What would you do to bring in $3K / month?

Question

We're out of debt (including paid off house). But not quite old enough to draw Social Security. I looked for a tech job for the first half of this year without any luck and I'm really tired of the whole tech interview process so now I'm starting to wonder about other ways of bringing in money. As we have no debt it's not like we need a huge amount of money - $3k/month would do it. Looking for ideas.

dkqmduems · Accepted Answer

Grad student?

MuffinFlavored · Answer

> $3k/month would do it.$3k/month, after taxes?> I looked for a tech job for the first half of this year without any luck and I'm really tired of the whole tech interview process so now I'm starting to wonder about other ways of bringing in money.I'm not sure if I'd ask this general advice question here. This isn't Reddit. HN is basically a "tech" board. Nothing says it needs to be exclusively that but I'd be surprised if you get good general answers from non-tech people.Go wait tables? Go get a job that pays $3k/mo net?"What would you do to bring in $3k/mo?"I'd work. It isn't realistic/easy to snap your fingers and find an unturned corner in the market where you can just "start a business". You aren't going to Etsy jewelry/sell t-shirts/think of an app nobody else has/start a YouTube channel/Twitch stream/daytrade your way to $3k/mo net of taxes easily.

bityard · Answer

Have you tapped into your network? If you're in tech and "not quite old enough" for Social Security, then I assume you are in the middle to later stages of your career, which means you ought to have plenty of former co-workers and managers you could contact to see if they need someone or know of a team looking for help.I would also look into contracting, freelance, or consulting work. It's not as easy as just going to work for someone, because you essentially have to set up a whole business around your work, which means you need tax planning, accounting, etc. However, right now most of the open jobs I see in my line of work are contracts or contract-to-hire. If you can stay organized and have excellent communication skills, running your own show can be a great way to go.

TiredGuy · Answer

You could use your tech skills to do some freelancing a la Upwork, Fiverr, etc.
You could look on Cofounderslab for someone looking for a tech cofounder and start a business together.
You could go into one of the in-demand job fields such as construction or truck driving.

reacharavindh · Answer

It would help when asking such a question to list what you can or are skilled to do?Perhaps if you listed those, your question would be answered already or lead to a different question altogether&hellip;

Archelaos · Answer

[delayed]

warrenm · Answer

$3k per month (post tax) is in the ballpark of $60k per year
If you're talking $3k/mo pre-tax, that's in the neighborhood of $18.75/hr
If you're "not quite old enough to draw Social Security", surely you know how to find a job ...no? You must have had one at some point - and loads of places all over are hiring all the time :)

turtlebits · Answer

If you're not willing to find a non-tech job, freelance.If you're handy with home repairs/improvement, it's pretty easy to make money on the side, however 3k/month right off the bat sounds like a full time job.

nickelcitymario · Answer

Freelance doing something (development, design, copywriting, etc) that I can charge at least $75/hour for. If you only need $3k per month, you only need to sell 2 hours a day (Mon-Fri).
$3000 a month
= $750 per week
= $150 per day
= 2 hours per day (or a single 10 hour day per week) @ $75/hour.
As a bonus, $75/hour isn't particularly high for many fields.

Jemaclus · Answer

This is probably not the answer you're looking for, but you might consider buying an existing business and doing that. You could check Loopnet for some ideas.
For example, in the Denver area (just to pick a random place), there's a laundromat for sale for ~260K, with gross revenue of 214K and an EBITDA of 120K, which would certainly satisfy your 3K/mo revenue requirements. Link here: https://www.loopnet.com/biz/Business-Opportunity/under-contr...
I'm not a laundromat owner, though I know a few of them, and they aren't 40 hour/week jobs. It's not totally risk free, but it's not a terrible job.
Consider opening a Crossfit Gym: https://www.loopnet.com/biz/Business-Opportunity/established...
Or a Dog Kennel/Spa: https://www.loopnet.com/biz/Business-Opportunity/successful-...
I think a lot of us think that tech is the only or best way to make a bunch of money, but Hacker News is also a place of bustling entrepreneurship and starting your own business doesn't have to mean starting a SaaS company. You could write your own pet kennel reservation software, for example, and then dogfood it (ha!) until you feel comfortable spinning it out into software that can be sold to other pet kennels around the country/world.
I have no idea if this is useful to you, but I think it's a fun idea. I'm considering doing something similar to this myself, when my current job ends.
Good luck!

What would you do to bring in $3K / month?

Grad student?

You could use your tech skills to do some freelancing a la Upwork, Fiverr, etc.
You could look on Cofounderslab for someone looking for a tech cofounder and start a business together.
You could go into one of the in-demand job fields such as construction or truck driving.

It would help when asking such a question to list what you can or are skilled to do?
Perhaps if you listed those, your question would be answered already or lead to a different question altogether…

[delayed]

If you're not willing to find a non-tech job, freelance.
If you're handy with home repairs/improvement, it's pretty easy to make money on the side, however 3k/month right off the bat sounds like a full time job.

What would you do to bring in $3K / month?

Grad student?

You could use your tech skills to do some freelancing a la Upwork, Fiverr, etc.You could look on Cofounderslab for someone looking for a tech cofounder and start a business together.You could go into one of the in-demand job fields such as construction or truck driving.

It would help when asking such a question to list what you can or are skilled to do?Perhaps if you listed those, your question would be answered already or lead to a different question altogether…

[delayed]

If you're not willing to find a non-tech job, freelance.If you're handy with home repairs/improvement, it's pretty easy to make money on the side, however 3k/month right off the bat sounds like a full time job.

You could use your tech skills to do some freelancing a la Upwork, Fiverr, etc.
You could look on Cofounderslab for someone looking for a tech cofounder and start a business together.
You could go into one of the in-demand job fields such as construction or truck driving.

It would help when asking such a question to list what you can or are skilled to do?
Perhaps if you listed those, your question would be answered already or lead to a different question altogether…

If you're not willing to find a non-tech job, freelance.
If you're handy with home repairs/improvement, it's pretty easy to make money on the side, however 3k/month right off the bat sounds like a full time job.