When I decided to pick my entire life up and move all the way to California from the Midwest for a job, I had no idea how expensive it would be! I received a $5000 relocation bonus for the new job, and figured that this would be more than enough for the move… But boy, was I wrong! Between the movers adding a lot of hidden fees (packing fees, distance carrying fees, even renting a completely separate truck without notifying me), the overall cost of moving ended up being nearly $600 more than the estimate I got! Of course, I was never able to get a hold of anyone to get that money back… But instead of focusing on that (which I’m sure I can write a whole article on), I’ll instead focus on how I managed to survive this challenging time financially!
With the financial scares from moving, I decided to look into extra ways to make money, such as Uber, InstaCart, or DoorDash. I quickly ruled out Uber, as I wasn’t very comfortable with letting random people into my car, and have heard way too many horror stories about entitled jerks, people puking, etc. I thought InstaCart might be a good option, as I wouldn’t have to deal with too many people, I will get to go grocery shopping, and can work when I am able. However, their application process took an incredibly long time, due to the waitlist for the specific area you’re in. With where I am located, I still haven’t been accepted, 8 months in!!
So that left Doordash. Similar to InstaCart, I’d be able to work on my own time, not deal with people directly, but I’d also theoretically be able to do far more deliveries. And my DoorDash journey began!
The hardest part starting out was figuring out the DoorDash app. I got extremely confused on my first pickup, as I hadn’t thought to look into what to click after arriving. You need to exit the map before being able to pick up food, and this led to some confusion that I thankfully figured out. I’d recommend watching a video or reading up on the app prior to your first delivery! But 3 hours later, I had made $83.75! Not a bad first day! It was fun to explore a new place, and all my deliveries went smoothly! No bad customers, no traffic, easy parking, etc.!
But my second night was a completely different story. There seemed to be more traffic, vendors took longer to prepare deliveries, and by the end of the night, I was stressed out and wanted to just be in bed. However, I had actually made more money than the first night, but it wasn’t worth the stress that day.
Of course, I had actually driven to a busier area closer to Los Angeles for both of the first times, so I decided I might be better off exploring my new hometown instead.
This proved to be a great idea, as I was able to explore my hometown, put less miles on my car, and save time overall. But there was one big downside… Many times, my town, as well as adjacent towns such as where I work, simply weren’t busy! Basically, DoorDash’s app only allows a certain number of drivers to be going at once, depending on how busy it is. There is an exception, as I believe once you drive enough consistently, you reach a standing within DoorDash where you can dash when you want even if it’s not busy. However, I was never able to reach this due to being busy at my day job or traveling back home. The worst part for me was that sometimes I would want to dash right after work, but it wouldn’t be busy enough. But then like an hour or so after I got home and comfy, THAT’S when it would get busy, so it would be difficult to motivate myself to go back on the road.
But outside of this, I truly enjoyed the DoorDash experience! And now onto the important part: the financials!
Estimating DoorDash pay was often difficult, until I started recording time myself since the app only tracks when you start the Dash officially. But usually, depending on how busy it was, my pay usually ranged from $20-$30 per hour. That was the big benefit of dashing in the city, but that was often offset by the fact that it was an hour drive there. Thankfully, my car gets high gas mileage. But I would usually shoot to dash around 7-8 hours a week, which would average out to a little less than $200 a week, and an extra 10 grand over the year. This was a nice boost to supplement my day job, especially considering all the extra moving expenses!
However, there was a big expense I did not expect. For car insurance, you need to make sure to have rideshare insurance, because your car will not be insured in an accident if the insurance company finds out you dashed without rideshare insurance coverage! I had no idea this was required, let alone how expensive it could be! Now, this is a whole other issue, but I bought a 2022 sedan. Don’t get me wrong, I love it and also love the sub-3% interest rate, but it does not help when it comes to insurance costs… On top of my normal car insurance, I had to pay an additional $600 for the 6 month term. $600! Sure, I made more than that over my time dashing, but it was an upfront cost that I was not prepared for and caused a great deal of financial stress. It was also frustrating because the insurance company couldn’t credit my existing insurance costs to the new insurance, so I had to pay roughly $2400 out of pocket while waiting for the leftover money from my previous plan to come by check (took over a month). But like I said, I earned that extra $600 back in less than a month. Of course, there are other costs such as gas, car maintenance, and car valuation to consider, so make sure to understand all of that for your own car! For example, a brand new truck, between insurance and gas costs, may not make sense to use for DoorDash! But an older sedan? That would be perfect!
So overall, would I do DoorDash again? Honestly, while I loved DoorDashing and was able to explore my new hometown, I don’t think I would do it again simply because of the two major downsides, insurance costs and timing. But I think if insurance costs were even half of what they are for me, I would absolutely pay $300 or less just to be able to DoorDash when I have time. Or if I fell into a financial situation where I lost my job, a family member needed help, etc., I would certainly consider putting that money back in and hustling hard again.
So how can this help you? I hope this helps to clarify the experience of driving better for all you readers. While it can be a fun way to explore and visit new places, there are certain downsides that are often easily overlooked. So make sure to calculate it out! If you really like driving and the financial math works out, I highly recommend it! Or if you’re looking for a straightforward side hustle, then it’s great as well! Just make sure to track all your miles and keep everything documented for tax reasons, as you will be a contractor and need to pay the taxes yourself.