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Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2021 – Show and tell

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Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2021 – Show and tell

#81

Post by adossi »

agustif wrote: post #76
adossi wrote: post #45

I mine cryptocurrency and make about $110/day. I have two L3++s, an AvalonMiner 1246, six RTX 3080s, an RTX 3090 and a couple older cards. It more than pays for the mortgage, and after electricity (residential rate) my profit is about $100/day. I also have the GPUs in a grow tent (designed for growing marijuana) with an 8 inch in-line fan hooked up to the supply of my home’s HVAC system. I’m heating my whole house wi…

I was looking into just getting a 3060 Ti for starting on my main CPU, do you recommend that or going for whatever gets a bigger hashing rate in one unit like the 3080 or 90 it seems, they are hard to get! Thanks!

I would personally aim for non-LHR cards like the founders edition 3080 which is hard to find these days, or any 3090. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what cards you buy, what matters is your ROI. For example at MSRP a 3090 can pay for itself in six months (or whatever it works out to these days) but at scalper prices that ROI time is more like a year. In the world of ASIC mining a year ROI is actually not bad at all because the big industrial ASICs can last 5-10 years. Then you have helium miners (HNT) that can ROI in 3-4 months. It’s all about the ROI.

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2021 – Show and tell

#82

Post by plasticbugs »

keithnz wrote: post #19
plasticbugs wrote: post #2

My 'side project' is pretty conventional, but it surprises people to learn how much I've earned from it with very little effort. At least once or twice a week, I use my lunch break to walk to the local thrift store. I look up items on eBay as I browse and buy anything that would net me $20+ (basically to cover my lunch). I stick to the 'hard goods' section (things like electronics, games, DVDs, home appliances, books…

surprised to see DVDs sell. I don't think I've played one for many years now, haven't even had the capability to play one!

Yep! Definitely look them up when you see them. There are lots of rare and hard to find ones... I focus on things like Criterion, box sets and anything that looks 'odd'. I picked up a five disc Anchor Bay set of WWII movies for $4 and they sold for nearly $15 each.

Don't skip on CDs, VHS, Cassettes or vinyl records! Though be sure to check the condition and that the correct disc is definitely in the case before you buy it.

Vinyl records are difficult to grade, so I would avoid them unless you can play them and reliably grade them OR they're sealed OR the surface on both sides appear immaculate. Sadly, they usually just add to my already overstuffed vinyl collection instead of winding up on eBay.

VHS and audio cassettes are hot right now as well, so if you see some classics, definitely give them a look on eBay before you pass on them. They usually have a barcode.

Typically someone will drop off their whole collection at place, so consider buying items to sell in a 'lot'.

A complete hardback Harry Potter book set is $100+! (usually $2 a piece at my thrift shop) I almost have a complete set from my many trips to the thrift store, so pick them up when you see them!

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2021 – Show and tell

#83

Post by bee_rider »

epolanski wrote: post #72
adossi wrote: post #45

I mine cryptocurrency and make about $110/day. I have two L3++s, an AvalonMiner 1246, six RTX 3080s, an RTX 3090 and a couple older cards. It more than pays for the mortgage, and after electricity (residential rate) my profit is about $100/day. I also have the GPUs in a grow tent (designed for growing marijuana) with an 8 inch in-line fan hooked up to the supply of my home’s HVAC system. I’m heating my whole house wi…

I hate what you do (the very idea of all those KWs going to solve sudokus to get monopoly money) but at the same respect you. In the end if someone buys, why not sell.

I don't believe in cryptocurrencies, but I don't see anything unethical in a spaceheater that also does hashing as a side effect I guess.

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2021 – Show and tell

#84

Post by chana_masala »

joshuamcginnis wrote: post #15

I'm a SWE turned diy biologist and among the services I offer is bioprospecting for biotech startups. My most recent client hired me to gather soil samples from different biomes and running assays from my home lab to determine if there are any enzyme-producing organisms of interest.

Do you blog about the business aspect of your work? Which I think is amazing. I'm a SWE and have long had a hobbyist interest in biology.

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2021 – Show and tell

#85

Post by lkbm »

epolanski wrote: post #72
adossi wrote: post #45

I mine cryptocurrency and make about $110/day. I have two L3++s, an AvalonMiner 1246, six RTX 3080s, an RTX 3090 and a couple older cards. It more than pays for the mortgage, and after electricity (residential rate) my profit is about $100/day. I also have the GPUs in a grow tent (designed for growing marijuana) with an 8 inch in-line fan hooked up to the supply of my home’s HVAC system. I’m heating my whole house wi…

I hate what you do (the very idea of all those KWs going to solve sudokus to get monopoly money) but at the same respect you. In the end if someone buys, why not sell.

The people in my house use space heaters in their rooms. 1500 watts of electricity produces 1500 watts of heat whether you do it via a space heater or a computer.

The only way OP's method is worse is the capital costs of the processors. The energy spent on the actual heating is converted with 100% efficient either way.

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2021 – Show and tell

#87

Post by W-Stool »

adossi wrote: post #45

I mine cryptocurrency and make about $110/day. I have two L3++s, an AvalonMiner 1246, six RTX 3080s, an RTX 3090 and a couple older cards. It more than pays for the mortgage, and after electricity (residential rate) my profit is about $100/day. I also have the GPUs in a grow tent (designed for growing marijuana) with an 8 inch in-line fan hooked up to the supply of my home’s HVAC system. I’m heating my whole house wi…

Can you ELI5 how making small amounts of money in crypto works? I thought it was a "winner take all" kind of arrangement where whomever solves the "puzzle" (for lack of a better word) first gets all the bitcoin as a reward, until the next block is up and ready to be solved. You're talking about making $100 a day - a very tiny fraction of one bitcoin - how does that work?

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2021 – Show and tell

#88

Post by rfd4sgmk8u »

adossi wrote: post #75
rfd4sgmk8u wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the way! Nicely done. Can I ask what your power costs are? The problem is that in high population centers in the US, electricity costs make it not economical.

Pretty typical $0.1/kWH (on average, there are peaks and valleys like everywhere else). A lot of folks overestimate the actual power cost. Sure I’m pulling about 24A at 240V from the wall (over 6 kW) which costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $320/month. But the actual BTC I receive is worth over $3000/month assuming I sell it as I get it. What’s super nice about mining is that it’s quite resilient to market trends…

Thank you for sharing the numbers! That does look quite profitable even for a hobbyist (maybe even YOU, the reader?).

I am all for the further decentralization of this technology and hope others can profit from this also!

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2021 – Show and tell

#89

Post by sossles »

The game Twenty that I posted on here many years ago as a ShowHN[0] post took off from that very post and is still earning in that ballpark. I keep trying to find more time to work on it and other projects too, but somehow as my kids have gotten older and my spare time in the evenings gets shorter, I haven't managed it.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9543005

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2021 – Show and tell

#90

Post by aconsult1 »

tjbiddle wrote: post #77

I don't know if I can even call it a side-project any more. I stopped working professionally 3 years ago. Bought an e-commerce business that was making ~$2k/mo profit and ran it on the side while I had my DevOps job. That project has now turned into ~$30k/mo profit, and I've bought two more e-com businesses that average ~$10k/mo between the two - these are early and I expect them to scale up once I smooth out a few b…

Have you used any broker for buying a business? How was your experience? If you care to recommend them please ping me.
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