During my unemployment and before receiving unemployment benefits, I used my free time to make extra money. I signed up for Lyft, Rover and Instacart and decided to write my thoughts about each, in case you've considered doing this yourself. 

At first, I was so nervous about being a Lyft driver. Nervous about getting lost, nervous about talking too little, nervous about talking too much, nervous about the a/c, nervous about my car being clean enough, nervous nervous nervous. But as soon as the person(s) get in your car, it's all good. People tend to be very understanding and those who want to talk, will keep the conversation going. I also like that Lyft has Power Zones during certain hours so that you can make more money. 

The Rover app is for dog sitting, boarding, and walking. I was interested in signing up because I love dogs and thought it would be great to make extra money caring for them. At first, I only signed up to be a dog walker and to check on dogs throughout the day, but I got no requests. So, I added the dog boarding service to my profile and soon after, got a request to board a dog for 4 nights. The owner said she was easy to take care of, so I accepted. 'Twas not as wonderful as I expected -- sadly. The dog was super cute and friendly but having two dogs in one small studio apartment isn't ideal. They fought over toys and the visiting dog would try and hump mine to show her who's boss. It was exhausting. Oh, and she peed several times inside and would never sleep through the night if she was crated. Meaning, I'd wake up to puddles of pee. I hate to say this, but I was glad when she left. Later, I did check-ins with 2 easy-going dogs less than 2 miles away from me. I liked this much better! All I had to do was show up 3 times a day to walk them and make sure they had enough food and water. Plus, I made more than double the $!  As far as the pay, you get to set up your own rates and it's pretty good money it's just not a steady income.

I've only shopped for Instacart thrice and I've been frustrated 2 of those times. A little training would've been nice but noooo. The first time, I shopped around (not knowing what/where many of the items were) and only after I put everything in the cart did I realize I was supposed to scan the bar code of every item BEFORE I placed it in the cart. I stood in the middle of the meat section moving all of the groceries around so I could scan it all. What a nightmare. And then I encountered tech problems so I had to get sassy with the support team. The second time, I got a request to deliver 4 separate orders. You try pushing 3 overflowing shopping carts to your car on a humid Houston afternoon and making them fit in your car without mixing orders. Needless to say, that TOO was a nightmare. Oh, and you don't get paid all that well ... i'm talking less than $20 sometimes, so it's pretty lame.

In conclusion, Lyft is my favorite extra money maker app. I've been asked why I don't sign up for Uber too but I think that would be too much for me. 

If you have any questions or tips regarding these apps, please put 'em in the comments :)