Category: uber-and-side-hustle

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uber-and-side-hustle

Private Driving Lessons in Saint Louis Area

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Please use this Calendly link for scheduling one hour class. My rate is $60 per hour. You will need to provide your own car, insurance and gas.

Forms of payment: cash, check and Venmo/Paypal.

Service provided (including but not limited to): help answering questions regarding driver exam (road test). Practice near your preferred testing location. Parallel parking. Pull over. Backing up straight. Practice higher speed driving, e.g., Lindbergh road. We will step up from here if the student (and parents/guardians if applicable) and the coach decided the student is ready.

Location: empty parking lot, residential area, industrial area, main roads such as Olive Blvd and so on.

A bit more about myself in terms of driving and driving coaching or teaching experience.

I drove for Uber since Oct 2024. My current rating is 4.83, 1% cancelling rate, 42% acceptance rate, 94 driving insight score and 318 trips.

I received my Missouri driving license in Spring 1998. I have taught 2 of my family members: my wife in 2009, and my 15/16 year old daughter in late 2025 until April 2026. Both were successful passing driving exam (road).

In 2024 I also helped an adult friend practice higher speed driving. Note he had no US driving experience and very little driving experience in China at that time, and although he has the driving license. He was able to drive from St. Louis to Souther Carolina after my training and some more practice on his own.

In May 2026 I helped a 16 year (girl, along her mom) did similar higher speed driving practice, as well as practice in the neighborhood near Hazelwood Driving Exam location.

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uber-and-side-hustle

A bit more Uber driving

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I received a promotion from Uber and they promise $130 for 10 rides before May 22. And I decided to take the offer. I did 3 rides yesterday afternoon from 5 pm, and 7 rides this morning and afternoon. Total 10 rides or trips.

Today I had 2 eventful trips (among total 7). In one trip this morning, from Lindell Blvd near WUSTL I met a guy who is originally from Sweden, and he was not a fan of my car (minivan)’s cleanness (or dirtiness to be exact). I googled a related topic on this (are sweeden people germophobic).

In the afternoon, I shuttled a disabled person, along with a friend of that person, and 3 kids. Took a long time to load, and unload. This is probably the most severely disabled person I took in my total 315 trips although the passenger appears to be only in 40s. I have taken older passengers, and some use wheelchair too, but today’s passenger is challenging because it’s very hard for her to get on and get off (get on is harder between the two). It appears she doesn’t have any strength in her legs. I did one more trip after that one, which is take a HS kid to Jack in the Box, and I received the additional $130 after completing the that trip.

I noticed there was a promotion of $200 for 20 deliveries recently too, which I didn’t pay attention and didn’t take. It’s a bit harder to cmpelete 20 Uber Eats deliveries, as Uber Eats is much smaller than Door Dash, and regular Uber passengers.

PS: at this time I don’t plan to resume Uber, but I am going to periodically taking those “quest” offers (promotions). Note the total online time was 4 ours 20 minutes (or 260 minutes), total earning is about $250 (this is after including the #130 quest/promotion money). So about $1 per minute (roughly match my IT/software day job hourly rate)

PS 2: yesterday one of my Uber passengers is a Fedex driver, and I asked about driving for Fedex 🙂

what driver license does fedex driver require in missouri

is it difficult to be fedex driver

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401k and Personal Finance advice and tips uber-and-side-hustle

Tax season

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Uber Driving

Noted this: why the Uber 1099-k includes gross income (google search). The important part is: You report the 1099-K gross amount on your Schedule C, then deduct the fees and commissions as business expenses to ensure you are only taxed on your actual earnings, notes TurboTax and Stride Health. (this is from Google AI overview)

Btw, I am not sure if this is new for this year (tax year 2025). I assume if one has tax professionals do the tax, they will catch it. For those DIYers, or people who don’t drive a lot for Uber, this heads up may be relevant. Personally, I added up all the money I received from Uber (at my bank website), and added them up, before comparing with the tax summary from Uber.

Update 03-07-2026: Filed via Turbo Tax e-file.

Update 03-10-2026: I realized I forgot to expense the Internet (Broadband) cost, as both my wife and I work full time from home. Well, if there is any other significant reason that I need to amend the return, I would include that change as well. Otherwise, I just make a note here for myself – don’t forget to expense it next year.

Update 03-15-2026: both federal and state refunds are in my bank account.

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uber-and-side-hustle

I delivered for Uber Eat today

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(02-17-2026) During my lunch hour. I thought about doing it last week. And this noon I did it. My 1st order is to pick up food at Chick Fil A in U City (by Costco), and deliver it to wustl. The second order is in Clayton area, Jimmy Johns sandwich to an office building (a block a way or so). My total earning is about $13. The wustl girl gave me $1 tip.

(02-19-2026) I did two Uber driving trips in the evening as I didn’t get much Uber Eats order. First trip is from WUSTL Knight center to the Budget Avis car rental place near airport. The second trip is short one, near the apartment off Cypress road (again near airport) – a lady wanted to buy something from the plaza not too far from her apartment. I did notice a large group of teenagers (likely high schoolers) gathering outside the apartment complex.

(03-07-2026) I did two more deliveries this morning: Chick fil a CC (Ladue), Starbuck New Ballas/Clayton (across street)

Also noticed a bit meaningful surge (+$10 or more) in the evening at about 7:30 pm, Saturday 03/07/2026. A friend was going to airport, and noticed the normal fair of about +$30 went up to +$70. In other words, Uber is still pocketing most of the cost increase from the surge.

Observation so far: most Uber Eats deliveries are not worth it (time vs income). For me this is mostly to get outside of house, because I work from home for about 6 years now.

(03-08-2026) Today I drove this route when I drove for Uber. I had to admit I was scared during some portion of the trip – and I documented some of my feelings here in YT Shorts. Now I recall almost 30 years ago, when I was fairly new to the USA, and new to St. Louis, a few times I drove by some of the similar places in St. Louis (accidentally), and I was scared. And now I think it’s best for me to stay out of those areas, for that matter, stay out of Uber driving too.

(03–09-2026) Between 6 pm and 6:30 pm: delivered an Uber Eats order from Sides of Soul to Kirkwood apartment. Tip $11.98 + $2 delivery fee. The screenshot at the top of this post shows this delivery.

(03-10-1016) Did 4 Uber trips in the pm. One: from Panera Old Olive to house off Lackland near Costco Business Center; Two: from the International Paper manufacturing plant to McDonald off St. Charles Rock Road; Three, this one takes a bit time to drive, in hind sight I should not accept, from U city near Overland to the U city Chicken Fil A (not a lucrative trip, also the pickup location is not the best spot either.)

Uber offered total $7.50 incentive for the trips above. No tips today.

One thing I like to understand more is how Uber was trying both AI (offers trip to drivers), and promotions (loyalty, rewards and offers*, and driver reference) to get drivers to drive for the trip.

*Today is the first time I received offers money from Uber. It’s $4 for 2 trips, and another $3.50 for another trip (the last one). In my old Mastercard job, as I was working in the loyalty and rewards area, this is called “qualification” (meaning the cardholders need to perform certain action to qualify for the award). Promotion is different in the sense, it’s proportional to the card spend.

One main difference between Uber and Uber Eats: tip is upfront for Uber Eats and could be meaningful. Uber not that much: many factors came into play for tips; in general should not expect much tips.

Ultimately: safety first. After safety, when looking at a trip whether it’s profitable or not, I should look at the earning per minute or per hour. Do a quick math and see if it’s 50 cents per minute, or $30 per hour. At the end of the day though, I should pay more attention to the stock market because that’s potentially more lucrative. Thinking Uber should be a hobby or a way to get out, and feel the real world. So maybe just once or twice a week. There is another factor: the acceptance rate, I probably need to balance the empty miles driven vs acceptance rate.

(03-12-2026) I just signed up the “plus card” and “Shop and Deliver orders”. I think I am going to try that instead of accepting passengers for Uber (in addition to safety, sometimes I don’t like the body smell or perfume from my passengers, sometimes it took long time to dissipate – similar for the cannabis or marijuana).

In the evening, after getting home from “teaching my old daughter pratice on highway aka 141”, I did two Uber passenger trips, first one is from Maplewood to Chesterfield (Twin Peaks to Red Lobster, it appears two ladies or mom/daughter duo are working at two places sequentially?), and the second trip is at Chesterfield itself (from Bunge office off 64 to the Hyatt Place at Chesterfield Mall, traveller to the Bunge North America HQ office). No tips for the two trips.

After that I bought some groceries from the Chesterfield Schnucks and went home.

(03-14-2026) This morning I did 3 Uber Eats deliveries. The first two are normal ones, the 3rd one had a major hiccup. Two issues: it’s for Starbucks and I forgot about the morning rush at Starbucks when I accepted the order. I had to wait for probably 30 to 40 minutes for the order being prepared. Then as I reviewed the order I found out I cannot mark the order as picked up in the Uber driver app – it says delayed. I still delivered the order and tried to contact the customer service agents. And they didn’t solve my issue, and the two agents said complete opposite things. I think I will stop driving for Uber for now. My main complaints are their app didn’t work for me, and their agents are not consistent. It’s more and more like a #ratRace

(04-20-2026) Came across this article. He says he accepted the ride that was supposed to take 30 minutes roundtrip. Then he got ensnared in rush hour traffic. “It’s 5:01pm so there’s a lot of traffic in Charlotte. And I’m driving to the passenger. I hit traffic, it takes me instead of 18 minutes, it takes me 35 minutes to pick up the passenger,” he says. (I know this one btw)

(05-10-2026) YT – 👉 “My Last Day DoorDashing in Las Vegas… (Big Change)”

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Saint Louis uber-and-side-hustle

More Uber Driving

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I had two new experiences this morning. It appears I just received a one-star rating from a passenger (the 1st time for me): don’t know for sure why and who. But one girl (passenger, or customer) asked me if she can vape in my minivan, and I told her no (I told her politely though).

Also, I drove on some sketchy area in St. Louis, such as this one: Northway Supermarket. It seems the general area is Walnut Park East (and my google term here). And it seems to me this Yelp review (see below) is quite fair. Honestly when I drove by that place the 1st time this morning, I thought people were doing drug trade – buy and sell 🙂

Read Isaac H.‘s review of Northway Supermarket on Yelp.

And this is the whole route.

(Update 08-12-2025) I did an adhoc Uber driving yesterday afternoon. I got about one hour of time, after swimming. Turned down a few exclusive requests (they are a bit long for me). And did two short trips. I looked at my stats this morning, and it seems my acceptance rate was impacted because I didn’t accept the exclusive requests. I don’t mind that much as my overall score is already down, and I no longer qualify for the advantage mode due to that. The acceptance rate drop was not as bad. Anyway, next time I may be a bit more careful if I only have one hour or less to drive. Maybe just skipping Uber driving altogether.

(Update 10-12-2025) I didn’t do much driving recently. Last I recall was a Wednesday afternoon (evening), I drove for about one hour after picking up my kids. I did come across an article from Yahoo today (I’ve Driven for Uber for a Decade. I Don’t Know What My Future Holds. – Business Insider). I read it via Yahoo and it didn’t have paywall.

(Update 12-22-2025) I drive for Uber and Lyft after retiring from Wall Street. The principles I learned as a trader help me make more money.

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Saint Louis uber-and-side-hustle

Went to St. Louis Bread Co. after my morning Uber driving

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This one (link to YT).

Yesterday morning I was a bit tired after driving for about 2 hours. Next time I should remember take some “coffee breaks” every hour or so, that is, if I drive for more than one hour. Usually I just drive one hour nowadays (refer to my most recent post on Uber driving, refer to “PS: early morning Uber driving“)

This is probably also the first St. Louis Bread Co. I visited in St. Louis area (or one of the first). I used to live near that place Saint Louis – Chippewa St @ Lansdowne Ave or 6607 Chippewa Street, St Louis, MO 63109. I probably had bread bowl soup there too.

Please note one of the St. Louis landmarks Ted Drewes Frozen Custard is located not too far away from the Bread Co., it’s at 6726 Chippewa St, St. Louis, MO 63109.

They are within walking distance, or a very short drive.

(Update 07/07/2025) Bumped into an engineer (or an executive) from Faith Group, LLC (LinkedIn, company website). The gentleman didn’t tell me the exact company name during my Uber driving this mooning, but I am 100% sure this is the company, from the descriptions. He gave me $5 tip.

(Update 07/08/2025) Drive in the city of St. Louis. Occasionally I drove in the city of St. Louis. I would be a bit more careful when driving in the city of St. Louis. Not just because of the crime rate. In fact overall the crime rate is down if you look at the Google search overview – pasted below for the ease of reading.

(Update 07/10/2025) Tips sometimes can come days late. A lot people now live in “motel” which is really more like a studio apartment: they apparently cannot put in number for the motel, other than the main address. This morning, I had something like this, had to text the passenger to get the exact room number (she has some mobility challenges). More re: driving in the city, I noticed some people don’t obey the traffic lights, even official cars such as fire truck. That’s why I said earlier “be more careful when driving in the city”. Btw, the Uber business sort of dried up in recent mornings.

(Update 07/11/2025) This morning I went to Panera Bread at Westport after my Uber driving. This morning’s 3 trips are all for caregivers, the 1st one is for someone who lives in the apartment complex across the street, to a home in west county (home caregiver?). The latter two are drop offs at nursing homes (senior living places): one in Clayton, another one in Maryland Heights.

Btw, it seems a lot of my trips are drop offs at nursing homes (senior living places), especially now I mostly drive in the early mornings. I thought about evenings but considering the high temperature and potential damages to my car (battery), and I decided to skip.

Also, I happened to see this apartment complex Prospect Creek – Ballwin in a nice neighborhood (with privacy and walking trails etc.). You would do more research on apartment yourself, if applicable.

(Update 07/14/2025) I did 3 trips from or to Airport on 7/13/2025. This was a bit unusual because the airport terminal 2 got busy due to an end of a big conference. Today I did my usual: 3 trips total, white castle (fast food restaurant), wustl (off big bend road) to home (custodian get off work?), and lastly take a kid’s caregiver to kids care place. I think in terms of tips, the airport trips are usually better. But I don’t just work for tips. One minor thing though, between yesterday and today, I got a score of 3 (out of 5) and it lowers my average score a tiny bit. It’s not the end of the world, as it used to be though. Because right now I have 98 “5”. For comparison, I have 2 “4”, and 3 “3” and 1 “2”. I don’t have any “1”.

Separately, I came across a YT video 在上海住車上開網約車，一個月掙七千多，女士說這是普通人的生存希望 about driving ride share in SH, it seems they have a much harder job.

(Update 07/15/2025) This morning I only did 2 trips, because I am a bit tired and also today is my younger daughter’s b-day. For the 2nd trip, I took the same passenger as yesterday – WUSTL (off big bend road) to home (custodian get off work?). 1 trip was from an apartment near Page Blvd to a medical facility near Schnucks U city. I overshot a bit over there because my mind was a bit off at the time.

(Update 07/16/2025) I didn’t drive this morning as I need to do some work for my day job.

(Update 07/17/2025) This morning I did two trips related to the hotel (or nursing home). First trip was from the senior living behind Diebergs off Craig road, to his temp housing at Craigshire road. There was a bit hiccup. The customer thinks he ordered a stop at the Mobile on the run gas station, but it didn’t show up in my driver app. I honored his request nonetheless. The second trip was from the courtyard behind Aldi in Creve Coeur, to a hotel in Clayton.

(Update 07/18/2025) I did two airport trips this morning. I took a gentleman from WUSTL (Knight Center, business school) to airport (American Airline). And I intentionally didn’t leave as fast as I could, and lucky me I got another trip as I was leaving, from terminal 2 (southwest) to west port. After that I got food and coffee at Panera bread at west port and went home.

(Update 07/19/2025) Two trips this morning. One is taking a guy from his apartment in Overland to the gas station and back. He bought a pack of cigarette. I think he can walk, because it’s about 0.5 miles one way. The second one is take a lady from her home in Overland (I think it’s still overland) to the McDonalds’ in the U city China town (there is no actual official China town, but if you are from St. Louis, you probably know what I meant).

(Update 07/20/2025) 3 trips this am. Took the same lady (C) from wustl to her apartment at north county (slightly different from her other home). Took another lady (girl) from nearby apartment to the Amazon facility at St. Peters. And last but not least, took a Russian lady (nurse) from St. Peters to the JCC senior living apartment.

(Update 07/20/2025) Two trips this morning. It was raining and the driving conditions were not good. First trip was from the Hilton Frontenac to the Dr. Pepper plant off Page and 170. I was thinking we were going to airport and didn’t pick up the new trip on the way there initially, including an exclusive request. I picked up new trip after I dropped off a passenger, this new trip is from north county to the south city. After that I was a bit tired, and I went to the same bread company the one at Lansdowne and Chippewa. I was happy I drove about 5 miles along Chippewa in south city – my 1st time did something like this.

This post is getting long, and I am thinking start a new post next time I drive for Uber.

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St. Louis has seen a significant decrease in crime, with the first three months of 2025 showing the lowest number of homicides in 20 years, according to the City of St. Louis (.gov). Homicides are down 45%, robberies are down 20%, burglaries are down 33%, and auto thefts are down 39% year-to-date compared to the same period in previous years. However, there was a recent uptick in robberies during a specific week, but investigations led to arrests. The city is actively working to address crime through various strategies, including street intervention and focused deterrence. Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

  • Overall Crime Reduction:In the first three months of 2025, overall crime is down 28% compared to the same period last year and nearly 50% compared to 2023. 
  • Homicide Rate:The city is experiencing the lowest number of year-to-date homicides since 2005. 
  • Robberies:While robberies have seen a recent increase during a specific week, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) is actively investigating and has made arrests related to carjackings. 
  • Property Crime:Property crimes, including burglaries and auto theft, have also seen significant decreases. 
  • Violent Crime:Violent crime in general is down, including rape, aggravated assault, and simple assault. 
  • Targeted Efforts:The City is pursuing a strategy of street intervention, cognitive behavioral theory, and focused deterrence to further reduce crime. 
  • Community Collaboration:The SLMPD, the Circuit Attorney’s Office, the Office of Violence Prevention, and community partners are all working together to build a safer St. Louis. 
  • Public Access to Information:The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department provides crime statistics and a crime map for public access. 

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Saint Louis uber-and-side-hustle

Somewhat unusual Uber pickup experience at STL airport this morning

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When I first started to drive for Uber, and if I drove to the airport, I usually would call the day and turn off the new requests. After a while, I decided to leave the incoming request on (basically I didn’t do anything special), and twice I got a ride right away the the drop off location. Btw, in terminal one where most airlines fly, the ride share pickup location is near door 6 at the upper (departure) level.

This morning I was hoping for similar magic as I was driving my customers for flight. It didn’t happen right away. So I was pulling away before a request coming in – as I was driving I usually cannot see all details for the request. I accepted it. Turns out to be the beginning of a small disaster for me. The rider (customer) did a loop request for Uber (basically the pick up and drop off at the same location). And they didn’t speak English. They come to STL for an adventist world congress. After looping through airport a few times, and also attempt for them to call their son who speaks English, and also attempt to put in the new destination for the ride (was not successful), I finally gave up. I did what the ride request asked, dropped them off at the almost same spot. They did tip me one dollar.

This is one of the strangest Uber ride I did so far.

PS: early morning Uber driving

Since my most recent China trip, I resumed my Uber driving, and I drove almost entirely during early morning hours (after sunrise, in other words, I still don’t drive for Uber when it’s dark outside). I think early morning Uber-ing has a few benefits:

1) Airport rides. This is usually the most safe, and also sometimes people tip (because of luggages). And in rare cases, I got a new Uber ride at the airport (happened to me 3 times total, and with the last one I mentioned above).

2) People go to work or get off work. I have picked up people go to work (or get off work) at nursing home (this is probably the most common). But really I drove for people who works at Walgreens, Starbucks, Dierbergs, warehouse or assembly line, cannabis* store, hospitals, schools, office buildings and hotels. Basically pretty much anywhere you can think of. And this is as safe as airport ride.

*Cannabis: this is the smell I dislike when driving for Uber. I usually was not in a position or really like to tell people not to get on my car.

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Saint Louis uber-and-side-hustle

I want to give money to you rather than giving it to the casino

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Back to Uber Driving

I took a long break and now I am back. I was back driving for Uber on still fairly limited basis, after my CHN trip. And today is Sunday, and I am happy to report I am doing reasonable well this week. The most import thing among it all (in addition to the extra income generated), is to be happy. And I am happy to report that I am happy now.

This morning I have an slightly unusual encounter with a passenger (let me call me S). I picked up the gentleman S in south county near the Mercy South Hospital, and he was using the walker. I assume he is old (meaning old as my dad, who is in early 80s). To be surprise he is only 61 🙁

Alcohol Use Disorder

He told me he left his car at the casino last night, and now he is going back to retrieve his car. The reason he left his car there was he was intoxicated (drunk) last night at the casino. I think he is a person with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Google: what do we call people who failed to quite alcohol

I helped his walker, and he can walk without the walker, although quite slowly. In the end, he gave me $5 tip in cash. We talked a bit during the trip, and I told him if money is tight, don’t worry about the tip. He said: I want give money to you rather than giving it to the casino. He drunk too much last night, lost some money and had to leave his car at the casino parking lot as he was intoxicated. Now he is going back to get his car.

He also told me about “One is too many, twenty is too little” – refer to google search and explanation here (I copied below from the google search => Search Labs | AI Overview):

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The phrase “One is too many, twenty is too little” is a common saying that highlights the nature of addiction, particularly to alcohol. It describes the experience of someone with an addiction where even a single instance of the substance (like alcohol) is considered too much, and yet, no amount of the substance is ever enough to fully satisfy the craving. This phrase captures the idea of a downward spiral associated with addiction, where the individual’s tolerance increases while the satisfaction decreases. Here’s a more detailed explanation: 

  • “One is too many”:This part emphasizes that for someone with a substance use disorder, even a single instance of consuming the substance can trigger a cascade of negative consequences. It suggests that the individual has lost control over their consumption and any amount can lead to problems.
  • “Twenty is too little”:This part highlights the insatiable nature of addiction. The individual may consume a large amount of the substance (20 drinks in this case), yet still feel a void or craving that is not satisfied. The tolerance of the individual has increased, and the substance no longer provides the desired effect.

This phrase is often used to describe addiction to alcohol, but it can be applied to other substances or even behaviors as well. It serves as a stark reminder of the destructive nature of addiction and the importance of seeking help for those struggling with it. 

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Other background with this gentleman

He told me he got accounting degree from the Mizzou (University of Missouri at Columbia). I think it was 1987. He worked and lived at Myrtle Beach SC: I first learned about Myrtle Beach from this video about 6 months ago. He also said he separated from his wife for about 5 years. Looking to quit alcohol, he came back to St. Louis where he attended Hazelwood Central High School. Note St. Louis is a town with less party (or drinking) atmosphere than Myrtle Beach. He also intended to take care of his aging parents in early 90s. But the alcohol issue alone sunk the whole plan 🙁

Picking up my next customer

Next ride is from Holly Hills to Ikea.

I gave $2 during my next trip to a guy who was peddling in a traffic light.

Btw, I saw very impressive buildings at Holly Hills (could be Sisters of St Joseph of Carondelet, could be anything else too), St. Louis between dropping off S and pick up my last passenger this morning.

Uber Rider App

I saw it on the car (the ride I took on 05/31/25 early morning from home to STL airport). And I just did a google search: uber driver provides ipad mini – Google Search 

I am guessing the driver is using this one Interactive tablets for Uber and Lyft drivers – Play Octopus “Drivers qualify for a free Octopus tablet if they are regularly driving rideshare trips. We ask that our drivers average more than 100 trips per month and have driven for at least two months.”

I would not be able to qualify because I drove 204 trips in about 8 months so far.

Drinking cultures in Asia

Recently I talked to a teacher at the Ladue School and we talked about the drinking culture in Japan 🙁

As I recall the drinking culture in China when I grew up was not good – especially if we use today’s social standards or knowledge and science. You can refer to this blog post I wrote in year 2022 – Alcohol. I am happy to report that I did give up hard liquor (whiskey) recently. I still drink a bit beer or wine (both white and red) from time to time 🙁

Bonus readings (ordered chronically)

Drove for Uber the 1st time – 我在美国开优步

More Uber driving and tips I learned

Uber driving tips

More Uber Driving Tips

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uber-and-side-hustle

More Uber Driving Tips

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(Update 03-19-2025) I paused Uber driving for last few days since the power outage as a result of the powerful tornado hit STL on Friday 03/14/25 night. I resumed it today (this morning). And I made a mistake – I turned off the Cellular Data for “Uber Driver” app as a measure to save the cellular data usage. I used up about 5GB one day without realizing it until I already used it – I thought playing from YT Music is not using data – my assumption was not correct – it doesn’t use data only when I played it from “Download” folder on the YT Music app.

The problem this morning is as soon as I drove away, my Uber Driver app stopped working. Eventually I stopped at the Stacy Park, and thought maybe I would just do morning walk. But at that time, I realized my cellular data setting and turn it back on. And I went back to the Uber app (after closing the app and re-open) and the trip was still there. So, I proceeded as usual. The lesson for me is I should not turn it off at the first place.

Also, came across this sad news – Father of Houston rideshare driver speaks out on son’s death during carjacking – FOX 26 Houston via YT.

(Update 03-08-2025) Today I drove a bit on gravel road the 1st time as Uber driver. Note gravel road is not popular in America, but there are still some in rural areas.

Be relaxed

A few things came to my mind. Recently sometimes I don’t want to drive far out of way, and then come back home empty handed. So I screen the ride requests carefully, sometimes I stop the car and wait in the parking lot, and only accept the ride I liked. This morning is a good example, I declined a few ride requests before getting a one at Dobbs tire shop, at Olivette, near where I live. Second trip was driving from near the Dieberg’s at Craig to the La Boone Bouchee at Olive and Tempo Dr. I even got tips from both trips. I was not expecting, but I guess when I am relaxed, customers (passengers) may feel that way too.

So this is about “take it easy”. Not solely chasing for the money – honestly I still feel Uber driving is not an easy way to make money or bring bread home.

Again I do understand I am probably lucky in a way because I am not going to kill myself to make money via driving for Uber. Somedays if I feel not like it, I can just do my other things, such as exercise instead of driving. I think I am going to do that tomorrow morning 🙂

Audio

Also, about audio. I think ideally I want to have one AirPod in my left ear, so that I can listen to the passenger just in case. Because I have a 2012 model car, the build in audio is not that sophisticated, so I just use my iPhone and AirPods.

Uber App Notifications

I realized I don’t need the instant notification. I just need to turn on the notification summary. This way I can save quite a few “surge” notifications during my normal work day.

Cleanliness of the car

I washed my car (2012 Toyota Sienna minivan) as practically as possible. Due to snow and the road salt, the car looks dirty from outside, finally I was able to clean over the weekend, due to the warmer temperature. One thing, I noticed, is unfortunately the faucet for the garden hose was broken during the extreme cold weather, and the ice inside the faucet. I am researching and will hopefully come up with a good fix soon.

I may summarized more and refer to my earlier Uber driving tips.

Categories
401k and Personal Finance uber-and-side-hustle

Turbo Tax Desktop and doing tax for eBay and Uber

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Chinese version (translated by Google) is here: 谷歌翻译的中文版在这里。

Turbo Tax web vs Desktop

I switched from Turbo Tax Web version to Desktop version in last 4 years. The main reason is the latter is cheaper (if we consider both the state and tax). It’s probably $40 to $50 cheaper. Before the switch I used the web version for 20 years. I was happy with the web version for the most part: had one or two minor glitches during 20 years journey. One glitch was on me: it was quite a few years ago, 15 to 20 years ago, when I was working for my 1st employer then. That year I purchased the Turbo Tax state (online version) too, and I also purchased the audit defense. But the stupid program allowed me to put in a negative number for the income in the state tax form, and state rejected the tax filing out of box. It was not too difficult to fix that – zero out the number did the trick if my memory is correct. But after that I decided for the state filing I would just use the online PDF form (with calculation capability), and mail in the tax form to the Jeff City instead.

Also, once I made a bad mistake. I installed the desktop version on my personal laptop MacBook Pro 16 inch Intel. And it crashed on me, and I didn’t have backup copy for the Turbo Tax filing file after filing. I recall from my past experience, Turbo Tax usually started from last year’s return, and at one time I was quite worried. Later luckily I was able to find out the actual e-filing from Uncle Sam’s website. Nowadays I store the Turbo Tax filing file on the cloud – feel a bit safer than my local desktop or laptop 🙂

Last tip for Turbo Tax Web: one can always use it for free (without filing), so for example, if you do it manually (say on paper, or via Excel), you can still use Turbo Tax Web, solely for calculation, comparison or verification purpose.

Retailer (where I buy the Turbo Tax software)

I think I paid about $82 for premier at Amazon.com this year. Today (02-02-2025) I saw Costco U city has $15 instant rebate on the top of that ($82). So next year I may buy from Costco instead of Amazon. For Amazon I download the software from their website: used to be Amazon, this year it’s Intuit the company behind Turbo Tax. I expect buying from Costco will be similar.

Do we want Audit Defense?

I got it last year – and I plan to continue to get it this year.

Some notes for me this year

eBay sent me a 1099-K. New for me this year. I am in the process of itemize the cost. This is more tedious than I thought initially. Here is some guidelines from Turbo Tax, btw. I may end up doing it as business too (see Uber below).

(Update 02-24-2025) I did more reading, mainly from

A Tax Filing Factsheet for eBay Sellers (Turbo Tax) and What to do with Form 1099-K (IRS). I decided to go with the Schedule C route (Below Uber is similar).

In my personal opinion, this approach is better than the other Form 8949 approach as implicitly suggested by the Turbo Tax.

Uber driving is also new to me. didn’t send me 1099-K as I didn’t meet their income threshold of $5,000. I mainly followed this Turbo Tax knowledge article as well the Turbo Tax Desktop Premier for this. I took the mileage standard deduction: used the online miles. And I used the tax summary from Uber (available in the Uber Driver App go to Account => Tax Doc) for the online mileages. Overall I am quite happy with the milage deduction (business expense, schedule C).

Summary for reporting taxes for eBay and Uber: again this is new to me. I learned two things: 1) Schedule C for business expense, reporting etc; 2) Refer to IRS website and their document as needed. In the past I mostly rely on Turbo Tax, or google. This time around I still use google, but Google pointed me to the IRS website. It’s good.

Keep things in perspective on Uber driving: the number one priority is always your (driver) safety, passenger safety and overall happiness. Money or tax saving for that matter, should not be a priority compared to the things I just mentioned. It’s more like icing on the cake. The cake itself better to be good – otherwise say if there are too many lemons among passengers, I will quit. This should be applicable to many things in life too, your day job, your other side gigs, and so on. I know I probably say it from somewhat privileged view point – as I do have some savings that allow to me “don’t have to work” for a while, if needed. Again keep things in perspective, I have worked in the USA for almost 25 years. I am at a stage of winding down my day job (career for some more career minded people, no judgement from yours truly here). At the same time, I am thinking about what I want to do after my retirement from my day job. Hint: I posted some plan here. But again, this is subject to change without any notice – the main stakeholders I need to notify is my wife and kids. I want to make sure they are comfortable, and can still splurge as they choose so.

Stocks: one of my favorite topics :-). For my 2 small regular brokerage accounts anyway: one again I traded too much and don’t have much gain to show for. So that’s my main lesson – I need to stick to the winners and hopefully stay away from the losers all together 🙂 Majority of my money (401k, HSA and 529 plans) are in S&P 500 index funds or equivalent. I do have two IRA accounts too: and I trade stocks there, and I am very pleased to announce that my luck there is better than the “2 small regular brokerage accounts” 🙂

State filing is included in the Turbo Tax desktop. One thing I noticed is 529 plan can save some state income taxes. (02-25-2025) Just realized the e-filing for the state is $25 or $40 extra. I decided to file via paper to save that money. (Update 03-04-2025) I sent the state filing tax via USPS mail. The postage is about $3.43 + printing cost which is about 8 cents x 42 pages = $3.36. Total is about $6.79 which is a bit cheaper than about $20 e-filing via Turbo Tax ($25 plus $5 off offer from couple of my Chase CC).

Some Odds and Ends

Probably more than 20 years ago, I recall my big boss has an Excel spreadsheet for tax filing, and he offered to co-workers. I didn’t take the offer. I think it may be a cheaper and better option, but I already fell into the Turbo Tax rabbit hole.

There is a common American saying: only death and taxes are certain 🙂

Other Choices

FreeTaxUSA.com

HR Block

TaxSlayer

Full Disclosure:

Not tax advice. Please consult a professorial tax advisor (an accountant, or a CPA) as needed.

I don’t receive any compensation from Turbo Tax. And I don’t have Inuit $INTU individual stock right now (02-26-2025). The reason I say individual stock is I do have S&P 500 index fund, and I assume $INTU is in the S&P 500.

(Update 03-04-2025) YT: Mass IRS Layoffs — How It Affects Your Tax Refund & Audits! by ClearValue Tax

(Update 03-05-2025) The Tennessean: 2025 tax season off to slow start amid federal layoffs, hiring freeze. Will refunds be affected? What to know

(Update 03-11-2025) Filed and accepted on Tue, Feb 25 – I just saw refund money hit the bank via DD 🙂 Total is about 2 weeks.