\n<\/p>\n
Last Updated on February 19, 2025<\/time><\/span>February 19, 2025<\/time><\/span> Leave a Comment<\/a><\/span> This post may contain affiliate links. Advertiser Disclosure<\/a>.<\/em>This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author\u2019s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nJanuary has come and gone, so in this post, we\u2019ll take a look at what I earned from side hustling and gig economy apps in January 2025. Here\u2019s what I was able to make last month.<\/p>\nSide Hustle Income for January 2025<\/h2>\nTotal Side Hustle Income for January 2025 = $1,087.20<\/h2>\nJanuary was an unexpectedly strong side hustle month, mainly because Rover did so well for me in January. My side hustle income wasn\u2019t very diversified though, with the vast majority of it coming from Rover, and a small amount coming from just four other sources. This is very different from prior months where things are split up more evenly and where I often have income coming from from ten or more different sources.<\/p>\nHere\u2019s what my side hustle income looks like when put into a pie chart.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nRover made up a staggering 86% of my side hustle income for the month, with the other side hustles making up just a small slice of my side hustle income. Most of this is because of the weather. January is typically a slow month for me for food delivery because I don\u2019t enjoy biking around in the cold.\u00a0<\/p>\nIn the remainder of this post, we\u2019ll go into more detail about my side hustle income in January.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\nRental Income: $2,400<\/h2>\nJanuary had one stressful incident with the rental property. As a quick reminder, I manage one rental property, which was our former primary residence before we moved. It\u2019s in a college neighborhood, so it\u2019s currently rented out to four college students.<\/p>\nAnyway, one of my tenants gave me a call one evening letting me know that the heat wasn\u2019t working. To make matters worse, it was very cold outside (January in Minnesota, so you can expect it to be really cold), and they didn\u2019t know that the heat wasn\u2019t working until they got back that evening. Since it was late in the day, I wasn\u2019t able to find anyone who could come to the house right away, but I did get one reputable company scheduled to come first thing in the morning. Still, since it was so cold, the concern was that the pipes might freeze and cause even more trouble for me.<\/p>\nFortunately, while the temperature in the house did drop a lot, it stayed around 40 degrees and I returned the next morning to find that nothing had frozen. The repair guy was also able to fix the boiler easily (it turned out the ignitor had failed, so he just had to replace the ignitor). I also got lucky that it was winter break, so most of my tenants were home for the holidays, and the one tenant that was around had family in the area and was able to stay with them for the night.\u00a0<\/p>\nHaving the heat go out like that is one of my big nightmares, especially because the boiler is old and I\u2019m always a bit concerned about what I\u2019m supposed to do if it goes out in the middle of the winter. In the past, I have preemptively replaced some large items (I did a roof replacement with insurance last year and preemptively replaced a water heater a few years ago), but I\u2019d like to avoid replacing the boiler if I can. For now, I\u2019ll continue to have it tuned up each fall and hope I can catch any problems before they arise.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\nRover Income: $935.85\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\nMost of my Rover income in January is a carryover from stays I had during the Christmas holiday in December. The big payout came from a three-week stay that started in December and went into the first week of January. This was a new client, but the pup was so well-behaved that it was essentially no additional work for me to watch this pup.<\/p>\nThe remainder of the pups I watched were regular clients. I\u2019m in a good spot where the majority of the pups I watch are repeat clients, so it\u2019s easy work for me. That being said, I think I need to update my profile and try to get some new clients in the rotation.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\nDoorDash\/Uber Eats\/Grubhub Income: $54.95\u00a0<\/h2>\nHere\u2019s a look at what I made with each delivery app in January 2025.<\/p>\nI didn\u2019t do a lot of food deliveries in January because of the weather. Since I do all my deliveries on my bike, the weather does play a factor in how motivated I am to get out there. Even though I bike year-round, doing deliveries when it\u2019s single digits or snowy isn\u2019t the most fun.<\/p>\nSome of the deliveries I did in January were also done while I was in DC visiting my parents. The nice thing about DoorDash and Uber Eats is that you can generally do deliveries in any city they operate in. I keep an electric scooter and an ebike at my parent\u2019s house, so while I was visiting them, I did a few deliveries in the neighborhood using the scooter and ebike.<\/p>\nOne issue I have coming up is that my license expired and while I did renew it, it seems like it could take months before my new one arrives. Grubhub requires a valid driver\u2019s license but doesn\u2019t accept my temporary paper license, so I\u2019m locked out of Grubhub until my new license arrives. DoorDash and Uber Eats are also telling me I need to update my license to a non-expired one, so it\u2019s possible I get locked out of my accounts if my new license doesn\u2019t arrive soon.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\nGoogle Opinion Rewards\/1Q\/Facebook Viewpoints Income: $5.40\u00a0<\/h2>\nHere\u2019s what I made with each short survey app in January:<\/p>\nNot much to report here. Google Opinion Rewards is always good for a few bucks each month. And 1Q usually gets me a dollar or two each month. I\u2019ll keep using these apps because they don\u2019t take up much of my time or mental energy.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\nSecret Shopping Income: $88.50 (plus free food)\u00a0<\/h2>\nI earned about my usual amount from Marketforce in January. The nice thing about secret shopping is you can do it anywhere, so I did several secret shops while I was in DC visiting my parents.\u00a0<\/p>\nUnfortunately, my secret shopping income is going to drop dramatically going forward because Marketforce terminated me seemingly randomly. I did send an email asking why I was terminated but only received a generic response saying my independent contractor agreement was terminated as permitted by the contract. This is now the second time I\u2019ve been terminated by Marketforce \u2013 the first time I got terminated because I got in a fight with them about an assignment they rejected.<\/p>\nI still have other secret shopping websites that I use, so I\u2019ll still get plenty of free food this month. It just won\u2019t be as plentiful as it was before.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\nReceiptPal\/Receipt Hog\/Fetch\/CoinOut\/Amazon Shopper Panel Income: $2.50<\/h2>\nAmazon Shopper Panel brought in $2.50 for the month. Amazon Shopper Panel isn\u2019t the amazing app it once was, but it should still make me a few bucks each month.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\nAnd that concludes the January 2025 Side Hustle Report!\u00a0 \u00a0<\/h2>\nJanuary was a boring month for me from a side hustle perspective. I\u2019m very happy that I was able to crack the $1,000 mark, but not so happy at how poorly diversified my income was for the month. As the weather warms up though, the food delivery income should improve.\u00a0<\/p>\nAnyway, that\u2019s a quick look at my side hustle income for January 2025. I hit my goal of $10,000 of side hustle income last year, so hopefully we\u2019ll be able to keep it up this year. However, with the secret shopping income dropping, it\u2019s possible I might not be able to hit that mark unless I get the food delivery income up. We\u2019ll see what happens.<\/p>\n
January has come and gone, so in this post, we\u2019ll take a look at what I earned from side hustling and gig economy apps in January 2025. Here\u2019s what I was able to make last month.<\/p>\n
January was an unexpectedly strong side hustle month, mainly because Rover did so well for me in January. My side hustle income wasn\u2019t very diversified though, with the vast majority of it coming from Rover, and a small amount coming from just four other sources. This is very different from prior months where things are split up more evenly and where I often have income coming from from ten or more different sources.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what my side hustle income looks like when put into a pie chart.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rover made up a staggering 86% of my side hustle income for the month, with the other side hustles making up just a small slice of my side hustle income. Most of this is because of the weather. January is typically a slow month for me for food delivery because I don\u2019t enjoy biking around in the cold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the remainder of this post, we\u2019ll go into more detail about my side hustle income in January.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
January had one stressful incident with the rental property. As a quick reminder, I manage one rental property, which was our former primary residence before we moved. It\u2019s in a college neighborhood, so it\u2019s currently rented out to four college students.<\/p>\n
Anyway, one of my tenants gave me a call one evening letting me know that the heat wasn\u2019t working. To make matters worse, it was very cold outside (January in Minnesota, so you can expect it to be really cold), and they didn\u2019t know that the heat wasn\u2019t working until they got back that evening. Since it was late in the day, I wasn\u2019t able to find anyone who could come to the house right away, but I did get one reputable company scheduled to come first thing in the morning. Still, since it was so cold, the concern was that the pipes might freeze and cause even more trouble for me.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, while the temperature in the house did drop a lot, it stayed around 40 degrees and I returned the next morning to find that nothing had frozen. The repair guy was also able to fix the boiler easily (it turned out the ignitor had failed, so he just had to replace the ignitor). I also got lucky that it was winter break, so most of my tenants were home for the holidays, and the one tenant that was around had family in the area and was able to stay with them for the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Having the heat go out like that is one of my big nightmares, especially because the boiler is old and I\u2019m always a bit concerned about what I\u2019m supposed to do if it goes out in the middle of the winter. In the past, I have preemptively replaced some large items (I did a roof replacement with insurance last year and preemptively replaced a water heater a few years ago), but I\u2019d like to avoid replacing the boiler if I can. For now, I\u2019ll continue to have it tuned up each fall and hope I can catch any problems before they arise.<\/p>\n
Most of my Rover income in January is a carryover from stays I had during the Christmas holiday in December. The big payout came from a three-week stay that started in December and went into the first week of January. This was a new client, but the pup was so well-behaved that it was essentially no additional work for me to watch this pup.<\/p>\n
The remainder of the pups I watched were regular clients. I\u2019m in a good spot where the majority of the pups I watch are repeat clients, so it\u2019s easy work for me. That being said, I think I need to update my profile and try to get some new clients in the rotation.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at what I made with each delivery app in January 2025.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t do a lot of food deliveries in January because of the weather. Since I do all my deliveries on my bike, the weather does play a factor in how motivated I am to get out there. Even though I bike year-round, doing deliveries when it\u2019s single digits or snowy isn\u2019t the most fun.<\/p>\n
Some of the deliveries I did in January were also done while I was in DC visiting my parents. The nice thing about DoorDash and Uber Eats is that you can generally do deliveries in any city they operate in. I keep an electric scooter and an ebike at my parent\u2019s house, so while I was visiting them, I did a few deliveries in the neighborhood using the scooter and ebike.<\/p>\n
One issue I have coming up is that my license expired and while I did renew it, it seems like it could take months before my new one arrives. Grubhub requires a valid driver\u2019s license but doesn\u2019t accept my temporary paper license, so I\u2019m locked out of Grubhub until my new license arrives. DoorDash and Uber Eats are also telling me I need to update my license to a non-expired one, so it\u2019s possible I get locked out of my accounts if my new license doesn\u2019t arrive soon.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what I made with each short survey app in January:<\/p>\n
Not much to report here. Google Opinion Rewards is always good for a few bucks each month. And 1Q usually gets me a dollar or two each month. I\u2019ll keep using these apps because they don\u2019t take up much of my time or mental energy.<\/p>\n
I earned about my usual amount from Marketforce in January. The nice thing about secret shopping is you can do it anywhere, so I did several secret shops while I was in DC visiting my parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, my secret shopping income is going to drop dramatically going forward because Marketforce terminated me seemingly randomly. I did send an email asking why I was terminated but only received a generic response saying my independent contractor agreement was terminated as permitted by the contract. This is now the second time I\u2019ve been terminated by Marketforce \u2013 the first time I got terminated because I got in a fight with them about an assignment they rejected.<\/p>\n
I still have other secret shopping websites that I use, so I\u2019ll still get plenty of free food this month. It just won\u2019t be as plentiful as it was before.<\/p>\n
Amazon Shopper Panel brought in $2.50 for the month. Amazon Shopper Panel isn\u2019t the amazing app it once was, but it should still make me a few bucks each month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
January was a boring month for me from a side hustle perspective. I\u2019m very happy that I was able to crack the $1,000 mark, but not so happy at how poorly diversified my income was for the month. As the weather warms up though, the food delivery income should improve.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anyway, that\u2019s a quick look at my side hustle income for January 2025. I hit my goal of $10,000 of side hustle income last year, so hopefully we\u2019ll be able to keep it up this year. However, with the secret shopping income dropping, it\u2019s possible I might not be able to hit that mark unless I get the food delivery income up. We\u2019ll see what happens.<\/p>\n