Is it actually worth it?

beetee123 · October 2014

I'm hoping to find a part time job to make some extra money to pay down some debt and start saving a bit more each month. I'm hoping to find something within 5-10 miles of my house, and we have a Dominos that's less than a mile from us. I've seen a lot of people on here that suggest pizza delivery as a way to make extra cash, but is it really worth it? I'm worried that after gas and everything I would barely be breaking even. That doesn't even take wear and tear into consideration. So how much do you average after bad expenses? Is your car handling all of the driving decently? Also, I could take either my SO or my car. Mine is a 2012 with less than 60K miles. His is a 2001 with 85K. Both get about the same fuel mileage. TIA!

beetee123 · October 2014

Car expenses not bad LOL

Xstatic3333 · October 2014

Now, I haven't personally delivered pizza, but a good friend of mine did faithfully, every Saturday, for 8 years in addition to his decently-paying and reliable 9-5. He's a very frugal guy, and he said it made a huge difference in his ability to save. Tips were huge; he got to know the regulars and had a good relationship with many who tipped above the going rate. He also kept a very faithful log of his miles for the tax deductions. I don't know how much he averaged, but I know he said it was great and made a big difference in his financial picture.

To the car issue, my H and I have the attitude that we like to put more miles on the "newer" condition car so they'll both last as long as possible. In our case, since the newer car is a Honda, we also know it's a tank that shouldn't have too many maintenance issues until its very old. So basically I'd use your car, unless its a situation where for whatever reason yours is more likely to have maintenance issues than your SO's. Given the discrepancy in age, I think that's an unlikely scenario.

P.S. a 2001 with only 85K, that's crazy! Good for your SO.

hoffse · October 2014

I've never done it, and I don't really know anybody who has. But I mean, everything I've read says that it's a good gig to make some extra cash.

Re: the cars - I haven't looked recently, but my job reimburses me at $0.55/mile based on IRS regs. Theoretically, that's about how much it should cost to drive a car - including average gas prices and wear and tear. Keeping meticulous records of your mileage is important for your taxes.

Practically, H and I drive a lot to visit family, so a 20 mile trip to visit a client a couple times a week is not a big deal (though we do get reimbursed for it). We buy cars based on the assumption that we're going to put heavy mileage on them, so we view the wear and tear as a sunk cost. If I were delivering pizza I would focus more on gas consumption than wear and tear. We try to drive cars until they are 10 years old, and at that point they aren't worth a ton anyway.

hoffse · October 2014

EDIT: I would drive his car since it's over 10 years old and yours is pretty new.

Sisugal · October 2014

miles driven qualify for a tax deduction ONLY IF you ITEMIZE. In order to have that pay off for you, you will need an amount in deductions that exceeds the standard deduction.

You need to keep a log of work miles in order to claim the miles.

I have never seen a female delivery person and would have concerns about safety. Have a plan for that if you decide to give this a try.

hoffse · October 2014

Sisugal said:

miles driven qualify for a tax deduction ONLY IF you ITEMIZE. In order to have that pay off for you, you will need an amount in deductions that exceeds the standard deduction.

You need to keep a log of work miles in order to claim the miles.

I have never seen a female delivery person and would have concerns about safety. Have a plan for that if you decide to give this a try.

This is a good point. I assume you do itemize because you mention your house.

LS45 · October 2014

I would choose the older car to put the miles on if you go this route. I also second pp's safety concerns. Are you in a safe neighborhood? Would you be willing to take evening shifts? I'd be sure to discuss all of this with your potential employer and family.

CuriousKiddosMama · October 2014

If you so it please come back and let us know how it goes! I've never done it, but have heard that you can make great tips.

BlueBirdMB · October 2014

I have own a business that requires me to drive about 500 miles per week. I have a Honda Civic, so I get good gas mileage. I pay about $150 per month for gas. I suppose general car repairs would depend on the age of your car. I hope this gives you an idea of what to expect.

There are several ways of deducting miles. I keep a log, but my father, who also owns a business that requires him to drive a ton, keeps track of gas receipts and then there is some type of formula for deducting based on that, but I'm not sure how. Ask your tax accountant.

smerka · October 2014

If you are paid as a 1099 employee, you would to a Schedule C and deduct the mileage as an expense using either the standard mileage ($.55 per mile) or actual expenses (insurance, gas, maintenance, registration, etc). Unless you use the car exclusively for business, you have to calculate the percentage of business use vs. personal and use that to figure your deduction under actual expenses. For most people, standard mileage is better and easier. You can take mileage as a business expense on Schedule A, but it is subject to 2% of you AGI first.

TCsbride · October 2014

My husband and I both worked pizza delivery for about a year in college while we were saving for a house. It's been about 10 yrs now but DH has looked I to going back recently and the pay has increased to cover inflation.

At the time we both drove older cars, a jeep wrangler for me and a Toyota Tacoma with over 100k miles on each. We usually worked Th/Sat/Sun as those we the busy nights. Friday too but it's hard to get Fri and Sat. We got paid minimum wage at the time which was $5.15 I believe, then $1.25/run, plus tips. At the time I did not itemize so I didn't track mileage.

Our take home checks were less than $100 for two weeks but we figured that covered gas. The tips were the real money. I always beat DH, which would kill him, but I usually brought home between $75-$100 per night, DH was usually $60-$80. On average we usually ran "doubles" meaning two stops so we'd get $2.50 from the company and $4-$6 in tips (most get 2 pizzas and tip $1-$2 per pizza). Usually once or twice a night you'd hit a party with a big $10 tip or someone slightly outside our district who would tip $10 for the extra 2 min drive.

We delivered in a high income suburban area. I rarely delivered after dark. I always kept my cell phone in my pocket as well as pepper spray. My company also had a policy of only carrying around $20 in change.

I do know now that the drivers get paid more like a waitress, $2.25/hr or something, but $2.50/run. DH has talked to them a couple times, they are always full but said they'd call him, but when they do, we decide we are really too busy with 4 kids.

Erikan73 · October 2014

Check with your insurance company first to see if you are covered. Many personal auto providers won't cover pizza delivery under the policies. Many of them require that you purchase a commercial auto policy (more expensive). If you find out they won't cover it, I would highly recommend you not doing it then. I work for an insurance provider and have seen claims where people where in accidents while delivering pizza's. The claim was denied because it was unacceptable under their personal auto policy so then the individual was ticketed for no insurance since the claim was denied. So if the individual wasn't at fault, the minimum they are being charged for is a ticket for no insurance. If the individual was at fault, they are getting a ticket for causing the accident, no insurance and they are going to have to pay for all damages to both vehicles involved out of their own pocket.

cbee817 · October 2014

You can make way more $ waiting tables- I did that all of college and would make at least $100 for a 4-5 hour dinner shift in tips plus $4.25/hour (as a weekly paycheck) and that was almost 11 years ago. Look into local places- mine was a family owned, casual italian restaurant that did really well.. it was a lot of fun to work there too!

beetee123 · October 2014

Sorry it took a few days to respond. For some reason I can't reply to threads on my phone. Thanks for all of the information. I think I will apply at the pizza place down the street, and see if they will work with my schedule since I only want to work 1-3 nights per week. I'm still not 100% sure if I'll take the position if I'm offered it, but it's at least worth a shot.

I think Domino's pays minimum wage, $1.25 per delivery towards your car and then the tip on top of that.

I have worried about how safe driving around will be, especially at night, but I plan to carry my phone and pepper spray on me like PP mentioned. I know our area pretty well, and the biggest problem is that there is such a huge divide here. On one side of the street are $500,000, 5 bedroom houses and on the other side are row homes that are owned by slum lords. I will have to talk to SO about it!

BlinkMe182 · October 2014

I worked at a pizza place for years in College and the wear and tear on the cars is only if you're driving it that way. I've seen driver who are all gas-all brakes and beating their vehicles! They don't last long that way. They rush of delivering, being in a hurry and driving in poor (winter) conditions didn't help. Lots of curbs hit, and skids. Remember- these are college kids.

I've also worked with 'adults' who used their daily driver as a delivery vehicle, they would take care of their car and I saw no additional issues for them with their vehicles.

CuriousKiddosMama · October 2014

But a thing of mace and always keep it in your pocket when you are delivering. That way you have some protection in a bad neighborhood.

Is it actually worth it?

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