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Ask HN: Software developers, what is your side income?

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31–40 of 53 posts

Re: Ask HN: Software developers, what is your side income?

#31
post #5

Millions of people wake up every day with their credit cards in their hands. As the day goes they spend a little here and a little there. Sometimes they spend money for necessaries, sometimes for luxury and sometimes to make their life easier (i.e. save costs anywhere else) If the average human makes like 3 transactions every day (just gussed) how hard can it really be to be the transaction for at least one of those…

The problem for me isn't getting sales. It's getting sustainable sales in excess of costs

Re: Ask HN: Software developers, what is your side income?

#32

Consider travelling for treatment, the medical tourism industry is quite mature. You can get world class care for a fraction of the cost of other places.

I think this is the right answer.

The NY times did an article about this years ago. The average hip surgery in the US was $75k. The cost to flying to Belgium (one of the most advanced, industrialized countries in the world), staying there for a week and getting the surgery was $13k.

I have seen much more dramatic examples.

Re: Ask HN: Software developers, what is your side income?

#33
I started a YouTube channel in late 2019 focusing on making one LeetCode tutorial every week. Built up 300 subs until one viral reddit post bumped me up to 1.5k in 2 days.

Stopped posting videos in 2020 to focus on building a side-project but that never came to fruition. All the while my subscriber count still continued to grow (to ~4k) and I got monetized.

I started posting 1 vid/week again in mid-2020 and my earnings slowly grew from 10 cents a day up to 2$ per day.

In late 2020, I quit my job to focus on making coding tutorials on YouTube.

I post my YouTube stats on Twitter in the beginning of every month, here's what they looked like in Jan. and Feb. 2021: https://twitter.com/SuboptimalEng/status/1366808757121015812...

Re: Ask HN: Software developers, what is your side income?

#34
I do a ton of different things, but none of them are quickly accessible and all lean off my strengths. I love economics, and MMA, so I've been gambling and trading for years and getting better at them over time. Any unique venture you go into, expect to lose money for a significant period of time (I'm still losing money on making startups).

That being said, you have the most in demand skill set in the world, and you're highly experienced in it. As some others have said, you should extend out the period of the demand here and look for ways to lean on your software background to make more money. So here's a list of items you can take action on: * If you're in an expensive healthcare area, travel to get treatment * Take a loan to extend the time you need that full dollar amount by * Reach out to your network and see if you can find a contract on the side * Find a new job---last I read people are getting a 20% raise finding a new job versus a 4% raise annually. No clue how real those numbers are, but this is business and you are a financial fiduciary for your family. You have obligations to do what is financially sound to take care of your family, and you don't owe anything to a business.

Just a note about good financial hygiene here, at the end of the day it's easier to spend less money than it is to make more money. Making money on different things takes time and practice. I meal prep my food saving hundreds per month on take out. I don't buy a lot of things. I don't own a car, and my rent has been relatively low most of my life. I regularly run through my monthly spending reports and cancel recurring payments. I make all transactions through a credit card for the points and consistently pay it on time. Finances seems to be a game of small wins and allocations. 1% saved money with an average of 8% annual growth over a lifetime becomes a fortune.

Re: Ask HN: Software developers, what is your side income?

#35
post #34

I do a ton of different things, but none of them are quickly accessible and all lean off my strengths. I love economics, and MMA, so I've been gambling and trading for years and getting better at them over time. Any unique venture you go into, expect to lose money for a significant period of time (I'm still losing money on making startups). That being said, you have the most in demand skill set in the world, and you'…

Interested to know more about your MMA betting. I'm big on MMA too. If you are willing to share, what is your net profit from MMA betting?

Note to OP: I do not recommend gambling or betting to make your side income.

Re: Ask HN: Software developers, what is your side income?

#36
post #16

I was going to find a side hustle, but instead I just found a better paying software job.

Same, I realized that spending 2 years to get to 1k in profit a month from a SaaS or something was a lot harder than just getting a job that paid me 12k more.

That makes sense until you realise you've spent 10 years working and you'll have to work full-time for the foreseeable future because you don't have a 5k monthly (quasi) passive income

Re: Ask HN: Software developers, what is your side income?

#37
post #16

I was going to find a side hustle, but instead I just found a better paying software job.

Same, I realized that spending 2 years to get to 1k in profit a month from a SaaS or something was a lot harder than just getting a job that paid me 12k more.

1k a month passive profit from a SaaS is worth a lot more than 12k extra salary. A full time job requires full time labor to continue producing income. Whereas SaaS hopefully almost none to maintain it, has a better growth potential than your salary raises, and when you're tired of running it, it's an asset you might be able to sell to somebody else.

Re: Ask HN: Software developers, what is your side income?

#38
post #20
post #5

Millions of people wake up every day with their credit cards in their hands. As the day goes they spend a little here and a little there. Sometimes they spend money for necessaries, sometimes for luxury and sometimes to make their life easier (i.e. save costs anywhere else) If the average human makes like 3 transactions every day (just gussed) how hard can it really be to be the transaction for at least one of those…

It is also very easy to loose some money on the way, sometimes in unexpected ways. A friend for example, who is a talented interior designer, had a few paid customers but that made taxes more complicated (not the US) and required an accountant that cost more than what was earned. Another friend built a small site trying to sell lectures about something he is good at, again nothing significant came out of it and the e…

I moved from my country (Italy) precisely because of taxation (and the relative dead business sector).

You can have a side project in the UK for very cheap (for now, pre COVID tax hike).

Go where you're treated best

Re: Ask HN: Software developers, what is your side income?

#40

I was going to find a side hustle, but instead I just found a better paying software job.

Side hustles can also turn into a new job. What starts as a small YouTube channel can become 2x your annual salary with a fraction of the effort. A side project could turn into a full fledged business. While obviously uncommon with side projects, the chance this happens in the labor market is essentially 0.
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