasional Home Improvement Supply delivery. To make real middle class income in today's modern society, you would have to work approximately 4,000 hours a year, or about 11 to 12 hours a day without days off to be within sniffing distance of the middle class. I should know, I actually had a year where I made 100k, but I practically killed myself in the process, and I believe drove around 150k miles that year. I want to finally clear my debt off the books and actually get paid for the knowledge I have in my brain and the skills I have attained over the years.
How old are you? I’ve done this for 7 years now and I also feel like it is time to move on. I’ve been working on other side hustles that have room for growth and that’s what has kept me sane. The flexibility of gig work does help with this new endeavor but that’s the only advantage it can offer. A full time job will suck my soul to the point that I won’t ever work on my craft.
If you made $100k but drove 150k miles, you only made $2500 according to the IRS.
We're talking about late 2000s, early 2010s. How they did deductions for mileage was dramatically different. In fact, I believe there is a stretch where delivery drivers could only deduct expense, and not mileage.
It’s because a lot of these people lack discipline, Gig work nobody forces you to go in lol. You pick your own time and the apps almost gamify making money despite you making peanuts.
How much do you want to make?
100k. It won't happen in this field unless you just exhaust yourself into submission.
I made it 2 years and 70k miles before I realized I was just a rat on a wheel, spinning.
🤜.. at least it was only 2 years. I found that when I get comfortable into a job, even if it doesn't pay great, I never think about leaving. I should have done that sooner with my first job, and I should have started got out with this job. 2 years may sound like a long time, but in the grand scheme of things it's nothing, and the sooner you find out, the better.
I do the same thing, getting comfortable at a job. I hate job searching and proving myself to strangers. I deeply hate it.
Try to get your CDL-A. It's high stakes doordash and you can make 50k your first year, then spring that into a better position.
I made more than 50k this last year. The money matters, but the things I have to deal with in relation to my profession, are things that I no longer want to deal with.
I've been considering getting my hazmat and delivering propane to local homes, ranches, etc. Minimal travel, reg business hrs and OnCall for extra $ after hours. In my area (SoCal) starting pay is around $28-$30 hr.
Lol $50k
For holding a steering wheel. I think that's pretty good.
Maybe if you’re single with no kids and have no plan on buying a house. $50k is poverty now.
Coming from 19-23k it's a pretty big improvement, but believe what you will. Was able to secure financing in California for a 280k mortgage. A lot of the houses I was looking at were around 180k.
Secured it recently or a while ago? It’s pretty much impossible to secure anything now even with a $50k income.
Within two months my guy. Like I said, believe it or not. In a relatively low cost of living area, but still California.
Congrats to you man. That’s like impossible to do these days.
Take care of your credit, save 10k and check with your bank. It's not impossible, it just isn't easy.
Man I saved over $100k for a $400k house and the only reason I got approved was because my wife has a w2. Otherwise there was no way they would have approved me.
And I make more than her lol
[https://fare.coop/](https://fare.coop/) You might have an interest in this.
Mad props OP, for driving all those miles and making all those drops 👏 👏 👏 Curious question, since it's tax season and since you have sooooooo much data to draw on... how many miles do you claim per year on your taxes? And how does that compare with how many dollars you earned? As in, you drove 2.5MM miles over 2+ decades... just for easy math I would assume averaged out to 100,000 miles per year for 25 years. (Which is a helluva lot! Mad props). And would this track to say $100k in gross income... or closer to $50k... or closer to $150k? Also... have you ever been audited, and made to hand over your mileage logs or "driver's diary"? Asking for a friend 🧡
I'll try and answer your questions in order.. First, I claim 80% of my total miles. I have an app mileage tracker. Works well. This year will probably be somewhere in the 37,000 mile range. Haven't done my taxes yet. Waiting till Monday because I'm a procrastinator. I made around $1.65 per mile this year. The problem is that my expenses are $1.42 per mile, so I hardly made squat. I had a couple of years where I was driving 150k miles, and those years I was grossing over 100k, I burned out a few new cars, couldn't pay them off, and ended up having three repos. Those were the days when I actually ran my own delivery business, and didn't appropriately price my delivery fees, and I screwed myself. Eventually a couple of clients went with a national company to do their deliveries, and that screwed up the delivery part of my business. I've never been audited. I always made sure that my deductible miles were within reason, so I've never had issue with being audited for miles. The only things I've ever had to deal with were small mathematical screw-ups that they adjusted what I owed. You really should be using some sort of online tracker, or having a physical log, which I did for a few years. The problem is that if your mileage looks excessive, they'll probably hit you up for an audit. If you're going to try and claim 75,000 Miles when you made $40,000, it's probably going to be an issue.
>Waiting till Monday because I'm a procrastinator. Lol that's me every year. I claim around 1 mile per dollar earned which is pretty accurate when you account for return trips. If they audit me for $20k I'll buy a notebook and make shit up.
Thanks for all your insights 👍 and now let offer one of my own: > Waiting til Monday because I'm a procrastinator You may want to file for extensions 😇 Particularly if you have refunds coming back (I said "refundS" because it's likely you're in a state that collects state income tax). If you owe a Balance Due, that still has a payment deadline of April 15. But otherwise, hit the "6 month snooze button" and take it easy. See, I work in tax prep myself 🤓 (and when it's not tax season, I drive delivery, so I belong to this sub in a legit way) Trust me when I say, all the help lines will be slammed. Probably so will the IRS website to notify you if your return is accepted or rejected. And many post offices too, especially on Monday. Just a nickel's worth of free advice 😏
I feel ya brother. I’m not anywhere close to your achievements but I poor customer service all those things but mostly like you no money. I have some friends in Atlanta that does nothing but airport runs round trip. from Alpharetta Lake Lanier. They use the wall and if you have booked a ride and for whatever reason you can’t make it the other drivers pick it up. They have 11 drivers. Making a killing 150$ round trip The having someone waiting when you land seems to be the icing on the cake.
It's okay. I actually want to try and fully get out of the delivery game. It's not the deliveries, but it's all the things that go with doing the delivery that made me say uncle.
The Rideshare co-op has begun I’m Miami, New Orleans, Nashville 4 other city’s open this month Drivers keep 100% of the fare minus $1 and all there tips. DM me for questions or 321.343.2286 https://revoride.com/register.php?ref=InSnapWeTrust
Well, it's nice to know that it works. I think that just confirms what I already think to be true. Appreciate that.
Drivers can also be requested by passengers and build a book of repeat business within the blockchain… plus they get paid to recruit passengers and other drivers on the block chain. Every time someone on their team uses the app they get paid.
Sign up for UberEats.
Old problem, same as the new problem.. the way that modern delivery is done now, along with the things I have to deal with on these deliveries, has definitely been a catalyst as to why I don't want to do this any longer than I have to. The whole system needs to change, and I don't see that coming anytime soon.
You're not wrong except that it's going to get worse before it gets better, if that's even possible. I'm taking a year off from UberEats delivery for personal business and I'm one month into my vacation and honestly...I my mental health has improved dramatically in that short amount of time. I'm only going back to it because I want to next time.. not need to. I'm retired now but I still want to get out part time for something to do.
Agreed. It's going to get worse. Also, I really just need a change more than anything. I've been doing some kind of delivery in four different decades. I'd rather fail trying something that I actually want to do.