Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What to do as a programmer about to go homeless

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 61 posts

Re: Ask HN: What to do as a programmer about to go homeless

#11

Post by x1798DE »

jcmurrayii wrote: post #4

Rough situation. I am not sure you will be able to find anything in the programming area on such short notice that will pay out that quickly. However, this might be a case where you look outside of that, and take more pedestrian approaches to get you the cash needed to ride out the rough patch. Day labor, its not programming, and it doesn't pay much, but it could be enough to put food in the belly, and a roof over th…

Depending on the attitude of the city you are in, your personality and what kind of creative skills you have, you could also potentially make some "hold-over" money quickly by busking (street performance). I personally am really not a big fan of busking, but I've thought about what I would do if I suddenly needed some cash in pocket very quickly and the quickest (legal) way I can imagine getting cash in hand with no initial investment is day labor, street performance or panhandling. Seems like a long shot, but if you're a super good guitar player or something and Vancouver doesn't have strict laws about street performance, you might be able to make enough to keep you fed and housed until a freelance job pays out.

Re: Ask HN: What to do as a programmer about to go homeless

#12

Post by GuiA »

rwallace wrote: post #3

Exchanging programming services for money is a great idea in the long term, but it typically takes on the order of months until the first chunk of money arrives, which means it's far too late for that alone to help you right now. What you need right now is an emergency bail out. You say you're in a foreign country, and you don't have any family back home who could help with the price of an airline ticket? In that cas…

> You say you're in a foreign country, and you don't have any family back home who could help with the price of an airline ticket? In that case I would suggest going to your country's embassy and explaining your situation.

Embassies aren't "get out of jail free" cards. Sure, it's better than nothing - but they get tourists without a return ticket home so often that there are strict policies on these sort of things. Even if they do help you, it might end up in you getting your passport revoked for a significant chunk of time, etc.

Re: Ask HN: What to do as a programmer about to go homeless

#13

Post by eric_bullington »

Quick money? Well, Vancouver is Bitcoin capital of Canada. And Bitcoin payments are immediate.

Also, there should be plenty of places to buy food there using Bitcoin. Here's a list of just some of them:

http://www.bitcoiniacs.com/merchants/

So to earn money, go check out: https://coinality.com/ and http://www.reddit.com/r/Jobs4bitcoins

They both post programming jobs. And Bitcoin payments are immediate. Just watch out for scammers -- Bitcoin unfortunately attracts more than its fair share.

If you post a Bitcoin address, I'll get you started with enough Bitcoins to buy some cheese fries here:

http://bestie.ca/

Edit: By the way, the quickest secure way to get a Bitcoin address is probably to sign up via blockchain.info and use 2-factor authentication and a long (20 char+) password. Just don't end up storing $10,000 on a blockchain wallet.

In the long run, you're best off learning to securely manage your Bitcoins yourself using bitcoin-qt or another desktop client:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Securing_your_wallet

Re: Ask HN: What to do as a programmer about to go homeless

#14

Post by logn »

Do you have any credit left? Can you take a cash advance from your credit card? Use that for rent. Then use the rest of your credit to buy peanut butter.

You said you have several projects all heavily delayed. Can you approach those clients and offer them a discount if they provide a down payment?

Also reply to Craigslist ads looking for temporary labor (e.g., moving boxes or doing outdoor work).

Re: Ask HN: What to do as a programmer about to go homeless

#15

Post by Mandatum »

Start by removing any negative connotations from your CV/bio: http://brandonhsiao.com/

Things like "I will not work with Windows hosting" and "Honestly, strictly speaking, any semi-competent hacker is capable of using any documented framework" make us associate you with someone who is stubborn and over-confident. The latter may be just, but I doubt it given your situation.

I apologize if my words are harsh, but as it goes; beggars can't be choosers.

Re: Ask HN: What to do as a programmer about to go homeless

#16

Post by _g2lm »

Mandatum wrote: post #15

Start by removing any negative connotations from your CV/bio: http://brandonhsiao.com/ Things like "I will not work with Windows hosting" and "Honestly, strictly speaking, any semi-competent hacker is capable of using any documented framework" make us associate you with someone who is stubborn and over-confident. The latter may be just, but I doubt it given your situation. I apologize if my words are harsh, but as it…

Thanks for the heads up. If you hadn't told me I would never have even thought of it that way.

Re: Ask HN: What to do as a programmer about to go homeless

#17

Post by _g2lm »

eric_bullington wrote: post #13

Quick money? Well, Vancouver is Bitcoin capital of Canada. And Bitcoin payments are immediate. Also, there should be plenty of places to buy food there using Bitcoin. Here's a list of just some of them: http://www.bitcoiniacs.com/merchants/ So to earn money, go check out: https://coinality.com/ and http://www.reddit.com/r/Jobs4bitcoins They both post programming jobs. And Bitcoin payments are immediate. Just watch ou…

Wow, that is awesome. Wait, that actually sounds like a solution to my biggest problem right now.

Re: Ask HN: What to do as a programmer about to go homeless

#18

Post by mamcx »

I don't know how are things in Canada. But when the bad times come, here in Colombia we sell Empanadas! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empanada) (A proverb say: What is the thing that sell most? A empanada!)

I need to self-fund my own startup, and I have not access to angel investors. So I start selling BBQ related things in the streets. I do this only in the weekends, in the night, right now. In a strike of luck, I get some very good freelance work just after the 1 week, but I still doing because a)I like it b)It could pay the rent! c)Reduce the stress!

This is a tactic that (here) work well. Sell food is fairly easy if you are smart about it. Requiere very low capital, not much talent, and some kind of foods bring more than 50-70% in earnings, after all the costs. Things like sell fruits (salad fruits) juices, tacos, empanadas, pizza, maicitos, mangos with salt, etc. This suckers are EASY and profit well!

The only catch? Location. This is the hard thing.

Other things to try:

- Fix computers - Teach about computers - Provide IT services to local stores - Exploit any talent you have and look if is possible to monetize in the very short term. - Become a "Cafe internet" - Become a "Play videogames here"

Both also are similar to "Sell empanadas" emergency business popular here. I don't know if is possible in Canada. Start a home business have zero real problems with the law if is low-level in my country so is easy to have a escape plan.

Re: Ask HN: What to do as a programmer about to go homeless

#19

Post by moggh »

Life is full of ups and downs. If I were you, I'd make three radical shifts: i) Find a shit job for now. ii) Get the heck out of dodge - Vancouver is an insanely expensive city and if you've reached the end of your money-line, impose on a friend or some family else where. Hitch thee. iii) Find a perm development role until you can get back on your feet; this will be hard unless you can pull off (i).
Post reply on HN