Side Gigs/Work from home

[S13SilviaGirl]

What do you all do?

I would love to freelance write, but...I have never written for any publications before. I am old and have nothing better to do lol.

[mando240]

Multi Air bnb host and Regional Compliance manager.

On my spare time, I break cars apparently. On here looking for parts. lol

[KA24DESOneThree]

I make a few hundred bucks here and there buying stuff at antique stores and reselling it but I don't go to antique stores for the purpose of reselling, I go to them for the purpose of furnishing my home office with more mid-century stuff.

Had a side hustle that did $125k in sales in 2019 but didn't pocket a dime. 2020 was on track to switch to third-party distribution and increase sales but COVID killed the biz- if only we'd re-upped inventory...

[mando240]

Originally Posted by KA24DESOneThree

I make a few hundred bucks here and there buying stuff at antique stores and reselling it but I don't go to antique stores for the purpose of reselling, I go to them for the purpose of furnishing my home office with more mid-century stuff.

Had a side hustle that did $125k in sales in 2019 but didn't pocket a dime. 2020 was on track to switch to third-party distribution and increase sales but COVID killed the biz- if only we'd re-upped inventory...

I do this almost every sat morning (garage sales, estate sales, and antique stores). likewise, for the purpose of furnishing my home but time to time I sell off things I replace. It's a nice hobby to have.

[S13SilviaGirl]

Originally Posted by KA24DESOneThree

I make a few hundred bucks here and there buying stuff at antique stores and reselling it but I don't go to antique stores for the purpose of reselling, I go to them for the purpose of furnishing my home office with more mid-century stuff.

Had a side hustle that did $125k in sales in 2019 but didn't pocket a dime. 2020 was on track to switch to third-party distribution and increase sales but COVID killed the biz- if only we'd re-upped inventory...

I usually try and keep a good eye out for things to resell....I just suck at resale lol.

Orrrr I find something to resell and then sit on it because "it was a good deal" and that is now how I own 13? saddles.....


We probably should have kept all the s chassis stuff and wheels....I would be hella rich now lol

[deolio]

Originally Posted by KA24DESOneThree

I make a few hundred bucks here and there buying stuff at antique stores and reselling it but I don't go to antique stores for the purpose of reselling, I go to them for the purpose of furnishing my home office with more mid-century stuff.

I kinda do this with car stuff.

Find something I like for a good price -> put it on the car -> sell if I don't like it/can't see myself ever using it. I usually end up hanging onto stuff, but sell just enough for the cycle to sustain itself haha

I've been slowly developing (*cough* OVERTHINKING) a side business idea for the last 3 years and feel like it's finally ready for the next stage. I just wanna launch it already!

[KA24DESOneThree]

I tried that.

It's part of the reason why I was happy to buy a house with an 825 sq ft shop and a shipping container on the property- I never want to sell anything. I sold my track car's dual projectors and immediately wanted to kick myself in the nuts. I have NOS Silvia fenders and an aero bumper for a car that doesn't exist. I have two engines for my E30 project.

Whatever you're working on, make sure it is either profitable as a side hustle or can be scaled rapidly to replace your main income. My brother and I were pulling 13-14 hour days during the week and 7-10 hour days on the weekend to fulfill orders, answer questions, and increase our social media presence and market penetration but our cash burn was such that we couldn't pay ourselves and neither one of us had the savings to quit our job.

[deolio]

Originally Posted by KA24DESOneThree

It's part of the reason why I was happy to buy a house with an 825 sq ft shop and a shipping container on the property- I never want to sell anything. I sold my track car's dual projectors and immediately wanted to kick myself in the nuts. I have NOS Silvia fenders and an aero bumper for a car that doesn't exist. I have two engines for my E30 project.

It's funny how those little things you hang onto can end up being useful down the road though. The quick release, valances, and one fender on my car now sat on a shelf for a good 8-10 years before seeing the light of day once again haha

Originally Posted by KA24DESOneThree

Whatever you're working on, make sure it is either profitable as a side hustle or can be scaled rapidly to replace your main income. My brother and I were pulling 13-14 hour days during the week and 7-10 hour days on the weekend to fulfill orders, answer questions, and increase our social media presence and market penetration but our cash burn was such that we couldn't pay ourselves and neither one of us had the savings to quit our job.

Oouf. I've been there. I've been involved with a few eCommerce stores over the years and it's always been a struggle to sustain/scale, especially with Amazon/China ripping off designs... Luckily I can automate 75% of the new project, there's no physical product, and overhead is next to nothing.

[mav1178]

I think remote work is still viable but a lot of it depends on what you are comfortable with for compensation or what types of work you are willing to do.

I'm back in the tech industry and plenty of companies still have WFH. But a large part of that is dependent on the team manager or type of business, and whether it's labor intensive or more service-oriented.

$15/hr in CA vs ID are wildly different things also.

[Kingtal0n]

Everytime they make a new law, they make a new business

[Corbic]

[AKADriver]

Originally Posted by mav1178

I think remote work is still viable but a lot of it depends on what you are comfortable with for compensation or what types of work you are willing to do.

I'm back in the tech industry and plenty of companies still have WFH. But a large part of that is dependent on the team manager or type of business, and whether it's labor intensive or more service-oriented.

$15/hr in CA vs ID are wildly different things also.

I'm about 80/20 working from home/office these days but I need to be in enough that even if I wanted to I couldn't really practically take my Northern Virginia income to the boonies and live like a king. That seems to be the norm in tech these days, though I've read about people who work in SV full remote moving to relatively low COL places like... Portugal.

[S13SilviaGirl]

Originally Posted by Corbic

I be feeling like this lately lol

Originally Posted by AKADriver

I'm about 80/20 working from home/office these days but I need to be in enough that even if I wanted to I couldn't really practically take my Northern Virginia income to the boonies and live like a king. That seems to be the norm in tech these days, though I've read about people who work in SV full remote moving to relatively low COL places like... Portugal.

I would absolutely leave the US in a heartbeat, but I own too much shit and animals...storage would kill me lol

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by S13SilviaGirl

I would absolutely leave the US in a heartbeat, but I own too much shit and animals...storage would kill me lol

And go where. Covid basically proved we got brown grass the the rest of the world is either mud or sand.

[tuzzio]

Buy / sell / trade pitbike/dirtbike(s) and parts and the occasional vehicle.

[S13SilviaGirl]

Originally Posted by Corbic

And go where. Covid basically proved we got brown grass the the rest of the world is either mud or sand.

Pretty much anywhere, but preferably back to Japan (I am aware of their status/ect right now and would still leave the US).

Originally Posted by tuzzio

Buy / sell / trade pitbike/dirtbike(s) and parts and the occasional vehicle.

If I knew more about them (bikes) that would be fun. I feel old, been collecting antique cast iron lately But I found one for $6 the other day worth like $200....but getting someone to buy at that price is the issue lol

[tuzzio]

Originally Posted by S13SilviaGirl

If I knew more about them (bikes) that would be fun.

Its a good time. I race in a series called Masters of Mini. its a real hoot. I'm happy I got into these money pits when I was 15-16. A lot of the companies have disappeared, but the parts still exist. It's like old JDM stufff...if you you know what you're looking for, it can be gold.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by S13SilviaGirl

I would absolutely leave the US in a heartbeat, but I own too much shit and animals...storage would kill me lol

I've thought about moving out of the US and moving "home", but there's also some other, very real roadblocks.

Like whatever I make overseas is still subject to US taxation, so it would almost not be worth it.

Originally Posted by Corbic

And go where. Covid basically proved we got brown grass the the rest of the world is either mud or sand.

all depends on what the person or family wants.

there are plenty of things that are available in other countries that the US severely lacks, even if you take the best of every state and merge it into a "super state"

things like:
actual usable, decent public transportation
universal health insurance
low/free cost higher education

beyond that, there's no perfect place, it's just a set of principles or circumstances that will be a best fit for each person.

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by mav1178

things like:
actual usable, decent public transportation
universal health insurance
low/free cost higher education

Ya'll need to spend a few years in Europe and actually experience their "universal health insurance".

Jesus H Christ.

I love my wife's comments all the time - "If they are so worried about health care costs, they why are they all fat. They should take better care of themselves before expecting me to take care of them"

As for education, the correct answer is to end higher education as an institution and rethink how people are trained to perform higher level functions. The US Academic system is truly organized crime. Simply making it "free" won't fix any of the problems. That's like chugging whiskey when you cut your palm open on a rusty knife.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by Corbic

Ya'll need to spend a few years in Europe and actually experience their "universal health insurance".

Jesus H Christ.

I love my wife's comments all the time - "If they are so worried about health care costs, they why are they all fat. They should take better care of themselves before expecting me to take care of them"

As for education, the correct answer is to end higher education as an institution and rethink how people are trained to perform higher level functions. The US Academic system is truly organized crime. Simply making it "free" won't fix any of the problems. That's like chugging whiskey when you cut your palm open on a rusty knife.

you should spend a few years not in the US/Europe and actually experience GOOD healthcare/health insurance.

As for higher education, I use the cost as a starting point. plenty of other education systems are just as bad K-12 but there is more of an emphasis on technical skill/engineering degrees at a substantially lower cost basis for undergraduate degrees.

but yes, you're correct and I'm wrong.

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by mav1178

you should spend a few years not in the US/Europe and actually experience GOOD healthcare/health insurance.

Funny. I grew up in Europe, direct personal experience with Norwegian, Danish, British and Italian health care. My company is also an international powerhouse and I work daily with my teams in France, Czech Republics and England.

My wife is also European - as in born, raise and spent 27 years living there as with all her family.

Nothing like a 3 month waiting list for an MRI. She was shocked when we went to the doctor- she needed a CT scan and it wasn't "oh, lets schedule you". Nope, just roll you down the hall.

Close family friend in Norway died at 27 from a curable form of stomach cancer because she kept getting a run around with their system. Typically "Oh, you're just having leg cramps and weight loss because you are a marathon runner, drink more water." Hair falling out? Oh, have some vitamins. Finally her husband saved up to see a specialist in Germany - cash out of pocket - who was like "if you saw me a year ago we could have done something". She went back to Norway and they put her on their equivalent of Norwegian Hospice.

Had she been in America, she'd likely still have received a half-million in treatment despite the low probability of recovery - rather then just being triaged for lowest fucking cost vs. benefit care.

There is a reason wealthy Europeans don't use their Government "free" systems but pay out of pocket for procedures in Israel, Switzerland and the US.

Coworker went to Hong Kong for eye surgery because of the wait list. It was worth it to her to pay ~$7k to just get it fixed and not worry about further degradation to save a buck.

[/QUOTE]

Originally Posted by mav1178

As for higher education, I use the cost as a starting point. plenty of other education systems are just as bad K-12 but there is more of an emphasis on technical skill/engineering degrees at a substantially lower cost basis for undergraduate degrees.

but yes, you're correct and I'm wrong.

Education isn't just a cost. The entire system needs to be completely redone.

Example, in Norway, we didn't do sports, band, etc in school or for school. It was all detached clubs. There was a much larger emphasis on culture, geography and history. Shocking Meme- American's don't know Geography or who Peter the Great is - but we all know Babe Ruth and Rudy!

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by Corbic

Funny. I grew up in Europe, direct personal experience with Norwegian, Danish, British and Italian health care. My company is also an international powerhouse and I work daily with my teams in France, Czech Republics and England.

I specifically mentioned "NOT in the US/Europe" for a reason...

there are other countries not affiliated with the West that has great healthcare.

As for education it's not just a cost, but often times it ends up being the primary barrier to success in the US.

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by mav1178

I specifically mentioned "NOT in the US/Europe" for a reason...

there are other countries not affiliated with the West that has great healthcare.

As for education it's not just a cost, but often times it ends up being the primary barrier to success in the US.

Well please list all these countries.

Australia and Canada use the same European system.

This leaves us with the Middle East, India, Africa and South America - Nope.

Oh, ASIA!!

JAPANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!

China? I mean, I guess you can get Kidneys and Livers for STUPID cheap, right?!

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by Corbic

Well please list all these countries.

Australia and Canada use the same European system.

This leaves us with the Middle East, India, Africa and South America - Nope.

Oh, ASIA!!

JAPANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!

China? I mean, I guess you can get Kidneys and Livers for STUPID cheap, right?!

South Korea
Taiwan
Singapore

places that have great health care and low cost.

Taiwan especially, the out of pocket costs are cheap, even the cost of doing an MRI on your own is a miniscule percentage of your income versus in US/Europe.

[AKADriver]

Originally Posted by mav1178

South Korea
Taiwan
Singapore

places that have great health care and low cost.

Taiwan especially, the out of pocket costs are cheap, even the cost of doing an MRI on your own is a miniscule percentage of your income versus in US/Europe.

My FIL went back to Korea to get his lymphoma treated for that reason. The care was more 'bare bones' and assembly-line like by US standards but every bit as effective and far less expensive even having to pay more OOP because he hadn't paid into the system in decades. This kind of medicine in the US suffers from the same problems that Corbic sees in education - when costs are covered by expensive insurance policies, just like colleges are paid for by jumbo student loans, they're incentivized to make care more expensive and luxurious and push for more and more-expensive testing because this boosts profit, but it doesn't improve health!

Now, of course those places have other problems, back to the point of the thread there's no way in hell I'd want to work for a Korean company. But I could definitely see myself retiring there if I could subsist on my savings from working in the US and perhaps remote side work.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by AKADriver

My FIL went back to Korea to get his lymphoma treated for that reason. The care was more 'bare bones' and assembly-line like by US standards but every bit as effective and far less expensive even having to pay more OOP because he hadn't paid into the system in decades. This kind of medicine in the US suffers from the same problems that Corbic sees in education - when costs are covered by expensive insurance policies, just like colleges are paid for by jumbo student loans, they're incentivized to make care more expensive and luxurious and push for more and more-expensive testing because this boosts profit, but it doesn't improve health!

Exactly this.

My issue is with how the system is structured cost-wise in the US. There is very little incentive to do things that go beyond your sources of funding... so if the state government tells you to teach a certain way, you teach that way or you lose money.

Same with medical, the hospitals keep saying "oh this is how our pricing is built into our system"... so why is it so stupid?

Even car parts is almost in the same realm. The concept of a 30-50% markup from cost was actually something that Japanese companies did when they first entered the US market 20+ years ago, believe it or not. Like if you are a Greddy WD, your cost is somewhere around 35-40% off MSRP and a regular dealer buying from a middle man pays 25% or so off MSRP.

Japan domestic dealers doesn't have this type of markup, at least not on that scale... they value direct dealers more, so there is no incentive to lower the price artificially (from MSRP) to sell more volume.

[Kingtal0n]

I've got no idea whats going on in the discussion but the comment about college caught my eye, I just want to say that you can work as a TA and get a tuition waiver to goto school, I did my entire MS PHD using TA/RA waiver, it pays you a salary and pays the school fees, you basically get a degree for free and get paid to teach in the process. Just want to point that out for anybody considering college and afraid of the cost. I never had to pay a dime, I'm debt free no student loans and a phd escalates into a post doc which pays even more and you get to work at your own pace, its not a huge pay but the freedom is great.

Side gigs... its not super easy to learn to tune cars well but its definitely a steady source once people know about you.
Cut trees, spread mulch, lawn stuff anybody can do it and it keeps you healthy and works your immune system out.
Flip cars seems very easy, I accidentally flipped a bunch of cars just looking for the right car, made thousands by accident.
Sell collectibles on ebay. My favorite is trading cards, they take up very little space, a small binder can hold 15k of cards.
write small software applications people find useful they will send donations.
Make useful youtube content for channel members and donations.
If you are a mechanically inclined another good one is hit the junkyard and pull small parts from cars that are easy to sell, windows switches and relay panels and such are profitable. I like small things that don't take up much space.
Learn to program microcontrollers and design small useful circuits. I'm working on a crankcase pressure monitoring system you can DIY or buy completely made. Also a fan controller design.

main idea is have multiple sources of income, and that nobody gets rich from working, money is best made in your sleep

[AKADriver]

With car stuff it's all about having deep knowledge. It's gotten harder to make money hitting junkyards though - their prices have gone up and a lot more people know how to buy and sell stuff online so the really high margin parts are always gone before you get there.

For that matter the junkyard I go to has gotten smart, if they get something in like a Miata, 240, 4Runner, it goes right to the "reserved" lot where you can only request specific parts, you can't just go buckwild pulling everything of value. I saw a post recently on one of the FB groups where someone who works for a junkyard documented an S13 hitting the lot, people know it was coming, when the yard opened it was like piranhas skeletonizing a cow, haha.

[brndck]

Originally Posted by AKADriver

With car stuff it's all about having deep knowledge. It's gotten harder to make money hitting junkyards though - their prices have gone up and a lot more people know how to buy and sell stuff online so the really high margin parts are always gone before you get there.

For that matter the junkyard I go to has gotten smart, if they get something in like a Miata, 240, 4Runner, it goes right to the "reserved" lot where you can only request specific parts, you can't just go buckwild pulling everything of value. I saw a post recently on one of the FB groups where someone who works for a junkyard documented an S13 hitting the lot, people know it was coming, when the yard opened it was like piranhas skeletonizing a cow, haha.

similar here. there was a z32 that hit the wilmington yard last week. had a twinz rear bumper and greddy front bumper, momo steering wheel, aftermarket radiator, obv z brakes, isis arms. Went "live" at 8am (photos updated on the website) and i went on my lunch break, 2 dudes were already balls deep taking everything of value off it. i didn't get shit, but i did get a breedoh from the lunch truck.

[brndck]

Originally Posted by deolio

I've been slowly developing (*cough* OVERTHINKING) a side business idea for the last 3 years and feel like it's finally ready for the next stage. I just wanna launch it already!

max no one wants to buy NFTs of your butthole.