Side Hustle

I have some important news. I finally have a side hustle! It’s nothing much but it’s very flexible and I can work it whenever I have time. Side hustles are important because they help with the income side of the equation. In general, to improve your financial circumstance, the general advice is to either cut expenses, increase income, or both! A side hustle helps to increase income. So, without further adieu, let’s dive in to see what side hustle I chose and what I intend to do with that income.

Uber & Lyft

That’s right. I started driving for both Uber and Lyft. As of right now, I’m only taking on passengers. So, I’m not doing Uber Eats or anything of the sort. My car has already passed inspection and I’ve already begun driving. It’s really a good start.

There are important differences between the two companies, from a driver’s point of view. For example, Uber will pay you as you drive to pick up a passenger, but Lyft will not. In any case, they generally operate the same. I get paid to pick up passengers and take them to their destination.

Honestly, because work has been so crazy, I haven’t been able to drive often. But that’s the beautiful thing about these companies. The work is completely flexible.

Rideshare Income

So, what do I plan to do with the income from Uber and Lyft? Well, at first I wasn’t sure. On the one hand, I could use the income to pay down debt. On the other hand, I could use the income to increase my contributions to my dividend portfolio. I’ve decided that I will use the income to pay down debt. Specifically, I will use the additional income to help pay down my car loan!

This just makes sense. Since I’ll be using my car to generate the income, it just makes sense to use the income to help pay down my car loan. So, I’ve decided to prioritize paying down my auto loan.

It’s going to be tough. As of today’s writing, the balance on my car loan is: $16,949 with an interest rate of 4.0%. The minimum monthly payment is $356 per month. I’ve never not had a car payment!

I’ve never not had a car payment!

This is a big deal to me. Hopefully, I can get rid of my car loan in two years, and if I’m really focused, maybe in a year! It’s going to take a lot of driving to make that happen. But every dollar counts!

Conclusion

I’ll keep you updated. The goal will be for me to be able to balance work with driving. That being said, I plan on starting small and having a weekly goal of earning ‘x’ amount of dollars. Then, as the weeks go by, I might slowly increase that over time.

I do have to be conscientious about the wear and tear of my vehicle, but I’m hoping that rideshare will not just help me get out of my car loan, but will aid me in saving up to eventually replace my vehicle.

What did you think of this post? Do you have any side hustles? Let me know by commenting below.