During the extended college holiday break, the quiet campus meant my usual tutoring income was on hold. Like many looking to make extra money, I was searching for options when a friend suggested food delivery driving with Uber Eats and DoorDash. He painted a picture of easy cash, and one night, I decided to ride along and observe. From the passenger seat, it seemed straightforward. However, jumping into the driver’s seat myself quickly revealed a different reality when trying to make extra money in the gig economy.
Food delivery driver handing order to customer, illustrating making extra money through gig economy jobs.
Excited to start earning, I signed up for both Uber Eats and DoorDash that very night and was swiftly approved. My first foray into food delivery focused on the Intown area, as both apps highlighted these locations as “hot spots” brimming with delivery requests. My phone buzzed incessantly, each notification signaling hungry customers eager for their meals, and the promise of Making Extra Money seemed within reach.
The Reality Check: First Night Struggles
My initial enthusiasm quickly met the harsh realities of food delivery. Rookie mistakes piled up, and my stress levels soared. The first major hurdle was parking, particularly in dense urban areas like Midtown and Buckhead. Navigating streets like Peachtree or Spring became a stressful dance of hazard lights, honking horns, and security guards waving me away. The constant worry of tickets or having my car towed while running inside restaurants to pick up orders was a significant deterrent to efficiently making extra money.
Adding to the chaos, I attempted to juggle multiple pickups and deliveries simultaneously, thinking it would maximize my earnings. While the goal was to make extra money, this strategy initially backfired. One restaurant would have the order ready, but the next would make me wait, leaving me anxious about the first customer’s food getting cold in my car.
Delivery instructions also varied, further complicating the process. While most customers opted for contactless delivery, leaving food at the door, others required hand-to-hand delivery, often in sprawling apartment complexes. Navigating labyrinthine hallways while my illegally parked car potentially racked up fines was hardly the picture of easily making extra money I had imagined.
After five hours of driving, dodging traffic, and stressing about parking, my earnings barely reached $50. Tips were disappointingly low or nonexistent, and exhaustion set in. If I was serious about making extra money this way, I realized I needed a new approach – and perhaps a driver.
Finding a Strategy and a Driver
Fortunately, a friend looking for something to do offered to be my driver. This simple change dramatically reduced my stress. For my second night, we shifted our focus to the Decatur area. This proved to be a much better choice for making extra money initially. We completed around five deliveries within a small radius in under an hour. Drop-offs were straightforward – mostly porch deliveries – and tips were noticeably more generous.
Buoyed by this success, I then fell prey to the allure of a large delivery fee and a “hot spot” notification in The Battery area, near Truist Park. Ignoring the distance, I focused solely on the promised payout. This led to a night of excessive driving across the north metro area, burning through gas and adding unnecessary miles to my car, ultimately hindering my goal of making extra money efficiently.
I was also surprised by how far people were willing to have food delivered. Orders ranged from The Battery to Dunwoody, and from Perimeter Mall to Buckhead. This sprawling delivery area, coupled with restaurant wait times, stretched my working hours and reduced my hourly earnings when trying to make extra money.
That same night, a particularly frustrating incident occurred. A customer’s order took nearly half an hour to prepare, and feeling obligated, I waited. Upon arrival at his townhouse complex, finding the exact unit in the dark and rain proved challenging. The customer, understandably frustrated by the wait, unleashed a barrage of expletives. Unsurprisingly, a tip was not forthcoming.
After six hours of driving over a hundred miles, we earned less than $100. It didn’t feel like a worthwhile way to make extra money. I needed a smarter strategy. I turned to online forums and articles from other delivery drivers, seeking tips and best practices to improve my efficiency and make extra money consistently. A formula emerged: stick to a specific area, prioritize multiple deliveries, and resist the temptation of chasing “hot spots” in distant locations.
Learning the Ropes: Finding the “Delivery Groove”
After about a week of trial and error, I finally found my “delivery groove” and a more sustainable way to make extra money. I concentrated on the Sandy Springs and Dunwoody areas during the after-work rush hour, starting around 5 p.m. I also experimented with lunchtime deliveries from 11 a.m. onwards. Focusing on these areas meant shorter distances between deliveries, primarily to homes and apartments, allowing me to work solo again and maximize my time making extra money.
Some days, delivery requests kept my phone buzzing almost non-stop from lunch through dinner. My daily target was to earn $100. Some days I hit it, others I made closer to $50 or $60. I learned to prioritize efficiency over greed, focusing on “batching” deliveries – completing as many orders as possible in the shortest amount of time and within a concentrated area to make extra money effectively.
The Numbers and the Choice
Over my three-plus week college break, I grossed around $1,200 from food delivery. After deducting gas expenses, my net earnings were closer to $900. Once classes resumed in January, I continued delivering part-time, usually on Friday nights or Saturdays, whenever I needed to make extra money or simply felt like it. Even now, I still do deliveries a few times a month to supplement my income.
Currently, I’m weighing my options: a spring break trip or staying local and continuing to make extra money with deliveries. Having choices is a good problem to have, and I’m still refining my delivery strategies to work smarter, not harder. And a final piece of advice, whether you’re using delivery apps to make extra money or just ordering in – remember to tip your delivery person! They are working hard to bring convenience to your door.
