How to Make Money With Your Car This Summer

If you have a car, you likely use it to get from one place to the next. And, while you may feel lucky to have your own wheels, that car may cost you a pretty penny to maintain and insure.

But, what if you used your car to actually help you make more money on the side and pay for your gas and maintenance bills? This would turn your car into more of an investment and a solid income stream, right? Well, you’re in luck. You can now make money with your car. Here are a few ways you can do so – starting this summer.

Drive for Uber or Lyft

Becoming an Uber or Lyft driver is a popular side hustle opportunity. The demand for rideshare drivers is high and will remain so as long as people keep using rideshare apps to get around. I should know – my husband is an Uber and Lyft driver.

I love that you can choose your own hours and earn a flexible income. In my husband’s case, he works long and varying hours at his full-time job so he could not commit to a second job with fixed hours. Initially, he stayed up late a few nights a week driving for Uber. After a while, he started driving for Lyft too and the extra income has helped him pay off his car loan early. It has also helped us save for vacations and pay off other debts.

How much you earn driving for Uber or Lyft will depend on which city you’re driving in, the time of day you operate (drivers tend to make a little more during rush hour times), and how often you drive. Uber and Lyft pay via direct deposit weekly so it’s ideal to have a bank account that makes it easy and painless to set up direct deposit payments.

Uber Eats

If driving people around makes you a little nervous, you can try driving for Uber Eats. Uber Eats partners with local restaurants so customers can order food on the app and drivers like you can use your car to deliver the food order.

While the average Uber driver can expect to make $20+ per hour, Uber Eats drivers make around eight to $12 per hour after factoring in vehicle expenses. They earn less than Uber drivers because Uber Eats trips are generally shorter. Also, Uber is more popular than Uber Eats currently, so Uber drivers have a greater opportunity to increase earnings. Regardless, both are great ways to make money simply by driving around in your car.

Make Deliveries with Amazon and Other Sites

With Amazon being the biggest online retailer to date, it’s no surprise that the company ships a ton of packages each day.

You can cash in on this by delivering Amazon packages in your local area. The program is called Amazon Flex and delivery drivers can make $18 to $24 per hour. Like Uber, you can set your own schedule by working as little or as much as you want. Amazon Flex is available in over 50 cities so far and they are adding more all the time.

Another delivery option you may want to consider is delivering food orders with Postmates (very similar to Uber Eats) or becoming a tasker for TaskRabbit.

TaskRabbit allows you to find small odds jobs you enjoy at the pay rate you choose. Taskers are paid to deliver items, run errands, help move furniture, perform handyman work, and more. What I love about this option is that you can decide how much you get paid per task. You just need to register online, attend an orientation in your city and start making money.

Advertise

If you drive your car a lot, you can make money by placing ads on it. Some companies will pay you hundreds per month to drive around with their ads on your car.

Carvertise is one of the best sites to use to place ads on your car for extra money. Another good site is Wrapify. How much you earn depends on whether you wrap your entire car or showcase a partial ad. According to Wrapify, you can earn around $84 to $140 per month just by wrapping a panel around your car, and $264 to $452 by wrapping your full car with an ad.

Some brands will require you to drive a certain number of miles during the ad campaign. This makes it a great opportunity for someone who already drives a lot or commutes to work daily. What I love about this opportunity is that the ads are easy to remove when the campaign is over. This way you can keep making money with other ads.

Rent Out Your Car

Say you don’t drive your car a lot but still want to make money with it. Consider renting your car out to others for some quick and extra cash. This is a good idea if you work from home and don’t use your car much or have a two-car household.

Turo is a car sharing company that lets you rent out your car while you’re not using it. Turo makes it easy and even offers liability insurance. Better yet, you can choose which days you want to make your car available and set your own daily price.

Owning a Car Has Its Perks

While some may say it’s cheaper to go without a car, there are tons of extra income opportunities when you do have a vehicle. By using the options above, you can use your car to make extra money to help you pay off debt, boost your savings, start investing or fund a large purchase in cash.

Wondering if any of these extra income ideas are worth it? Try one out for a week or so and see for yourself. You may find a low-effort way to make extra money for the long-term.