In today’s world, more and more people find they are short on cash when it’s bill paying time. Even with a regular job and full-time employment, it seems there’s just never enough money to go around. You are lucky if the wages you get from your 40 plus hour a week main gig pay for all of your housing, utility and health care costs. When you add sky-high expenses like gasoline and factor in soaring food prices, you’re almost sure to get behind.
The straw that breaks the camel’s back is the burden of debt that most of us carry. If you are well-established, it’s likely that you have high-interest credit card debt that barely gets paid down each month. If you are younger, you may have student loans that take a big piece of your income each and every period. With all of these financial pressures, it’s no wonder that more and more people have been trying to pay things off by taking up positions in the gig economy.
Drive for a Ride Sharing Company
One of the ways that you can get started making extra money each month is to sign up as a driver for a ride sharing company. These global businesses have built a tremendous market presence by connecting people who want rides with freelance drivers. You can book in advance, summon a driver on the fly and even arrange for shared carpooling schemes to save some money.
There are a lot of pluses to driving for a ride share company. You’ll be able to schedule your own hours, generate some of the cash you need and hopefully build your clientele. There are also things you have to watch out for, though. Your existing auto insurance policy may not cover you if you are operating as a livery or public conveyance. It’s vitally important that you talk to a licensed insurance agent and get uber insurance or other full coverage that applies to the work you do for your specific ride sharing company.
Deliver Food or Groceries for a Gig Economy Company
If you’d like to explore options beyond driving people, you can check out the nationwide services that let you make extra cash by delivering food orders or groceries. Some firms also add on options so you can pick up orders from convenience stores, drugstores and the like. These companies will have different peak hours than the ride sharing firms, since they are most in demand during meal times.
With some of this work, your customer will use an app to order their food directly from the restaurant. From there, it will be your responsibility to pick up the completed order and bring it to the customer’s location. The grocery delivery services may work differently. Some of the key players in that industry actually have you do the shopping, check out and deliver the groceries or other goods to your customer.
Create Your Own Custom Delivery Service
Some people who might prefer to work as an entrepreneur have found that they can create their own custom delivery service that targets specific areas or neighborhood needs. If they are able to build a unique service that is in demand, they’ll be able to keep a bigger share of the proceeds for themselves. Over the course of a year, that means a lot more money in your pocket.
For instance, suppose you live in an area that is a little bit isolated and doesn’t really have grocery stores or other needed retail outlets. You might be able to come up with a service that takes orders from customers online, and then aggregates the orders and does a weekly run to a nearby location that has the goods you need. Local customers will be happy to have their items delivered to their door, and you’ll be happy to offer a value-added service that lets you generate substantial revenue.
If you find yourself falling behind on your payments each month, consider working for or creating a ride sharing or delivery service. Be sure to protect your financial well-being, though, by making sure you have the right form of insurance and liability coverage for all of your work vehicles and secondary gig activities.