Author Topic: Earning side income  (Read 13770 times)

SpendyMcSpend

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Earning side income
« on: May 31, 2012, 02:46:10 PM »
I just finished my MBA in Accounting and I want to make some side income while I still have about 7 months before my next new job starts.  I have a job right now that brings in about $4000 a month.  I make about $60 per overtime hour but I'm really tired of being at work so I want to make money doing something else.

Things that might generate extra income for me:
Writing romance novels or stories
Ebay sales
Cocktail waitressing
Doing people's taxes next year
Selling recently used textbooks

What kinds of things should I learn that might generate me some extra income?  I am willing to learn anything.

AJ

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2012, 02:52:22 PM »
Newspaper route, donating plasma, web site design, babysitting, lawn-mowing...

KittyWrestler

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #2 on: May 31, 2012, 02:57:54 PM »
when I took a year off from corporation, I started an eBay store. It's not easy money. I worked 16 hours a day for 2 months and put a store together. I pulled in $30K net profit the first 10 months before I handed it over to someone else to manage.. My work hours were about 4 hours a day after the store was launched. Not a really enjoyable job though cuz you had to deal with rude customers all the time.. Those 5% bad apple customers just wreck your day! So I handed it over to someone else to manage after I went back to corporation.

SpendyMcSpend

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2012, 03:10:11 PM »
Maybe I will start reading palms

missmadhatter

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #4 on: June 03, 2012, 07:16:22 AM »
You could be a tutor. (Well, I know it's summer now, but maybe next school year. Or you could work with kids who are in summer school.) Many parents are willing to pay big bucks for tutors, to help their kids into the AP track or whatever. I teach private instrument lessons, it's as easy as just putting an ad up on Craigslist. Then once you've got a student or two, you can get more by word of mouth.

kudy

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #5 on: June 03, 2012, 10:17:45 AM »
If you have a knack for writing romance, I say give that a shot :) Creativity that leads to money? Awesome.

Lars

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #6 on: June 03, 2012, 11:38:08 AM »
I'd recommend either

1) Practice what you plan to do when you reach FI or ER for side income/variety. You get a little taste of FI experience and discover if those ideas are enjoyable.

2) Leverage your existing work related skills. Odds are those jobs will pay you much more per hour and you have the connections to get these off the ground much easier. One of my friends with a BA in accounting does side work for small businesses (<10 employees) and has as much work as he's interested in.

Personally my side job is half way between 1 and 2.

Grigory

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #7 on: June 08, 2012, 01:28:33 AM »
How much time are you willing to put into your new streams of income, and how much income are you looking for? The time/profit ratio is different for each of the ideas in this thread. For example, selling plasma will take at least 2-3 hours, and you probably won't make more than $30 from it. Selling used textbooks is a great idea, assuming you can find them cheap and unload them fast, before a new edition comes out.

Personally, I kind of like the story-writing approach: once you write a book, start selling it on Kindle/Nook and get some good reviews, you'll have yourself a nice stream of passive income. Basically, you'll be getting paid each month for something you created ages ago. ;) There's no guarantee that you'll become a top-selling author and make thousands off your writing, but it's worth a shot.

KittyWrestler

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #8 on: June 08, 2012, 01:07:16 PM »

Personally, I kind of like the story-writing approach: once you write a book, start selling it on Kindle/Nook and get some good reviews, you'll have yourself a nice stream of passive income. Basically, you'll be getting paid each month for something you created ages ago. ;) There's no guarantee that you'll become a top-selling author and make thousands off your writing, but it's worth a shot.

Making money through leveraging content is definitely a very efficient way. It is relatively cheap to produce with the ebook version, you have many large platforms to distribute your contents to end users and you benefit from the work for a long time... Wish I have the talent to write a book.. it's a great way to try it out especially you enjoy doing it.

catalana

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #9 on: June 08, 2012, 01:51:09 PM »
If you are planning to use your MBA either now, or in the future, why not do something related to that?

Any skills you develop now will come in useful in your career.  You could look at online job sites and build your profile and experience in a particular area (e.g. Excel, VBA, forecasting, business plan writing)

vwDavid

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #10 on: June 11, 2012, 10:00:20 AM »
face puncher...

GW

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #11 on: June 11, 2012, 10:03:51 AM »
Writing romance is a blast (I write romance and women's fiction), but I don't recommend viewing it as an easy money-making venture. Believe me, it isn't.
« Last Edit: June 11, 2012, 10:06:57 AM by GW »

James

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #12 on: June 11, 2012, 10:51:04 AM »
If you don't volunteer now, I suggest trying that with some of the extra time.  Tutor for free, join the board of a local non-profit doing something you believe in (they would love the MBA aspect), help build a house for Habitat, whatever.  You will probably enjoy the connections that brings, and it may lead to work you can do for profit.  Either way, I don't think you will regret giving back.


If you already do things like that, I'd probably look at something you would choose as a hobby when deciding what to make money on.  For example, MMM likes to fix up houses, and he makes money on that.  The work itself is enjoyable to him and is something he wants to do with his time.  What do you enjoy?  If you enjoy writing, try writing for money.  If you make nothing it was still doing something you enjoy, so the time wasn't wasted.

SpendyMcSpend

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #13 on: June 12, 2012, 02:10:50 PM »
If you don't volunteer now, I suggest trying that with some of the extra time.  Tutor for free, join the board of a local non-profit doing something you believe in (they would love the MBA aspect), help build a house for Habitat, whatever.  You will probably enjoy the connections that brings, and it may lead to work you can do for profit.  Either way, I don't think you will regret giving back.


If you already do things like that, I'd probably look at something you would choose as a hobby when deciding what to make money on.  For example, MMM likes to fix up houses, and he makes money on that.  The work itself is enjoyable to him and is something he wants to do with his time.  What do you enjoy?  If you enjoy writing, try writing for money.  If you make nothing it was still doing something you enjoy, so the time wasn't wasted.

Why would you suggest volunteering?  Is it because I have an MBA and you have a preconception of what I am like?  I need to earn extra money because I have over $50k in student loans :( and my mom will need monetary assistance in a few years, as well as my disabled brother.  (If that is not what you meant then I apologize).
« Last Edit: June 12, 2012, 02:22:16 PM by Meadow »

grantmeaname

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #14 on: June 12, 2012, 04:19:46 PM »
I think that volunteering is a pretty solid recommendation for almost anyone, but especially for early- career professionals. If you can find skilled volunteering opportunities that align with your resume, it can really broaden it and make you look much more three-dimensional as a candidate.

SpendyMcSpend

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #15 on: June 12, 2012, 04:52:36 PM »
I have a job and a great new job and I'm trying to get out of debt so I'd like some ideas on how to earn extra money not volunteer....   But if volunteering leads to earning more money that's great.  I have volunteered a lot in the past (I read to kids who struggle with reading on Thursdays and I've gone on community service trips).  I plan to use my CPA skills (one I learn some stuff) on helping widows and single mothers with financial planning.

SpendyMcSpend

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #16 on: June 12, 2012, 04:53:08 PM »
I think that volunteering is a pretty solid recommendation for almost anyone, but especially for early- career professionals. If you can find skilled volunteering opportunities that align with your resume, it can really broaden it and make you look much more three-dimensional as a candidate.

I got the sense that if I said I was a PhD or something else he would not have suggested volunteering.

grantmeaname

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #17 on: June 13, 2012, 07:55:42 AM »
I didn't. He's an MD, after all, so I'm sure he gets much more of the high-income degree stereotyping than he gives out.

Bank

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #18 on: June 13, 2012, 08:31:58 AM »
I think picking up some bookkeeping work on the side is good option -- maybe for a young company or startup.  You'll learn something and make decent money too.  Pick an industry you're interested in, and then if you ever choose to leave public accounting (if that's what you're doing) for industry you'll have a leg up on the competition for a position in that area.  A temp agency can probably place you with someone who can be flexible regarding your "real" job hours.

Another option is to front-load some additional education -- it doesn't make you money today, but it likely will down the road.  Specifically, if you haven't yet passed your CPA exam, you can get some studying in and maybe even take a few sections.  Depending on your state's regulations, you may even qualify to get the CPA designation before you start work based solely on your education -- although you typically aren't allowed to fill a "reporting" roll until you've done a couple years of audit.  Study materials and the exam fees are pricey, but a CPA designation typically comes with a pay boost that would more than make up for that.

Plus, there's the personal side.  When I took the exam, I compacted all my studying into a 4 month window and it was hell.  I don't recommend working 60 hours per week and studying an additional 40-50.

FWIW - as an MBA, I didn't read anything untoward into James' comments about volunteering.  In fact, a lot of people in my field do volunteer work - partially out of the goodness of their hearts, but also because it's a good way to network with potential clients and employers.

boy_bye

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #19 on: June 13, 2012, 12:43:13 PM »
i mentioned this on the other NYC thread, but what about renting your place out a few weekends a month on airbnb.com? you can make bank if you have a good place, keep it clean, and are responsive to inquiries on the website.

grantmeaname

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #20 on: June 13, 2012, 02:25:53 PM »
IIRC Meadow sublets so that wouldn't be an option.

thomasa510

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Re: Earning side income
« Reply #21 on: June 14, 2012, 04:47:00 PM »
I work as a CPA myself, and really the best way to earn side income in the industry is by obtaining clients for your company.  Many companies will give you as a commission for getting a customer.  My firm pays 10% of the billings for any client you get for the next five years.  Volunteering at a NPO may provide you with a way to get close to the CFO and recommend to him your new firm (if you are planning on working in public accounting).  The same can be done at any part-time job.  It also will get you to look quite impressive for your firm.

Beyond that I don't really know of anything that will yield you as much as the $60 you can get as overtime.