Thinking About the Epic Money Misadventures on 9-5-17

Today and yesterday were my first couple of runs with handing out my business cards. Thanks to all my passengers who took them!

This morning when I was driving rush hour, I had just finished a brief job hunting session while sitting in the O'Hare tnp lot where you wait for a ride out of the airport, drove home some passengers who didn't speak much English, and thought about my job woes. The next passenger named Tim entered my car and said he had an IT job. I asked him what job he had and he said he was a systems analyst with a bunch of certifications. I would get some certifications, but definitely can't afford those right now let alone the infinite car maintenance I'm going to need. I ended up complaining about my job woes because I have been feeling very lost in regards to my career path and am stressed out about not making enough money/barely making it by. What I gained from the conversation besides trying to make myself feel better about my current situation is I should maybe make an appointment with a career counselor. The next passenger (group of passengers because it was a family and I talked to the husband) had just finished his military service and now works as border patrol. Back when I was in college, I had random thoughts of possibly joining the military, but was not informed enough of what the military truly entails and decided to put those thoughts on the shelf. Today, they were revisited because he told me being in the military can be a lucrative career, you get paid, you get tax breaks, health benefits, you have to be in good shape, and most of all, it would get me unstuck from this sticky money situation. I began feeling even more lost about my career misadventures and almost cried in front of him (luckily I was wearing sunglasses anyway). After my conversations with this kind man, I have decided I need WAY more information about the military if I even hypothetically want to join because I don't even know which branch I'd join. He did tell me the Air Force and the Navy are the most laid back. I've thought about the National Guard too, but I have no idea. This thought is going back on the shelf once again.

As the day progressed, I began spawning motivation from talking to my passengers. The very last passenger I had before ending my day was a ride to O'Hare for the fourth time and I began telling her about my rideshare storytelling blog. She made me realize how I need to take 5 minutes of my day to realize what I am thankful to have. For example, I made a pitstop at the River Road Rosemont McDonald's and saw a truck pull into the gas station with a flat tire and was thankful my car is in one functioning healthy piece. I am also thankful to have my health. She told me a story about how a lady she works with has a 2 year old son with a blood disorder where his blood doesn't produce white blood cells, had to have 2 stem cell transfusions, and has been in the hospital for 106 days straight. I'm thankful to have never been in the hospital in my adult life (or very much in general). I was then telling her about how some illnesses are induced by stress and I need to chill out and not let my stress win so I can stay healthy. I was telling her about my 2 most recent blog posts about passengers who I drove away from and laughed and how a drunk lady inspired me to stop focusing on money and bills all the time because I wouldn't ever be happy if I blew off people who really matter and to go see my parents. I will probably see them soon! Right before I dropped her off at the airport, she took a business card and went on her way.

After talking with this last lady, I decided I had driven enough and decided to go home and stay home. When I realized I had some extra time and was still pretty awake, I figured out the answer to my job woes is that I need to keep job hunting and find a job so I don't have to drive my poor grandma-aged car into the ground from rideshare driving and can have a steady paycheck again, thus, eliminating my monetary woes. When I finally had a moment to check my emails, one of the companies I applied to for a technical writer (which is the primary job I want) had responded to my application. Now is the time to solve the puzzle! Off to my job hunting ventures!

Fares Over 50 Dollars

1. I drove a couple home from Alinea to Johnsburg and they gave me 20 dollars as a tip. This was also a 75 dollar and my longest and largest fare! They also just spent 1750 dollars between the two of them! The woman talked about relationships with me and the man fell asleep in my back seat from his wine. It was also 1:30am on a Friday night! This happened August 2016!

2. My 48 dollar ride was a ride from the south loop to Markham, IL and the person ordered an Uber XL for themselves! This happened sometime around November 2016!

3 (and 4). I took a nap when I had planned on driving and started at 2:30am. Whoops! My first ride ended up being from the Belmont Red Line all the way to the Pingree Grove Metra Station in Crystal Lake on a 1.1 surge 55 minute Uber ride. Thanks for the 54 dollar ride right off the bat. Two rides later, back to Midway Airport from Crystal Lake for 73 dollars plus a 10 dollar tip for about an hour Lyft ride! It's 4:40am Saturday morning now and I don't have to go back empty. Sweetness! :D This happened on May 27, 2017!

5. After I went from Schaumburg to the loop for a nice long adventure, by that time I needed to pick up my roommate friend from work as it was almost 11pm. As I was about to turn my app off, I received multiple 1.7x surge pings because a concert just got out at the Chicago Theater. The very last ping ended up being a 1.7x surge fare long trip 45+min ride and I decided to take it (sorry roommate friend). The ride ended up being $52 from the loop to the Naperville train station because these young parents had to get home and not spend as much on a babysitter even though the Uber ride cost more than waiting an extra hour at Union Station. Thanks guys! That was my biggest fare in awhile! This happened on November 11, 2017! 

My View on Tipping Your Uber of Lyft Driver

When you get into a taxi or go to a restaurant, there's some kind of hidden expectation to where you should tip your service staff. The receipt for a restaurant bill has a tip line and in a taxi ride when you swipe to pay it displays amounts you can tip. Although Uber and Lyft drivers don't live off tips, it's always appreciated due to providing a service for others to enjoy. With Lyft, you can at least tip in the app and with Uber, I sometimes get handed cash tips (there should be an option to be able to tip in the Uber app too, many have complained to me). We the drivers drive our butts off in order to get our passengers to their destination safely. I'd say managing someone's safety directly and providing an experience is tip worthy. You don't "have" to by any means, but it would make someone feel appreciated if you handed them a couple extra dollars and said "thank you". Something like that would keep me motivated, that's forsure!

I've Driven Full Time For Uber and Lyft for Over a Year: My Testamonial

I've been living the freelance and Uber life for about year and 3 months and I don't feel like being a full time driver is such a good idea anymore...

Back in the day when I first started in January 2016, both Uber and Lyft had "guaranteed hours", which meant if you drove at prime time hours and acquired a certain number of rides, you'd get x amount of money per hour, generally ranging from the mid twenties to mid thirties per hour. That's a lot per hour! Several months later, that ended up going away and "surge bubbles" for both Uber and Lyft began, meaning if you picked up a passenger from a certain area, the fare would automatically be surged a certain rate (usually 1.1 or 1.2x, sometimes more). These surge bubbles definitely make less money per hour than the guaranteed hours. The more I drive, the more I feel like I'm making less money per hour. I went to averaging somewhere in the high twenties per hour to about $13-17 per hour (I drive in Chicago). At least the passengers are pretty cool, I like talking to people, and I end up on plenty of crazy adventures. I also get to explore new territory of Illinois while not being stuck at a desk all day. However, it gets to be a bit disheartening when I'm driving people to their fun activities while they're hanging with their friends and I wish I could do the same.

Not only do I make less money per hour than I did earlier in my driving ventures, but the commission given to Uber and Lyft is pretty hefty (25%), plus, on my 2004 Toyota Highlander, I spend 35 dollars every 2-3 days (sometimes even 24 hours) in gas. Not only that, but I've spent thousands of dollars in repairs and put thousands of miles on my car (about 100 or so per 8 hour shift). I basically feel like I'm barely turning a profit after overhead expenses are said and done. I only end up having enough for bills and that's it. I also generally drive during peak hours and weekends (and sometimes Sundays) and figured I'd be able to make more of a profit, but I guess not...

Rideshare drivers are supposed to be free, but the only way to make a decent amount of money is to spend countless hours on the road... probably more than 40 hours per week if you really want to make money. Since I do other freelance work, I drive 25-40 hours per week (sometimes more). I definitely don't feel like I make ends meet. I have enough for bills and that's it. My food and gas end up going to credit cards and my car repair credit cards are maxed out. Some people may have better luck than I have, but I'd rather only drive part time. Less miles on my car, less overhead, and I know I'd have financial security if I drove in conjunction with a full time job. I do not feel financially secure on just a rideshare salary.

Lately, I've been using both Uber and Lyft and lately they have been getting close to the same number of rides. However, even though you can tip in the app with Lyft, people are still stingy and I feel like I get handed cash more often with driving for Uber.

I do not feel free. I do not feel happy due to making subpar money and barely being able to scrape by (I like driving and taking to people a lot more than sitting at a desk). I feel like a slave to the road because if I don't drive enough, my bills won't get paid. It's quite the precarious situation to be in and I don't recommend it to any of my friends unless you have no job and no other options. Do not buy a car just to rideshare drive. I already had my car which I'm currently driving into the ground. I hope to get a full time job and use ridesharing to pay off debt and student loans (and fund my summer fun). Since I'm struggling to make ends meet, all my focus goes into making money and I don't have time to pursue my passions. I'm lucky I had time to write this blog!

So if you want to be a rideshare driver, drive part time unless you have no other options and are desperate for money like me. Then you can barely get by for awhile. Best of luck and happy hustling!

3-21-17 Uber Ventures: Casino Craziness

Originally posted on Instagram and copied here!

I ended up on the far south side in Pullman/Roseland, then Hammond, Indiana at the Horseshoe Casino. I've never been there before and had peemergency so I figured I'd give myself a grand ol tour while I'm at it. On my last stop, I wanted to check the buffet and upstairs out and run into this beautiful floral sculpture. As I'm snapping photos to put on Instagram, a lady's glasses fall off and her man asks me how to distribute an epi pen. I was the only one around and had zero idea how to use it. Then the lady wanted an ambulance, so I made my first ever 911 call. Security shows up to the scene and I wait to make sure the lady is ok. She begins puking. Gross! The ambulance and security arrive super fast because security didn't realize I called them. Tehehehe. The lady is ok. As we're waiting the security guard begins hitting on me and asks for my number. I was tempted to give him a fake number because this dude looked 15 years older than me and I wasn't interested. At least he was being nice and respectful. He wasn't creepy. I give him my number and am not gonna answer his call. But why does being a good samaritan mean getting hit on by the head of security? Weird... At least there's faith in humanity and nice men around. When I'm ready and know it's right I'll pursue, but for now I'll go home with a gold star, pretty pics of flowers, and knowing the right man will come along who I am interested in mutually will happen at some point! That's about the most story worthy thing that's happened to me on my Uber ventures lately. I made excellent money today with straight rides. Time to go home!

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Tips 20 Dollars or Greater

1. I drove a couple home from Alinea to Johnsburg and they gave me 20 dollars. This was also a 75 dollar and my longest and largest fare! They also just spent 1750 dollars between the two of them! The woman talked about relationships with me and the man fell asleep in my back seat from his wine. It was also 1:30am on a Friday night! This happened August 2016!

2. I drove a girl from Crystal Lake to Hoffman Estates and her friend who requested the ride gave me 20 dollars for delivering her safely. This was a few rides after my trip to Johnsburg too! This happened August 2016 at around 3am on a Friday night!

3. A drunk dude gave me 27 dollars (in several increments of handing me money) because I waited for him and took him to Popeyes for drunk food! I'm sorry you and your girlfriend were fighting that night! This happened April 2017 at around 1am on a Saturday night!

4. This wasn't really a tip, but I was at the gas station getting gas and caffeine and a random person came up to me and asked for a ride under the table from the Irving Park and Pulaski Mobil station to a bowling alley less than 10 minutes away on Foster and Northwest Highway and gave me 30 dollars for my patronage. This happened April 2017 at around 9pm on a Sunday night!

5. I was waiting at O'hare for 20 min waiting for a ride, left, and picked up 3 drunk guys in a Lyft Plus and drove them towards Irving Park road and Milwaukee. I talked to them a bunch and one of the guys handed me 20 bucks. They also asked me to hang out with them too, but I said no! It was almost 4am on a Thursday night! This happened on 5-19-17!

6. On 8-4-17 I was doing a late night short drive and gave a lady named April a ride from Norridge to like 15min away elsewhere in Chicago. We were talking about jobs at O'hare and told her I was in between jobs and needed more than 11.50 to survive. She told me to apply to Aerotek, but no luck on my end because I've already applied. Then, the ride was over and she was like "I hope this helps" and randomly gave me 20 bucks for a ride that felt super short. I almost cried, especially after 2 bad days in a row and having a bill due tomorrow that I'm scraping money for. Thanks lady!

7. Epicness hath happened today (9-13-17). I was outside of Christina's bar by my apartment about to do my first Lyft ride of the day. I get there and wait for about 5 minutes when the person who requested the ride said he got it for his friend who's drunk and not wanting to leave. He goes back in and tries to get his drunk friend to leave. Five minutes later he comes back out, says his friend isn't gonna come out, and hands me a 20. That made me happy indeed. Thanks dude!

Driving in the Winter

Welp, it is that time again where IL likes to be cold and snowy. Thankfully I don't need to drive full-time anymore, but I still need to drive for some of my moneys. I told myself I wouldn't drive in the snow unless I really had to, but if it's too stormy, I don't drive. If it's mildly snowing, I would risk it unless the roads were bad (not plowed/salted).

I did my first driving venture in the winter season/ever and it actually wasn't too bad. I received plenty of rides, but most of them were short. I wanted to make sure to avoid the inner city as much as possible because I don't want to drive in traffic and snow simultaneously, but if I had to I had to (which I did not thankfully). The expressway I'd rather avoid in the snow due to too many people, which I was mostly able to avoid. I drove for Uber and Lyft and both gave me short rides for the majority of them; I'm sure it's because people didn't want to walk anywhere anymore. I made as much money thankfully as I would have on a normal day thanks to surge prices, but at least I got to hear my fair share of info about being a professional private chef in a niche market in the one not 10 minute or less ride I had. Sorry for talking your face off, lady! Off to more driving ventures for me. I will continue to be safe and transport all you lovely people safely to your destinations!

Uber and Lyft Chronicles: My Vlogs

What I do in Vlog form :)

Lyft - Vlog 1

Lyft Halloween - Vlog 2

Vlog 3: I Need Money

The Not So Glamorous Life of Being a Rideshare Driver

My apologies for not being able to post for awhile. I have recently had my entire savings wiped out (by me to pay bills) and have been so busy working I haven't been able to update. Fortunately, I still share my love to passengers by informing them of my blog, have my "advertisement" on my back window in pink chalk marker, have been sharing ridesharing stores in some of my latest storytelling performances, and I still am consistent about updating the Facebook page (click here to see and like the Facebook page)

A lot of the time when I'm driving, I am asked how much money I can make, if I drive full time or part time, and if I am able to make a sustainable living.

I am on month 8 of driving for most of my moneys and at this point, I average about 40-55 hours a week depending on my schedule and energy levels. A lot of people when describing what they do usually omit talking about what's "not so good", but honest Rebs is about to be honest. I have uncovered a variety of reasons why I'd like to throw stones at being a rideshare driver.

1. Driving between 10am and 2pm on a weekday (especially earlier in the week) is the worst time to drive. I feel like I get barely any rides during that time. An instance of such I'll share in another bullet, but yesterday (Monday, September 12, 2016), I made about 75 bucks from driving between 10am-5pm (had to stop at home because I finally sold a few things on craigslist). You don't always make that little money, I promise, but it happens sometimes.

2: Tuesdays are the worst day to drive, period, from my observations!

3: Now that there's no guaranteed fares, with this new "oh so lovely" formatting of "paying their drivers less money while still reaping 20-25% of your fares", if you don't get rides, you don't get paid.  If you're picking up someone and it's a 10 minute venture to them, you don't get paid for that 10 minutes, as well as the time you wait for the passenger. As someone who likes sharing optimal customer service, I'm more generous than the average driver with waiting for someone in most situations. If you get canceled on, you don't get paid either.

4: I just had another episode of no rides for an extended time of 40 minutes this morning (Tuesday, September 13, 2016) before I said "fuck it" and went home. After about 25 of those minutes of waiting around with no rides incoming, I told myself if I can drive to Dunkin Donuts (about a 6 minute drive from where I was) and get coffee in the drive through and come back without receiving a ride, I'm calling it quits until after my doctor appointment. Surely enough, me and my "deeeenken deeeenets", as I'd call it in my made up lingo, parked my car next to my apartment, without a ride, turned my app off, and went inside. At least I'm not in money emergency mode right now!

5: Fact -- you can still make a living with Uber (and not live with parental units), depending on your situation and how many (outstanding) expenses you have. You have to be strategic though and go at ideal times (morning rush hour and weekends all day/night are the most lucrative times from what I've found). You also have to be willing to put in the time!

6: Other fact -- you have to be willing to accept there's going to be bad days where you make shit for money or "slave wages" as I'd call it (less than $15 dollars an hour, or even sometimes less than the legal minimum wage). I had a day last week where I ended up making equivalent to about $6.50-$7something an hour before overhead expenses. It was probably a Tuesday. I don't know how people said they've made $1000 dollars a week driving full time, because my biggest haul has been > $750 and I was probably out 40-55 hours. I have seen (real) screenshots of people who have made between $1600 and $1950 IN A WEEK driving for Uber full time. It may have been when there were the "guaranteed fares", because I'd want to see how much I would end up making if that policy was still in existence. I've never worked this many hours in my life, but I'm thankful to still be standing and affording rent!

Happy Driving, Y'all! Here is a picture of my distaste face with a pumpkin macchiato from Dunkin Donuts!

The Skeptic of the Rideshare Model: Can Full Time Drivers Make a Real Profit, Especially on the New Uber System?

That moment when your skeptic has been showing about whether or not you can make a profit driving for Uber (and Lyft)... until your friend shows you a $1600+ dollar earnings week and a passenger shows you a $1900+ dollar earnings week. I think both of these people drove 50-60 hours (of being signed into the app) though. 

I've been asked by plenty of people if you can really make money by driving for a rideshare company. I tell people they can make money if they "actually drive" and get out there; I also tell people I sometimes fear the cost of repairs, gas, and other overhead may feel like it's exceeding my profits. I also have various other passions and gigs I'm trying to pursue, as well as maintaining a healthy lifestyle I neglected in college. 

I started driving for Uber and Lyft at the end of January, 2016 and one of my friends who I live with started driving in August, 2015. We both live in Chicago. For a few months this year, Uber was doing this promotion of "guaranteed hour rates", where you're guaranteed a certain amount of money (ex $35 dollars per hour) if you get at least 1.5 rides per hour, accept at least 80% of the rides, and stay online for the majority of the guarantee period. This is handy for days when it is very "dead", no surge, you just get a number of 10 minute or less rides, or you have to wait for your passengers for awhile. 

Now, this rate is gone and your "guaranteed hours" is now somewhere between 1.3 and 1.5 surge rate (most of the time) in a giant bubble within the central part of the city. I've also noticed that during rush hour periods (early weekday mornings 5-9am and after 4pm to about 8pm on weekdays) is less crowded and not surged anymore. What happened?

Are people becoming "slaves" to the system? Where you as a "contractor" drive and drive and drive until your car goes into the ground, but they don't care. They're taking their giant royal fee of 20-25 percent out of your check, reducing the amount of fare drivers can make behind your back, and not caring about you. Although you can write off some of your overhead at tax time, I feel like there's a giant overhead cost to driving, excluding time of waiting for passengers. For instance, if I make $200 dollars net in a day driving, I'd generally have to fill up my tank twice; that's $80 dollars straight into the gas tank. The corporate honchos don't care. They're making money! Without these guarantees, I feel like I sometimes make $15 or less an hour while wearing out my expensive car and needing more frequent maintenance. Plus, I think I have "driver's knee" now and fear causing injury to myself from driving. 

Why do you think rideshare companies keep recruiting drivers and not passengers? It's where the corporations make the brunt of their money. Don't forget about the wear and tear in your car. Chicago is notorious for lots of potholes, which destroys the suspension. What about that passenger who opens your door into a pole and scratches it? That person who spills something in your back seat? The parts you need fixed? That random ticket you acquired from a red light camera? It seems to be your losses and everyone else's gain. The vicious cycle continues.

I also drive an older car (2004 Toyota Highlander). Since my car is larger and older, my car requires even more maintenance and costs than your average 4 door sedan that's newer. I also have an independent insurance policy where it costs more to have it solo, as well as rideshare insurance costing more. I am over 25 now and have no accidents on my record (*knock on wood*), but I still feel like I pay a ton. A lot of companies reject rideshare drivers, but luckily the insurance I was on already was the only place that didn't reject me. 

It's like a facade of making a profit, but actually digging yourself into a hole of further debt. The head honchos get all the money and the drivers are the little peons to the people on their thrones.

Is the ridesharing model "really" lucrative for full time drivers? Some people make lots of money full time, but part time drivers can make an extra $200 or so dollars per week and not put as much wear and tear into your car or have to deal with as much overhead. You could do it full time, but as for me, I'm going to transition to part time!

Uber Vs. Lyft

*Uber gets more quantity of rides and Lyft gets more quality of rides, plus you're able to give tips through the Lyft app (lately they've been about even in terms of ride quantity, but usually Uber gives more rides)

*Uber you can instant pay at any dollar amount and Lyft you need $50 dollars

*Uber and Lyft's fares are very similar (in Chicago)

*In driver mode, on the map showing where you are, Lyft gives you an arrow of which way you're going and Uber uses a small dot on the map

*Lyft now has a color changing activator to show when you're picking up passengers and Uber does not

*Lyft rates you on your last 100 rides and Uber rates you on your last 500

*Lyft has a picture of what the passenger looks like when you're picking them up and Uber does not

*Lyft has a feature where you can push a button when you arrive instead of Uber where it automatically notifies the passenger

*Lyft has a 5 minute countdown (for a regular Lyft) for the passenger's arrival time and it counts in your fare and Uber doesn't have that

*Uber you can text your passenger as well as call them and with Lyft you can only call them