# Saving



## Adrian719 (May 5, 2016)

Okay I'm not yet an uber driver but I'm working on getting to that point. I'm not trying to get rich off of uber I'm just trying to build a savings,not even use uber for bills just to save. Do you guys think it's realistic to save 30,000 dollars in a year with uber?


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## UberMensch2015 (Jan 29, 2015)

by using it and exploiting the drivers and not buying a car? Yes. By driving Uber? Heh. Heh. Heh. No.

depending on your city your post expense profit per mile is probably, at best, 50 cents. Are you going to drive 60,000 miles? 1150 miles a day? Good luck.


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## Adrian719 (May 5, 2016)

My city is a college town and it's pretty close to Atlanta.I'm just trying to build this savings over a course of a year.I already have a job that covers all my bills,this is just a job strictly for savings.


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## Jufkii (Sep 17, 2015)

At these crap rates whatever you save will get plowed back into pre mature car expenses later on from all the extra miles being racked up. Its nothing more than a pay day loan on wheels. What have you saved in the long run? Good luck saving $300 after all is said and done let alone $30000


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## ABC123DEF (Jun 9, 2015)

Adrian719 said:


> Okay I'm not yet an uber driver but I'm working on getting to that point. I'm not trying to get rich off of uber I'm just trying to build a savings,not even use uber for bills just to save. Do you guys think it's realistic to save 30,000 dollars in a year with uber?


Well, to be honest...


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

UberMensch2015 said:


> depending on your city your post expense profit per mile is probably, at best, 50 cents.


How do you even come close to net profit of $.50 a mile when many markets are below $1.00 a mile?


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## Mountainsoloist (Nov 16, 2015)

ABC123DEF said:


> Well, to be honest...


I truly can't think of a better answer to OPs question.


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## Adrian719 (May 5, 2016)

Reading all these replies and other forums,it's like you guys make it seem like it's impossible to make any kind of money from uber? Like I don't know if everybody was expecting to make 90k a year,I sure wasn't. I just want to save somewhere between 20-30k in a year. It's like everything in this world is a lie or it always seems like everything is too good to be true. That's so frustrating. I go to school but even college students feel that way about their futures.


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

Adrian719 said:


> Reading all these replies and other forums,it's like you guys make it seem like it's impossible to make any kind of money from uber? I go to school but even college students feel that way about their futures.


So if you go to school then this should be really easy for you. Take the dollar per mile amount then subtract 25% (Uber's fee). This is what you get when pax are in the car. Now how many miles are you going to drive without pax in the car (dead head miles). According to most drivers it's almost the same. So now you are at 37% of what the $ per mile is. It's almost impossible to operate a "fare for hire" vehicle at that rate much less make a 20-30k profit per year. It's really simple math.


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## Idiot Savant (Mar 14, 2016)

Adrian719 said:


> Reading all these replies and other forums,it's like you guys make it seem like it's impossible to make any kind of money from uber? Like I don't know if everybody was expecting to make 90k a year,I sure wasn't. I just want to save somewhere between 20-30k in a year. It's like everything in this world is a lie or it always seems like everything is too good to be true. That's so frustrating. I go to school but even college students feel that way about their futures.


Make money on a longer run is possible but you have to be very lucky for that. So basically it´s gambling. Who does that for savings?

You need good trips, surges and most of all - you need a car that lasts and won´t lose it´s value dramatically (Uber for 1-2 years, get rid of it before gearbox or engine or smth dies). 
Cause people r happy ubering till they meet huge repair bill and there go their savings. You´ll find out that you have worked for free or in worse cases, sponsored Uber, giving them the value of your car, time of your life and payed extra for doing that.


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## renbutler (Jul 25, 2015)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> How do you even come close to net profit of $.50 a mile when many markets are below $1.00 a mile?


I do, by driving only surges. But that works only for spot driving, not full-time driving.


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## PeterNorth (Apr 4, 2016)

Adrian719 said:


> Okay I'm not yet an uber driver but I'm working on getting to that point. I'm not trying to get rich off of uber I'm just trying to build a savings,not even use uber for bills just to save. Do you guys think it's realistic to save 30,000 dollars in a year with uber?


I am doing this between jobs as my only source of income. While I will say it is very tough to make a living doing Uber I will say that you will save quite a bit of money. You will learn how to "work the system" and make it more lucrative for you (i.e.. taking full advantage of certain times when it's surging).

However, if you want to stash $30K away you will have to work a lot of hours outside of your job. You'll need atleast $577 per week to hit your mark. However, I would strive for $650 to cover maintenance costs and cover you if you are ever sick or just want the weekend off.

*You should read the thread on tip signs. They work well and honestly keep the flat rate drivers going. You'll learn very quickly that you almost will always depend on tips to survive.


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## AceManShow (Sep 24, 2015)

Adrian719 said:


> Okay I'm not yet an uber driver but I'm working on getting to that point. I'm not trying to get rich off of uber I'm just trying to build a savings,not even use uber for bills just to save. Do you guys think it's realistic to save 30,000 dollars in a year with uber?


*N O*


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## UberMensch2015 (Jan 29, 2015)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> How do you even come close to net profit of $.50 a mile when many markets are below $1.00 a mile?


well i said "at best" depending on his city. Some cities are still north of 1.25 or so, but not many


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## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

$30,000.00/$8.00(average net after all expenses)=3,750 hours/52=72 hours per week to "save" $30k

good luck.


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

renbutler said:


> I do, by driving only surges. But that works only for spot driving, not full-time driving.


That's what I heard. I've also heard that because of the influx of all the newbies that the surge is practically nonexistent.


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## renbutler (Jul 25, 2015)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> That's what I heard. I've also heard that because of the influx of all the newbies that the surge is practically nonexistent.


I'm sure that varies widely by market. Don't forget that ridership is increasing too (although not necessarily at the same pace as driver growth).

In my market, rolling surges occur pretty reliably at the same naturally busy times, with occasional sporadic surges the rest of the time.


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## gofry (Oct 20, 2015)

PeterNorth said:


> I am doing this between jobs as my only source of income. While I will say it is very tough to make a living doing Uber I will say that you will save quite a bit of money. You will learn how to "work the system" and make it more lucrative for you (i.e.. taking full advantage of certain times when it's surging).
> 
> However, if you want to stash $30K away you will have to work a lot of hours outside of your job. You'll need atleast $577 per week to hit your mark. However, I would strive for $650 to cover maintenance costs and cover you if you are ever sick or just want the weekend off.
> 
> *You should read the thread on tip signs. They work well and honestly keep the flat rate drivers going. You'll learn very quickly that you almost will always depend on tips to survive.


I'm glad you're not my accountant. To net $30k a year, the driver would have to bring in a lot more than $577 or $650 week.


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## gofry (Oct 20, 2015)

Adrian719 said:


> Reading all these replies and other forums,it's like you guys make it seem like it's impossible to make any kind of money from uber? Like I don't know if everybody was expecting to make 90k a year,I sure wasn't. I just want to save somewhere between 20-30k in a year. It's like everything in this world is a lie or it always seems like everything is too good to be true. That's so frustrating. I go to school but even college students feel that way about their futures.


I'm sorry but the truth hurts. The fact is, it is very difficult to make a profit driving for Uber. Spend your time and energy on something else.


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## PeterNorth (Apr 4, 2016)

gofry said:


> I'm glad you're not my accountant. To net $30k a year, the driver would have to bring in a lot more than $577 or $650 week.


I'm glad you're not my attorney - read what he said. He wanted to acquire $30K. What is $577 X 52?


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## NachonCheeze (Sep 8, 2015)

Adrian719 said:


> Okay I'm not yet an uber driver but I'm working on getting to that point. I'm not trying to get rich off of uber I'm just trying to build a savings,not even use uber for bills just to save. Do you guys think it's realistic to save 30,000 dollars in a year with uber?


lol


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## William1964 (Jul 28, 2015)

No

You might be able to earn $30,000 in a year with Uber exclusively but you won't save that much unless you're very talented.

Right now my bank account does not fall below a certain level that's all I care about right now


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## Undermensch (Oct 21, 2015)

Adrian719 said:


> Okay I'm not yet an uber driver but I'm working on getting to that point. I'm not trying to get rich off of uber I'm just trying to build a savings,not even use uber for bills just to save. Do you guys think it's realistic to save 30,000 dollars in a year with uber?


Value the "advice" given on this forum in proportion to the amount of effort that the provider of that advice put into preparing and proving it.

If the advice was "spewed" then associate as much value with it as it deserves.

You'll notice that most of the "you can't make money" advice is short, hostile, and lacking of any facts, numbers, or formulas. There is a smaller set of similar toned advice that is overly long, has formulas and numbers, but they are points that have been repeatedly and thoroughly debunked (such as claims that driving costs you exactly 54 cents/mile since that happens to be the IRS deduction rate across all vehicle classes including delivery trucks).

Now, to give you the definitive answer to your question: it is possible to save that much money driving for Uber. It may or may not be possible in your market.

Theses factors will determine whether it is possible for you or not:


Your Market's Rate/Mile
Rates like Detroit are pretty ridiculous
85 cents/mile sounds bad but in my experience it has been ok

Your Access to Freeways
The closer you are to them the easier it will be to use home as your base, increasing the time you can spend online

Tendency of Rides to Use Freeways
At 80 MPH in an 85 cent/mile zone you are taking home $55/hour before vehicle costs - if you come back empty it's $27.50/hour
Rides at zero surge and any slower speed are necessarily less per hour

Tendency of Rides to Take You from Hot Spot to Hot Spot
If rides take you to dead zones you are likely to come back empty, cutting your rate in half
If lots of rides take you to other hot spots then you can wait around for another couple of rides before heading back or get lucky and get one taking you back to where you started

Ridership and Drivership in Your Area
Riders with no Drivers
Seems great but it's the worst. Pings will be 15-25 minutes away and you'll tend to ignore a lot of them because you don't know if they are $120 rides or $3 rides

No Riders
You'll have to operate from another area, adding dead hours to your schedule. Not impossible but it might make it difficult to work weeknights 

Active Riders, Just Enough Drivers
Perfect. There will be some surges, but more importantly, you'll actually get rides and some of them will be good.

Active Riders, Too Many Drivers
Hustle. There are ways to make it work but it's not going to be automatic


Cost Control
Gasoline - I don't think you can do it driving anything other than a Prius. At $2/gallon this is 4 cents/mile for a 2008 Prius
Maintenance - You can't have any other than tires, oil, and shocks. I don't know of any car more reliable than the Prius. These are about 3 cents/mile for a 2008 Prius
Depreciation - You can play some games here. Even if you don't drive a vehicle at all, almost all of its value will be gone in 8 years. So if you buy a brand new car that you were going to buy anyway, and that you were going to hold for 8 years anyway, and if you only plan to drive it for Uber for 1-2 years, then the additional depreciation that you add from miles will work out to just a few pennies per mile. Alternatively, either happen to already have the right car with little value left or buy a used 2008 Prius for $8k or less. In any case, try to keep the depreciation increase to less than 5 cents/mile
Handle Taxes Correctly - Log odometer start/stop each day and claim all miles driven as deductible. You should make very little taxable profit though your real profits will be decent. Mess this up and you'll just be giving the IRS a nice gift.


In my area I'm making $18.5 / hour over 6 months. Rates were cut 30% in the middle of that 6 months but the hourly average before and after the cuts are the same, for me.

Now, to back it up, you can check my google sheets with my day log and all the vehicle costs:

https://uberpeople.net/threads/2015-q4-and-2016-q1-pay-full-disclosure.66689/

Ultimately it comes down to one number: what can you get in a week. When I started I was only getting $300-500/week. Now I can regularly get $600-760/week. You might find that you just can't get that much per week and that adding non-peak hours doesn't help if ridership is too low.

Hopefully this helps.


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## gofry (Oct 20, 2015)

PeterNorth said:


> I'm glad you're not my attorney - read what he said. He wanted to acquire $30K. What is $577 X 52?


Ummm, no. He said he wants to "save" $30k, not "acquire." Savings represent net profits- that is, what's left over after expenses.


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## PeterNorth (Apr 4, 2016)

gofry said:


> Ummm, no. He said he wants to "save" $30k, not "acquire." Savings represent net profits- that is, what's left over after expenses.


Look.. Pal, let me make this easy for you... $577X52weeks = $30,000. When I mentioned he should aim for $650 to offset maintenance costs, etc you're looking at $33,800.

Also, when you factor in my tip sign advice. Even at $577 a week he is on his way to acquiring $30K. My tip sign pays for all my gas usually.

You make me want a beer this early in the day!!


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## Digits (Sep 17, 2015)

It's easy to earn $30k driving UberX, it's just that I don't wish to drive 80 hrs a week. Also, to realistically save $30k, you will need to gross 50k which will require 75,000 miles approx ( dead miles, driving to pick pax etc etc). If you're driving a non hybrid yet a gas saver, you would require approx 2150 gallon of fuel ( avg mpg 35 ) @ $3/gal (in my market) you spend around $6,400. Factor in insurance, car washes,oil changes, misc expenses that adds up. Well, assuming you manage to not get any traffic violation ticket during the year and your car doesn't require any other fixtures. Uber takes 25% commission on your payout. And remember UberX riders rarely tip. After that consider the amount gone in taxes. But as I said it's all possible and you can have $30,000 in savings by the end of the year.


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## renbutler (Jul 25, 2015)

Digits said:


> And remember UberX riders rarely tip.


I get tips on about one out of every 12 trips, and the tips comprise about 7% of my gross earnings.


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## PeterNorth (Apr 4, 2016)

With my sign I usually get 45% of my pax to tip. As of Monday I've cleared $47 for 12 rides


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## Digits (Sep 17, 2015)

Tips are always welcome and helps. If someone expects those figures in tips regularly, they are gonna swim in disappointment.


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## gofry (Oct 20, 2015)

PeterNorth said:


> Look.. Pal, let me make this easy for you... $577X52weeks = $30,000. When I mentioned he should aim for $650 to offset maintenance costs, etc you're looking at $33,800.
> 
> Also, when you factor in my tip sign advice. Even at $577 a week he is on his way to acquiring $30K. My tip sign pays for all my gas usually.
> 
> You make me want a beer this early in the day!!


I'm afraid you don't get it. You would have to take in way more than $650 to save (not acquire, save) $30k a year. As for tips, nobody gets tips 45% of the time.


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## Kalikikopa (Aug 9, 2015)

Adrian719 said:


> Okay I'm not yet an uber driver but I'm working on getting to that point. I'm not trying to get rich off of uber I'm just trying to build a savings,not even use uber for bills just to save. Do you guys think it's realistic to save 30,000 dollars in a year with uber?


Honestly, if you work really hard and can devote up to 16 hours a day to it, money can be saved. Every town is different. It costs money. Check insurance requirements in your area. Check your insurance policy requiring ride sharing and factor that in. 
In the end you may discover ,as many have, you are not so much saving money, but rather just cashing out the depreciation cost of your car to put it in the bank. And paying your many hours to do it. Notice many hours. You won't do well at the couple hours a week. But if you're ok with seeing a few thousand in your account and not thinking that your car will be worn out and need to be replaced before it is paid off now, and with high city mileage, won't be worth near what it otherwise would, give it a try.


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