Sergio never kept a mileage log for taxes. He delivers food on weeknights and weekends in Phoenix, Arizona, on top of his day job as a cable installer. Last year the deliveries brought in about $16,800, and he drove roughly 10,000 miles to earn it.

In April he paid tax on almost all of that $16,800. He did not know his business miles could count. His receipts were a pile of faded paper in the car’s cupholder, and he had no record of how far he drove. A coworker asked one simple question: “Did you log your miles?” He had not.

For people who drive for their side hustle, mileage is usually the biggest deduction they have. It is also the one they miss most often, because you cannot add it up at the end of the year. You have to write it down as you go.

Why mileage is the deduction most drivers miss

Most people think of deductions as receipts: things you buy. Driving does not come with a receipt. If you do not record the date, the miles and the reason for each trip, there is nothing to show later. So thousands of delivery and rideshare drivers pay tax on money they actually spent on their car.

Sergio did not want to become an accountant. He wanted a simple system he could keep up in a few minutes a week. So he set up an expense tracking system made for his kind of side hustle before the new tax year got too far.

Five questions, about two minutes

The questions were short. His side hustle: food delivery. Monthly income from it: about $1,400. Where he works: on the road. How he tracks now: random receipts, mostly in the car. Business type: no company, just 1099 income as a sole proprietor.

Reading the categories, Sergio did the math in his head. Ten thousand miles at 72.5 cents is $7,250. That was money he had spent on his car and then paid tax on anyway.

How he set it up, step by step

The hardest part was the first week: remembering the odometer before the first order. After that it became as automatic as checking his phone for orders.

Why this system stuck

Sergio had tried a notes app before and stopped after three days. This time the system was built for delivery work, so every column made sense, and the weekly check took ten minutes, not an evening.

Six months in, his log shows about 5,100 business miles, on track for roughly 10,000 by December. He showed the log to a tax preparer, who said it was exactly the kind of record they like to see. This year, the income he pays tax on will be thousands of dollars lower than last year.

What it costs next to other options

Sergio had already tried doing nothing. Here is how the usual options compare.

“Is this tax advice?” No. It is a tracking system that helps you keep good records. The rules depend on your situation, so confirm the details with a tax professional before you file. Sergio did, and his preparer was happy to work from a clean log instead of a guess. This is US-based guidance, and results vary.

Two more people who started tracking

★★★★★

“I resell clothes from thrift stores and never counted what I paid for them. The system showed me that the cost of my items was the biggest thing I was missing. Now every purchase goes in the table the same day.”

Wanda L. · part-time reseller, Mobile AL

★★★★★

“I do weekend handyman jobs and my receipts lived in my truck. The photo-within-24-hours rule changed everything. My tax appointment took 30 minutes instead of a whole afternoon.”

Doug P. · weekend handyman, Fargo ND

If your side hustle income goes up and down every month, the Irregular Income Budget Plan helps you plan around it. Results vary, and this is not personalized tax advice.

Sergio did not need to earn more. He needed to stop paying tax on money he had already spent driving. A simple mileage log, a receipt folder and ten minutes every Friday made that happen.

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*Individual results may vary.