RIDEGURU
I was considering driving an Uber and my friend warned me and sent me the below. $4.00 an hour is what he says he makes. I googled around I keep seeing references of making the "minimum" wage. It may have been a self-fulfilling prophecy where I sort was looking for it, so I am going to ask this forum. How does his math look?
"bad idea my friend look for something else. you want to work for uber with your own car and pay your own gas and pay your own insurance? your car loses its value
let’s say you’ll make gross $20,000 a year
You will pay tax out of that.
so say you are left with $15,000.
you pay gas say $4000.
you are left with $11,000.
you pay $2000 insurance
you are left with $9000.
you pay car maintenance oil/filters, cleaning, etc $500
you are left with $8,500.
your car loses $3000 a year of its value because of the mileage you put on it and beating up of the car and the few scratches you put on it.
you are left with $5,500.
do you want to live with that???? you are making $4 an hour? or less
Comments
So, as an Uber driver, I've done a similar math. You often go into it without thinking much, but eventually you get to that inflection point where you ask, "is this really making me money?"
..and I can tell that your friend is an actual driver. Some of the things he captured definitely is coming from someone who's asked the question.
With that said, I will argue two of the points:
LOL. "...or are those hours you would have spent watching the Maury Show?"
So true.
It all depends on how many hours you think you are working. I know some drivers who literally sit in their living room looking for rides.
I also know drivers who just hang out at convenience stores, malls, StarBucks, etc. Not sure if that is considered "working hours."
I am a driver myself, and I keep myself busy. I do have some downtime where I make little to no money, but I do make profit for all hours worked (and your friend's math still shows that), and I am okay with that.
Let's face it. This isn't a normal office job. (and I love it) flexibility is awesome.
Right, and we are independent contractors.
It's like landscapers getting mad that he spent all these hours doing the paperwork and looking for jobs, and complaining that they didn't get paid for those hours.
This is why Uber is a scam. and this is the math they don't show you.
I love driving for Uber but they defintitely do downplay this part of the job. We put 50K on our cars, and that is a huge expense.
The figures posted may be accurate for some people, but hardly true on a universal scale. Earnings vary greatly depending on the market in which you live, and your driving record, (insurance rate) gas prices, (regional price differences) depreciation (choice of vehicle and age) and maintenance cost. (self service and availability of cheap oil changes, etc)
Let's look at your $20,000 number. If I make $20k per year, my state tax is ZERO, and federal taxes can potentially be negated depending on how many miles you drive while working.
How much are you paying for gas? I average about $65 per thousand dollars earned, so my gas would be approx $1,300.
Insurance? No tickets or accidents in over 40 years driving, full coverage on 4 vehicles runs me ~250 /mo. Say $125 per month for my two work cars and rideshare addendum per month. Per annum: $1500.
Maintenance: Oil changes: $40 /mo ($480) Tires ($200 /yr…
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The figures posted may be accurate for some people, but hardly true on a universal scale. Earnings vary greatly depending on the market in which you live, and your driving record, (insurance rate) gas prices, (regional price differences) depreciation (choice of vehicle and age) and maintenance cost. (self service and availability of cheap oil changes, etc)
Let's look at your $20,000 number. If I make $20k per year, my state tax is ZERO, and federal taxes can potentially be negated depending on how many miles you drive while working.
How much are you paying for gas? I average about $65 per thousand dollars earned, so my gas would be approx $1,300.
Insurance? No tickets or accidents in over 40 years driving, full coverage on 4 vehicles runs me ~250 /mo. Say $125 per month for my two work cars and rideshare addendum per month. Per annum: $1500.
Maintenance: Oil changes: $40 /mo ($480) Tires ($200 /yr based on replacing tires every 2 years)
Out of the $20k I started with, my actual expenses are actually under $4k per year, with a potential net profit of $16,000
The question is: Is driving for Uber worth $16,000 to you? (I make $20k in 6 months driving part time)
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Bwahahaha. $4.00. Is that for real?