Need side hustle help

[SpicyMcHaggus]

Hey, 'staches. I've been around a while and have been struggling to get a side hustle going. In the past, I would bartend for cash; I am sending out applications to some places, but due to my regular 9-5 gig, the chances of getting hired are low.  I recently had some unexpected expenses on the rental property and vet bills that have depleted the emergency fund.  I will be paying these off for the next few months, but am feeling naked without a little cash laying around. 

About me:
Age: 31
Employment: work 9-5
Property: 1 duplex netting ~$250/month
Living situation: $0 paid (live with fiance)
Skills: MS SQL, SSIS, programming, database work, etc. I'm a techie by day.  Bartending 8+ years.
Regular Spending: as near to zero as possible. Pretty much only gas to and from work and the occasional costco trip for groceries. $0 phone, $0 eat out lunches. Take home $3100/mo after tax, 401k, health ins, etc.
Investments: ~$250k 401k, ira, taxable, etc.

I realize 3100/mo looks like a lot, but with the fund depleted, I have paid down the major bills and worked out a plan to cover the rest over 2-3 months. It will leave near $0 after making the payments. I would prefer to have the fund around $5k. I would also like the side hustle to increase that fund to the point where I can refinance my duplex to a lower rate and eventually purchase another.

TLDR?
I need some help finding areas where I can apply my skills (or general labor!) to earn side income.  It must not interfere with my 9-5 as I am not FIRE yet and don't want to lose the job until the egg is >$500k.

[kpd905]

Sounds like freelancing or consulting work with your tech skills would probably be your best bet.

Have you checked out Elance or Odesk?

[SpicyMcHaggus]

Sounds like freelancing or consulting work with your tech skills would probably be your best bet.

Have you checked out Elance or Odesk?

I have checked e-lance; not much in the way of PT stuff for my skillset; That's exactly what I need; more recommendations on where to look for part time and/or remote gigs. Thanks!

[protostache]

Sounds like freelancing or consulting work with your tech skills would probably be your best bet.

Have you checked out Elance or Odesk?

I have checked e-lance; not much in the way of PT stuff for my skillset; That's exactly what I need; more recommendations on where to look for part time and/or remote gigs. Thanks!

gun.io has a decent selection of gigs, depending on what you're looking for. Another option is to hit up agencies in your area and ask if they have extra work to farm out on a part time basis.

[SUP]

Try Fiver. But get a little more creative with your skill set and look at odesk and elance again. I have used all 3 and I have a hard time believing there is nothing you can do on there. Short one minute video training on making specific drinks? Tom Collins in a minute. But your tech skills will make more. And there are gazillions of business owners who are tech tards that need help.

Change your mindset about trading time for money. Don't work hourly pay stuff as your side hustle. It is hard to get ahead this way because your time is limited. Many people think they need to "work longer hours" to get ahead. Trade a skill or task for money. Then if you are faster or better you can make more. If you are paid by the hour you can only make so much per hour.

[SpicyMcHaggus]

Try Fiver. But get a little more creative with your skill set and look at odesk and elance again. I have used all 3 and I have a hard time believing there is nothing you can do on there. Short one minute video training on making specific drinks? Tom Collins in a minute. But your tech skills will make more. And there are gazillions of business owners who are tech tards that need help.

Change your mindset about trading time for money. Don't work hourly pay stuff as your side hustle. It is hard to get ahead this way because your time is limited. Many people think they need to "work longer hours" to get ahead. Trade a skill or task for money. Then if you are faster or better you can make more. If you are paid by the hour you can only make so much per hour.

While I would love to avoid the longer hours (I know it's not the only way), I need some quick cash now to prop up the ER fund, and refi the house, which will lead to better net profit.  In the long run, I would love to work on a whim, I just don't see it as being able to solve my immediate issue. 

Disclaimer: these are my thoughts and not to be taken as absolute truth or statement of fact.

[SpicyMcHaggus]

gun.io has a decent selection of gigs, depending on what you're looking for. Another option is to hit up agencies in your area and ask if they have extra work to farm out on a part time basis.

have already had conversations with recruiters across 4 local temp agencies. they are all interested in contract to hire or FT jobs. Not a lot of money in it for them placing someone who only works 10 hours / week.

[protostache]

gun.io has a decent selection of gigs, depending on what you're looking for. Another option is to hit up agencies in your area and ask if they have extra work to farm out on a part time basis.

have already had conversations with recruiters across 4 local temp agencies. they are all interested in contract to hire or FT jobs. Not a lot of money in it for them placing someone who only works 10 hours / week.

I was referring to web development agencies, not temp agencies. Development shops periodically have way more work than they can handle, so they need to farm it out on short notice.

[SpicyMcHaggus]

great idea; I hadn't thought of contacting places with FT employees and just asking if they have extra stuff.

[SpicyMcHaggus]

maybe i'm dumb, but i can't figure out how to apply to gigs on fiverr. It seems to only let me look at services that are available.

[SUP]

maybe i'm dumb, but i can't figure out how to apply to gigs on fiverr. It seems to only let me look at services that are available.

Here ya go. A slight learning curve but you don't pay anything until you sell something.
https://www.fiverr.com/start_selling

[Axecleaver]

I did SQL Server DBA work 20 years ago - was fun during the 2000's when the skillset was harder to find. Consider attending a user group meeting in your area and networking with the people there. Lots of folks will have a line on work available.

Consider working more than 10 hours extra a week. That is a very small commitment for a side hustle and it might be tough to attract customers unless you're willing to put in some extra time and effort for them. Be willing to work overnights (I used to do this for night-time database upgrades, work midnight to 8a for big index rebuilds and DBCC's) or weekends for customers who have support teams working 9-5. You can get bigger rates doing this.

Provide an emergency DB recovery service, and let all your clients know it's available if they need it.
Provide database health check ups - basically, check the sp_configure output, check the SAN config, check their backup strategy, indexing strategy, replication strategy. Provide a "best practices" report, which if they want to fix stuff, will lead to more work.

[Moonwaves]

Have you already read through the longer side gig thread: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!? That might give you some ideas.

[skunkfunk]

Wow! At -$250/mo spending, you're WAY beyond FI.

/it's-a-joke-don't-report-me