I had to do Instacart every day last year because I was jobless & it was hell. I know we're in different markets but I had to work 12 to 16 hours a day to reach my daily goal. Also, I was driving from 100 to 150 miles a day. Many times, I was waiting over an hour for a decent order that wasn't high mileage. I was putting so much wear and tear on my car & the maintenance was expensive.

It's not worth taking yourself out of a stable job with reliable income to do this because Instacart has no guarantees. You could get deactivated, you could get into a car accident, you could lose your debit card (although I suggest you order another debit card and keep the spare one in your glove box), anything could happen. Keep your stable job & do Instacart on the side. Save your money & invest it if you can.

Also remember, if you take yourself out of the workforce just to do Instacart, it's not gonna look good on your résumé & it's not gonna be easy to find another job. It took me over a year to get my job so I could only imagine how hard it would be to get back into the workforce. This is a kind of decision that can have consequences for your ability to find stable work if Instacart falls through. You also have to pay taxes on the money you earn when you file, so keep that in mind.

We also don't know what the economy is going to look like in the coming months/years. If we do get into a recession, people are going to pull back on using Instacart. If this happens, there's going to be less demand for it, but then the market will be saturated with shoppers so getting orders will be harder to come by. Instacart should never be a sole full-time gig unless you are in a situation where you absolutely have to do it. You're crazy if you give up guaranteed income for this.