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When you think of a newspaper delivery gig, you probably think of a kid riding his bike, tossing papers on people’s front porches. I’m not going to lie, that’s what I always thought of when it came to delivering papers.
Yet, as I researched different ways to make extra money, the newspaper delivery gig often came up. I honestly didn’t think much of the gig, as it seemed to be something for kids and likely to not be worth the effort.
Then, one day a flyer appeared in our local paper with an advertisement looking for someone to deliver to homes on our street. The starting pay was about 20 cents per paper, but since I figured, why not?
And am I glad that I did!
What’s Involved with Delivering Papers
Now, it’s not quite as simple as putting papers at houses each week.
Instead, the papers arrive in stacks. The company we deliver for offers drop off of the stacks, or a $5 bonus for picking up each route at the paper depot. When we first started and only did about 77 houses, we would pick up the papers. Four years later and about 300 houses, we now have them delivered instead.
Once the papers arrive, they need to be packed.
This is simply taking one insert from each bundle and wrapping them together, then securing them with elastics or little baggies.
Once the papers have been bundled, then they are ready to be delivered!
You will receive direct instruction on how to deliver the papers, with direct instruction about your city’s bylaws. In our city, we are not allowed to leave papers anywhere but people’s porches. This means each house takes a few extra seconds, since we can’t just toss them at the end of the driveway.
How Much Does Delivering Papers Make?
The amount that you earn will depend on the company you are delivering for, the amount of houses you are delivering to and if any bonus materials have been added.
When we initially started back in 2015, we delivered:
77 papers on our street – each one paying 20 cents = $15.40
We get an extra $5 for picking the papers up at the depot = $5
= $20.40 a week for about 40 minutes of work
Now
It took about 20 minutes to bundle the papers and about 20 minutes to deliver them (except when our little would help out, then it took a little longer).
Now that we deliver about 300 each week, it takes us about 2.5 -3 hours to wrap and deliver. Since we have been reliable and loyal deliverers for the past 4 years, we have also received some extra bonuses, and our pay is usually at least $350/month.
We spend 10 -15 hours a month delivering the papers and get paid $350 a month = $23-$30/hour
This definitely makes for some nice bonus cash each month.
Other Benefits
1. Family time – My kids absolutely love paper day! When my oldest was 2 years old, he absolutely LOVED helping deliver papers! When the weather permitted, he would walk along with us and run to put papers on people’s porches – much to his and our neighbour’s delight! Granted, days that he ‘helped’ took twice as long to deliver, but well worth it for the joy it brought him and for an extra activity that actually makes us money!
Now that we have more kids and he is older, he still loves helping us wrap the papers, and delivering them to a few houses. Since we have so many papers, we now stack up the car, which gives the kids and I a great time to chat, look at seasonal decorations and sing together!
2. Bonuses – Fairly often there are extra items to be added to the delivery. Sometimes they are door hangers, sometimes extra flyers, sometimes catalogues and for each one, there is an added bonus for delivering them (usually about 10 cents a piece).
3. Coupons – We deliver the weekly flyer inserts, which means we also deliver the coupon inserts when they are released. This is a super bonus for this coupon addict, as there are always extras and I get to keep them! Double bonus when the extra delivery items have coupons and there are left overs – since this means more for me! (Please note, I only take the extras and do not take inserts from our neighbours – that’s just not cool).
4. Fitness – Packing 300 papers and delivering them takes quite a bit of physical effort! My husband and I divide up the time, which gives us both chances to squeeze in an nontraditional workout once a week!
Final Thoughts
We never expected this little side gig to evolve the way it did over the years. Initially, it was just something we started one summer to get outside more and make a bit of extra cash. However, overtime it has evolved into a reliable bonus each month and part of our weekly routine.
It’s not a lot, but it’s definitely one of the higher paying (when you break it down by hour) gigs you can do from home!
If you’re interested in flyer delivery, a quick kijiji search will likely bring you many leads. Also watch your weekly circulars as an opportunity may appear there (like it did for us)!
Check out our extra cash feed for more ideas for making extra money!
