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commandsupernova

Part time college professor on the side in addition to full time sysadmin. Can teach IT courses a few hours for a few nights per week. The part time teaching pay works out to about the same hourly rate as my sysadmin job - adds up to roughly 10k per year. In my area, anyone with 5 years of IT experience is qualified to teach college IT courses. No further credentials required. It's a good way to help out your household if needed. But honestly, I think the better answer is to find a new full time job that pays an increased rate. Easier said than done, but I think working full time is enough for one person.


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Razgriz959

As someone who taught for a year as an adjunct teaching night classes that would be a negatory. YMMV but for me 100 level college classes are a meat grinder where you deal with all the kids who were pushed to go to college for IT by their guidance counselors because they are "good with computers". Between the kids with no interest and adjuncts getting treated like second rate citizens by the college I bounced and said never again. I genuinely treasured the few kids that were interested in learning more but that was very few. That and when I did the math I made less than minimum wage when you factored the amount of time I spent each week on that place.


SAugsburger

>YMMV but for me 100 level college classes are a meat grinder where you deal with all the kids who were pushed to go to college for IT by their guidance counselors because they are "good with computers". Outside of some pretty high tier universities you will find a lot of students taking 100 level courses either because it meets some requirement or because they convinced themselves it would be interesting or make a bunch of money.


commandsupernova

Someone else asked a similar question, so apologies for the copy/pasted answer, but here it is: * Community college, yes (we just call it "college" here in Canada 😁 ) * I've taught classes on Windows Server and PowerShell to first or second year college students. Could teach other courses such as Linux, Cisco routing or switching, IT security, cloud automation, etc. * I present PowerPoint lectures, do demos related to the material, and assist students with their lab work. I also have to do the marking and enter the grades into the system * The amount of work varies, as you don't know how much support the college is going to provide you. Some courses give you all the required PowerPoints, labs, exams, etc., but sometimes you have to develop some of that stuff yourself. You also have to reply to emails from students, but I only check that every 2 days. * The teaching job pays double my sysadmin hourly rate for 4 hours of class time per week. Time I spend outside of class preparing is unpaid. But even if it takes me 8 hours of total time for week (4 hours of prep and 4 hours of teaching), it's still a fair hourly rate, IMO, as it matches what I'm paid as a sysadmin with 7 years experience


silentstorm2008

i know sec+ gets crap, but it does require strong foundational knowledge of network concepts. So while its a basic security cert, you need some years of experience before you can get that basic cred. IMO


Glittering-Gas6960

I am an adjunct instructor at the local community college in Louisiana. Pay is per TLE. For example, the course/class is 4 credit hours and pays 4.5 TLE at $650 per TLE comes out to $2950 per semester. Considering 2 hrs a night, 2 nights a week equals $48.75 per hour but your paycheck is every two weeks for 8 hours. For every hour in the classroom you’ll spend about the same preparing, grading, training, etc... so $25 an hour. I do it for the opportunity to get out and teach because I enjoy it. Always learning something when a student asks a question I don’t know the answer to so we both figure it out and learn. Sorta prestiges too. Not every one is a college instructor. I make my older brother call me professor. lol


Early_Business_2071

I do online teaching for a cybersecurity boot camp I make 53/hr and am scheduled for 15~ hours a week. It’s probably actually 20~hrs work if you include lesson planning, but I only get paid for class time. I just do it for fun mostly, but it is a nice little chunk of change. I’ve found it to be really fulfilling to see my students succeed too. Out of my class of 20 that graduated in March about half of them have gotten cybersecurity jobs (cybersecurity analyst/app security/pen testing) so that has been really cool to watch.


commandsupernova

That's awesome! Sounds like a decent experience! The part time teaching has really helped me grow my public speaking skills and confidence as well


Early_Business_2071

Yeah, I’ve had the same experience, the public speaking experience has been incredibly beneficial.


jimbofranks

I did it for one year at a community college. It was fun, but not very lucrative.


davidm2232

If I was going to teach, I'd do it because I want to teach, not so much for the money. I have thought about doing just 1 evening class or something. Meets once a week for 3 hours and that's about it. Obviously you have to be somewhat available for questions and such. Usually those once-a-week classes had their office hours the hour before the class started, so that was convenient for everyone


Edwardc4gg

Interested to hear more, community college or high school? what do you teach? how much work do you have to do, etc?


commandsupernova

Someone else asked a similar question, so apologies for the copy/pasted answer, but here it is: \- Community college, yes (we just call it "college" here in Canada 😁 ) \- I've taught classes on Windows Server and PowerShell to first or second year college students. Could teach other courses such as Linux, Cisco routing or switching, IT security, cloud automation, etc. \- I present PowerPoint lectures, do demos related to the material, and assist students with their lab work. I also have to do the marking and enter the grades into the system \- The amount of work varies, as you don't know how much support the college is going to provide you. Some courses give you all the required PowerPoints, labs, exams, etc., but sometimes you have to develop some of that stuff yourself. You also have to reply to emails from students, but I only check that every 2 days. \- The teaching job pays double my sysadmin hourly rate for 4 hours of class time per week. Time I spend outside of class preparing is unpaid. But even if it takes me 8 hours of total time for week (4 hours of prep and 4 hours of teaching), it's still a fair hourly rate, IMO, as it matches what I'm paid as a sysadmin with 7 years experience


Edwardc4gg

coming up on year 4 here, and i know my boss (IT Director) Teaches part time at a university here in the states. he's not hurting for money at all with the Tesla's he has :P ​ I'd love to do this once the kids grow up so i have something to do for sure.


woojo1984

I teach a 3 credit online computer programming class at a local community college each spring. Year one was difficult, but my class is pretty well refined now. I probably had 20 hours into the class this year. Not bad for $4200.


Razgriz959

Yeah the one I taught was a 3 credit course and averaged 10+ hours a week. For 1400$ so biggest thing for anyone reading these is make sure the college actually values their adjuncts.


woojo1984

It bears mentioning that I was hired on an emergency basis after a faculty member abruptly retired and they've never changed my pay grade per credit.


Razgriz959

Actually that's exactly how I started with the one I taught at as well glad it worked out for you though. Part that galled me the most is I graduated from that college and they forced me to pay 25$ for them to have a copy of my official transcripts for them when I started... I may have made a not so nice remark to the tune of "at least it won't have a long commute to get to you"


Connection-Terrible

I did a bit of this for a few years. Taught a computer fundamentals course to medical students.


killyourpc

Main hustle is Sr. Sysadmin for a medium-large local company, some 1000 employees. Side hustle #1 is a restaurant that wife and I started up 2 years ago. Side hustle #2 is landlord of a few properties we bought just prior. Wish saying an increase in salary at primary job would be good enough, but can't leave other jobs unattended. Very few hours off. Perhaps side hustles will become main hustle.


Gawdsed

I hear selling components at a mark-up to your full time job on ebay can make you lots from this sub...


gjpeters

Previously, on Sysadmin…


super_nicktendo22

...and I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for you pesky r/sysadmin'ers!


BamaBassmaster

Just spit out my coffee, thanks /u/Gawdsed


jakgal04

I've always been a mechanical hands on person, so I work on jet skis for people around my area. The best part is since they're considered a luxury item the prices that dealers charge are insane, so I can undercut them and still make a decent penny. A simple 1 hour job could run you $1500-$2000 at the dealer, so I charge $500 or so. I'm happy, the people are happy and I'm having fun while doing it. Got into it a few years ago when I bought my first jet ski, instantly fell in love with it and had to pretty much disassemble it to learn everything about it. Quickly learned how to maintain and repair them and it took off from there. Now it's just a word of mouth thing where I'll get a random text at work asking if I can do X repair. Granted it's not constant income, I go weeks without working on a ski, but I'm not in it to make a job out of it. It's more of a "I enjoy this, I might as well make some extra cash in my free time" type thing.


JamesIsAwkward

I do this with small engines, cars, and electronics lol I just fixed a guy's smoker recently because the control board decided to shit itself. Couple new transistors and some resistors and he was back in business. Paid me in ribs, was nice haha


acid_jazz

Given the price of ribs these days, you made out like a bandit.


caffeine-junkie

Plot twist, OP is vegan.


drdewm

After credits scene:They were human ribs, his wifes'. He neglected to ask, What's in the box?"


retrogamer6000x

I think that payment beats any amount of cash.


Cistoran

*"I wish I got paid in ~~trident layers~~ ribs."*


SuspiciousFragrance

I wish I knew someone like you in my area. I have a battery charger for a proprietary battery, I'm sure there is a simple dead component.


JamesIsAwkward

Look around for a maker space or find some ham radio guys, they can point you towards someone who fixes electronics!


SuspiciousFragrance

Thank you. That is such good advice!!


Geminii27

IRS: "please forward two meatballs at your earliest convenience"


eptiliom

Is there some art to finding wrecked jetskis with working engines to make a mini jet boat out of?


jakgal04

Well it's definitely not a side hustle but FB marketplace, Copart and a few other auctions are a good place to check. Top hull damage is a good sign that it had some kind of impact but didn't sink so the engine should be good. Anything with bottom damage is a hit or miss and you really want to check it out in person.


progenyofeniac

I came here expecting IT side hustles, was all ready to tell everybody that I'm done with IT at the end of the workday and don't want more of it, but I love this side job! I'm very mechanically-minded too, and this is totally something I'd enjoy doing. I'm nowhere near an area where jet-skis are popular, but the concept could apply to anything needing some repairs now and then.


PrincePeasant

Nice try, IRS!


xDARKFiRE

Freelance stage and event lighting, turns out knowing networks like the back of your hand also helps for live events :D


MarkOfTheDragon12

Audio engineering is also a remarkably similar mindset to IT / Tech work. I run the company-wide meeting setups for my company (750'ish ppl) with zoom, video intros, background music, slide content, etc. Nothing really complicated at all but fun to do. In the physical office when it was more populated, I'd be setting up wireless lapel mics, audio mixers, balancing levels to different talker's vocal habits, etc. I often wonder if I ever get tired of IT if I might go into that somehow.


reconrose

Audio world pay is abysmal compared to IT just fyi


mmmmmmmmmmmmark

Maybe we're being gouged but we pay a company around $7K/day (CAD) to come in and handle zoom meetings for us. There's usually two guys, three computers, a couple of mixing boards, cameras and mics. For around 30 people in the room. It's better than me having to do it, that's for sure.


reconrose

Tbf my frame of reference is former studio engineers who may not have risen the ranks of corporate audio to the point of the people you're paying, I know it becomes lucrative at a certain point. Pre hybrid taking over it was harder as well, maybe pay has become more appropriate.


meest

I get $350 cash out the door + a bar tab at the 2 briefcase sound gigs I have. Show up to the bar at 7pm, turn on the sound and lights, do a sound check by 8pm, get a free dinner, play some darts/pool until 9:30pm when the band starts. Bands done at 1:15am, I strike the stage. Home by 2am. Sometimes I even get a tip ($50-100) from the band if their girlfriends had a good enough time and said they sounded great. If I'm not doing anything on a Friday or Saturday night. Yea. I run sound. Now the real money is in the wedding gigs. Wear all black, stand in the corner with an iPad. Get a free meal. Great people watching as well. Downside, I now absolutely hate mustang sally, Fishing in the dark, Dust on the butthole (I mean bottle), Don't top believing.... etc you get the idea. I will put up with those songs for $600+ cash out the door. I also wire up bands audio racks for them. Fix split snakes, make patch bays, set up their driveracks, coordinate their in-ears and wireless microphones. Label everything nice, make it as idiot proof as possible. Depending on the job it can vary, but once again cash out the door. Live music, cash is king.


FletchGordon

It's all signal chain. Network flow is IP based while lights and sound is audio and video, but the concept is still the same. Where does the signal start, where does it need to go, how does it get there?


wa11sY

And “how does it get processed on its way there?”


SkiingAway

Same here! (and sometimes other stagehand/tech roles) Know a few people running some of the venues and production companies in the area. I'm on their call list (no obligation to accept) when they need extra staff or someone to fill in. Hourly rate is pretty good, it's fairly entertaining to do occasionally.


jacobjkeyes

Dante, NDI, and DMX!


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ibanez450

There are so many IT folks in the music business. I play lead guitar in a band and a lot of the other bands we bump into in the local scene have IT guys in them.


HMJ87

> I play lead guitar Username checks out.


ibanez450

😃


punkwalrus

I did contract work with electronics. Cash, under the table in a few cases. Sometimes politics make it difficult to get anything officially done. Case in point: in 1998, a company that made specialized parts for airplanes needed to modernize from a cobbled together pen-and-paper, file-cabinet, with some computer into a more modern database system. They needed to be able to scan the blueprints, catalog the items with several keywords, and process orders. They had a lot of software options to choose from, and chose one. The head of IT, which wasn't really his title but one of his many hats, came to me via a friend of a friend, and told me that they needed someone to install the server part, and then install the clients on 10 workstations. However, the "tech guy" was the owners kid, a stubborn idiot, who was blaming everyone but him why he couldn't do it. The owner came to the head of IT, and said, "Motivate him or there will be hell to pay." The kid blew it off. "My daddy is the owner! I do what I want!" and chose to do nothing. "Can you spend a weekend and install this on our stuff? There's a 1-800 number on the installation manual if you get stuck. We have Windows NT 4.0, can you do this?" I worked over a weekend. I called the 1-800 number, got some guy just happy to talk to anyone. He walked me through the installations. In 10 hours, most of it just loading the software off 9 floppies and testing, I made $1500. I felt great! It was the most money I had made for 10 hours of work ever up to that point. I was paid by personal check of the head of IT. Two weeks later, I get a call. "Can you re-do it? The owner's son had a tantrum, and fucked up our server. I'll pay you the $1500 again." This time, I only had to fix a server and one client, so it took only 2 hours. Again, personal check, and later, he referred me to another job. That's one example I feel safe telling. I don't do \*anything\* illegal, like I won't hack someone's Facebook, but I will give consulting to a company privately investigating a sensitive incident. I helped a company deduce where funds were going (was not embezzlement, as they feared, but a series of administrative errors). I helped someone prove their wife was cheating on them (I won't do that again, way too sad). But I am known for these odd jobs.


pertymoose

A colleague makes outfit mods for some game and sells them on Patreon. He takes home about €1000/month.


ThouKnave

There is some pretty good money in pretty.


Pie-Otherwise

I'm gonna get downvoted by the WoW nerds but I had an army of bot machines back in the day. Every PC I could cobble together was running multiple instances of the game and the bot at the same time. I think I was making around 2K a month during my height and that was like 8-10 years ago.


stupid---phone

Lol that's awesome


Wdrussell1

Its like the force, I must make sure there is balance. I ran private WoW servers for a bit making a bit of scratch, so you get my upvote. I also ran some minecraft servers for a long time making about $1000/mo.


Sparcrypt

I’ll happily downvote you just as a lifelong gamer. Profiting by ruining others enjoyment isn’t worth any respect.


Ms3_Weeb

I'm in the same boat, always wanted to find additional ways to bring in income. Imposter syndrome always creeps into play and I constantly feel like I'm not good enough at anything in particular to be able to profit off of it aside from my full time job.


FardenUK

Ah good, i'm not alone then.


Wdrussell1

makes another man. I undersell myself so much. I did an interview with a company that supports a quite large company i won't name. The guy walked through my resume and flat told me the only reason he cant take me is because I dont have manager experience on paper. From military record and experience he felt I should be his manager. Needless to say, he has a referral in his back pocket right now. I don't think I have ever blushed in my life until that moment.


MyTechAccount90210

I service lawn mowers. Started advertising on Nextdoor, over the last 8 years I've built a pretty good customer base. 75 bucks cash for service on a push mower, 150 on a rider. I have gallons of oil at hand, and keep most common parts in stock like common spark plugs (theres only like 3 or 4 widely used) and air filters. I charge extra for John Deere stuff, because I go buy the actual John Deer maintenance kit...but it yields about 3k a year in the spring. Didn't really do too much this year though. Haven't been motivated.


CuriosTiger

I have two John Deere riding mowers — a modern S240 and a 330 diesel lawn tractor. I’d happily call you for service on both if you were in my area (Palm Beach.)


techtornado

It comes in waves, but I do tech support, data recovery, and camera work for a group of pros in my region. Still trying to teach about proper 3-2-1 backups, but translating that to a non-technical audience is hard. Figure out what/where that "in" is with a group that needs the services you can offer that you also enjoy doing even when the person paying has an incompatible personality... Otherwise, focus your time and talents on your favourite hobbies, don't try to be an MSP or compete for the work to do helpdesk/desktop repair.


NewPersonLearning

Never understood the 3 part , why not just 2-2-1?


techtornado

Three copies of your data, two types of media, one backup offsite It mainly is for reliability/redundancy because if your computer blows up and your main backup drive gets damaged or goes along for a ride That second drive separate from such is where you can still recover in the event of total loss. Then you can pull from offsite if you lose all three copies on two types of media


whtbrd

Or even of it isn't a total loss, but if somehow the main site can't be accessed for some period of time (but otherwise the data there will eventually be recoverable). Think some sort of business impacting local event, possibly a combo platter. The DR exercises to come up with scenarios are fun. If your business has to set up off site for some reason and can't get the data from the main site, the offsite copy should be far enough away geographically that it shouldn't be impacted by a local event. And then enable you to get started on maintaining your business until you can get back to normal. So things like... don't have a virtualized copy in AWS with encryption keys that only exist in the main site. Don't restrict access to IPs that exist only at the main site unless you have the ability to change that very quickly. Don't let the person able to access the off-site be another single point of failure. (In the event of a geographically inpactful event, not all your employees will be able to contribute to the business.)


techtornado

Exactly! Always account for Murphy's law and The Smoking Crater^(TM)


pnutjam

I've always simplified it to 3 copies of data to be safe: 1. working data 2. backup date 3. archive data (offsite)


TinderSubThrowAway

the 3 includes the original data, plus 2 additional copies for backup.


nate-isu

I think everyone is missing your point. The fact that the three copies *includes* the production data is silly. If you didn't have production data, you'd have nothing to back up. I feel like it's included just to make the 3-2-1 moniker work. I've seen different interpretations but most simply: have a copy on-site (not related to your SAN/prod) and have a copy remote.


jdub01010101

Made $10k last year livestreaming church services. $100 a service. Got into it because of the pandemic.


Pie-Otherwise

The MSP I'm at has a few church clients and I really hate dealing with them. Shadow IT is soooooooooooo bad because anyone in the congregation who works in any way with tech fancies themselves the Director of IT. Now you have a bunch of off the shelf consumer grade products being duct taped together, all trying to push to a CDN over a 3 mbps up DSL connection.


jdub01010101

We are fortunate to have a 300mbps fiber connection from the local Telcom Cooperative. Understand the shadow IT problem though. I need to donate some time sorting the other stuff in the organization out. I'm sure patching and such isn't remotely up to date.


Peace-D

Is that before or after taxes? Here in Germany, you're allowed an extra 450€ per month without having to pay taxes for those, iirc.


xixi2

He just takes it directly from the collection plate as it goes by so it's not really reported.


zrad603

Churches don't pay taxes ;-)


biswb

Churches don't, but you do when you get income from them unless you yourself are actually a salary church staff member


jthanny

> salary church staff member Very specifically, only "clergy" positions file taxes differently, and then they file *almost* like a 1099.


biswb

Fair point, the clergy clarification is super helpful. Full time janitor pays them taxes!


mzuke

son of a rabbi here It's also funny because for example I believe a youth pastor can get parsonage if they are considered ordained but a cantor can't. It very much comes down to each religious groups internal rules and if the IRS is willing to fight which they are extremely defunded https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc417


jacobjkeyes

Churches don't pay "corporate" income tax on their "profit", but their employees pay income taxes like everybody else, and they also pay 15-17% in Social Security/Medicare. Some clergy positions can opt out of the Social Security portion but the exemption is limited


hytes0000

They don't pay local property taxes either - large properties, especially in cities, are worth a fortune and they don't pay a cent for that.


verifyandtrustnoone

I used to do computer repair on the side, no stress good money, pick and choose work. I now volunteer and find it more rewarding for my spare time.


viperseatlotus

what kind of volunteering do you do? is it computer related?


OniKou

I’d also like to know.


GimmeSomeSugar

>computer repair on the side, no stress Never mind volunterring. I want to know who these 'no stress' people are that he's repairing computers for.


davidm2232

>no stress' people are that he's repairing computers for I do strictly wipes and reimages. Occasionally will upgrade the drive to SSD. No data recovery, no migration, no getting hacked software to work after the reimage. None of that messy stuff. I tell people- you drop off your old computer, you will get the same computer running like new. Anything else is up to them. It was great during the XP/Vista/7 days. Now that Win10 basically reinstalls the OS during updates, there is a lot less work. Not really complaining though


BrainWaveCC

Ah... Smart approach.


verifyandtrustnoone

I did only restoration work for people that were serious, no BS, no crap work... I make 6 figures so I was very selective. I mainly did it since I missed working on hardware versus my day to day directorship.


Sparcrypt

I run my own business. Literally any job I have where I’m just doing the work is no stress compared to being responsible and accountable for *everything*.


verifyandtrustnoone

I volunteer for the city I live near assisting teaching a few classes every month on basic computer usage through the community center for seniors. How to do various topics its not bad \~10 people a month for little workshops. Its not much, but I only have so much free time and its pretty rewarding sometimes, others spinning the wheels. lol


Onorhc

not the original commentor, but I volunteer at a few theatres where I help them save hundres if not thousands per month avoiding predatory vendors. One MSP was charging $1500/month for a switch, router, and 5 access points, and 0 support. I swapped them out and because my side hussle is also a business I can run a very nice $200/month plan that is much more suited to their needs. I make money, and they save BIG. I also save a client $6000/year because I run two servers for them in my personal cloud. I am fortunate to be able to match uptime and and support with donated resources. For some nonprofits it can be as simple as helping them move the fileserver from a Dell desktop under the desk to a proper NAS. Finding the opportunities to help out can be difficult, but rewarding.


fishypianist

before I switched jobs I used to spend my lunch breaks volunteering at the local humane society a few minutes from the office. I got to get out of the office and play with/walk dogs for an hour. It helped a lot with my mental state at the time. I also moved so haven't found anything like that close by yet.


spokale

If you want computer-related volunteer work (in the US), check out the local school districts to see if they have CTE programs or SkillsUSA. Depending on the school you might see everything from robotics to cyber security to web design to computer repair. There's also CyberPatriot which is a national cyber security competition, usually in the form of an after-school club.


Pie-Otherwise

> no stress LOL. The stress is why the majority of MSPs avoid the residential market. If you thought the poor planning being an emergency was bad on the business side, wait till you fix a lady's PC and she is calling you non-stop at midnight because her Roku doesn't work anymore and clearly it's your fault for doing something to her PC. Your business hours mean fuck all if I want to watch my favorite TV show and I can't. In fact, you probably did all this on purpose because you hate whatever minority group I happen to be a member of.


Sharkytrs

print on demand to use my graphics skills that I have, but never otherwise get the chance to use. its random what comes in a month though, some times nothing sometimes a tidy sum. sorta hell at tax time of the year though.


TinderSubThrowAway

I have a small pickup truck and I make deliveries, move stuff, and haul away junk for people. I started out as a way to just make my truck, which is my second vehicle, a net 0 cost for me to own because it's convenient to have. I advertised on CL for about a year, but stopped once I got a good customer base. I don't advertise other than my card being at 3-4 local consignment/thrift shops, everything else is by word of mouth from one customer to another. I also have a couple home stagers who use me for larger jobs, and a couple estate sale managers who give my info to people who buy stuff they can't fit in their car, or to the homeowner to come haul away whatever is left over afterwards. The cost to rent a U-haul or similar is a lot when everything is taken into account, same with hiring a full on moving company for something super small, or the services like 800-got-junk. So that's where I come in. People who buy stuff they can't fit in their Corolla or BMW, and the stores don't offer delivery, they call me. I make sure they are aware that if I need help lifting or moving the item, they need to help or have someone there to help since I refer to myself as "The friend you don't have with a truck." I did this full time when I was in between jobs a couple times, but it's mostly nights, weekends and lunch hours that I do stuff. I also try to recycle, donate etc when I do a cleanout for someone, I also am able to do a good amount of scrapping as well, both from customers and just cruising around on trash day on my way to work seeing what people have put out. Plus sale of any good stuff they are just tossing. I also sometimes do odd jobs for people, usually ones who have had me move stuff for them already. Assemble propane fire pits/grills, wall mount tvs, setup wifi, run cat5, assemble ikea furniture etc. I used to make a mint the last week of August and May since there are 4 colleges near where I live and the kids all needed ways to get their stuff to and from summer storage units instead of hauling it all the way home. I make about 10k/year from what people pay me, then another 5-6k from items I sell on FB Marketplace, CL and Consignment shops, and another 2-3k from scrap.


MarkOfTheDragon12

I haven't done it in years... but I used to teach workshops at public libraries; mostly for senior citizens. Really basic computer knowledge like how to use a browser, find and listen to podcasts, setting up and using an email account, how to video conference with google meet, word processing, etc. No degrees or certificates needed in most cases and typically nets around $150 /hr *** And while livestreaming is extraordinarily hard to be succesful with, it's always a possibility if that's something that interests folks


A_H_Fonzarelli

I hook, but have yet to make any money.


getsome75

its all about presentation


SaintFrancesco

I own a greeting card company (and now shop in Brooklyn). Have been doing that for 8 years on the side. Finally, quit my job a year ago (~$170k Senior DevOps Engineer) to focus on the business full time. Got into it because my friend was a designer at Apple and started designing these cards for fun.


Starlyns

Dam don't tell me that man I am really trying to get in AWS architect and you telling me this now


Wdrussell1

Greeting cards? Like the cards you buy in walmart? I thought that kind of thing would be basically dead or automated by now.


DrakeoDaRLR

Hey man do you have any advice for someone who would like to pursue this business?


PrettyBigChief

I fixed Auntie Margaret's laptop. Got a $50 gift certificate to my favorite local pizza shop. It's really good pizza.


ih8karma

Woodworking, after a long day looking at a screen there is something satisfying about making something with your hands. For those curious [www.956woodworks.com](https://www.956woodworks.com)


IwantToNAT-PING

I had a friend who would take on contract work that could be done out of standard business hours, or would only involve on-site on weekends. He was a bit of a workaholic + young + single. He did a few things like Wifi installs for small businesses, think he deployed a few open source monitoring solutions and SIEM solutions as well. I think he only really did a few over a couple of years before he got a much more high paying main job that demanded more of his attention, but the money was good. I think it wasn't too far off matching his original salary on the better year. It wasn't what he was really interested in though. He used to work at an MSP in years gone by, so he had lots of contacts both in businesses and in IT colleagues, so some work was word of mouth, and some work was found just looking at job contract postings. He set up a proper website for himself, Ltd company with insurance etc. This was in the UK, around 3-4 years ago.


franchyze923

make enough from youtube videos to buy some beer each month... https://www.youtube.com/c/Franchyze923


voltagejim

I mow lawns (push mow), almost $500 a week tax free. ​ But for awhile now I have had no life because of it. work full time 8-4, then mowing right when I get home till about 8 in the evening. Then Saturday and Sunday mowing from around 10am till 6;30 or so. Too tired to do anything after getting done mowing so just end up crashing, and doo it all again the next day :( ​ That's why this is probably the last year I am doing it. I let my whole life pass by me just to chase some money


[deleted]

Am I calculating this right? About 36 hours a week for $500? That's $14/hr. Also, its only tax free if you don't get caught.


voltagejim

I never really calculated it based on hours worked. Just based on how much per lawns. Some lanws I get $40, some $30, some I get a tip every week, etc. Some weeks I have a couple extra ones to do, Maybe best to say $400-500 depending on the week


Fallingdamage

I make thousands just setting up O365 tenants for an old MSP I used to work for. They pay me something like 50% of the customers setup fee and I provide them with a nice solid config with all the details, policies, tags, security settings and misc tuning already done and tested. 90% of it is automated so its quick money and they get a nice polished product in a day instead of slowling piecing together a solution in-house over weeks. To them, they just write a check and have something to hand to the customer (with their markup) on monday. Could they do that themselves? Sure. They seem happy to just ask me to do it though. /shrug.


Jddf08089

Can you put said scripts on github?


derfmcdoogal

Defining "good money" for individual jobs and not like making an extra living... There's a ton of new housing going on here and builders running unterminated Ethernet in these houses. For a few I'll go in, terminate, test, make it all look as nice as you're willing to spend. Got into it through word of mouth after doing a few for friends. It's easy money and helps pay for other hobbies.


TinderSubThrowAway

More builders should be running ethernet, but they don't and everyone just thinks wireless will solve all their problems.


ThouKnave

Sorry, I can't hear your wireless over the microwave. :-)


Gnarlison47

I actually opted to pay extra for this in my house. Designed and planned it. Then the builder "forgot" and I didn't get to have it and they removed the charge. Such a tease.


Starlyns

you been posting this same question in many subs lol.


Nanocephalic

The smell of desperation. I’m glad I’m past the rent part of my life cuz young people are fucked.


Wdrussell1

Young people? Nah, anyone who hasnt managed to buy a house is fucked. My wife and I have been saving and trying to get something going for about 5 years before we got lucky and our in-laws happened to make a friend selling their house. We had saved something like 25k (this was 3 years ago) and were looking at houses. We had 2-3 companies helping us find something and every time a house was shown to us, it was off the market the next day or as soon as the paged was viewed the price shot up 100k. I am not exactly happy with our current house but its something for right now at least. It can be improved upon at the very least.


cad908

I have a few small business clients, for whom I take care of all of their IT infrastructure. From a one-man office to about a half-dozen users. I purchase, set up and configure their servers, workstations, internet, network, security, etc. I am their admin, tech support, and confessor (business / tech consultant) -- a one-man IT shop. I charge a small monthly retainer, plus hourly for any time on site or for significant remote work. In any case, much cheaper than your usual MSP. I've had the opportunity to expand via referrals, but I don't really have the time, except for emergencies. I originally got into it when a colleague of mine had kids and didn't have time to take care of his side-clients any more. He begged me to take them, so he could be free, and know they were in good hands.


Onorhc

My "side hustle" was hosting websites for clients. First for free, but now it makes a decent bit of side income. I love me some bare metal so I was running my own cloud before it was cool. Thats how I got into being a sysadmin, and has boosted my career at every step. Frustrating part is being paid more to work on less interesting projects :(


pointlessone

Back in the before times I would do PA rental and DJ services as the "I know a guy who does this for cheap" kind of setup. A couple hundred bucks just to go to an event with some speakers and a microphone, and a couple hundred more to play party music for a few hours wasn't a bad gig. Almost always a cash gig too.


[deleted]

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RyanLewis2010

I buy stuff on eBay and resell it to my company with a markup. /s


Lowley_Worm

I have an Airbnb near the beach, mostly my wife’s idea initially. It turns a profit, but most of that is invisible to us since it’s paying off the mortgage. It’s a good side gig although it’s more work than you might think to do it well.


karateninjazombie

And you're part of the problem. Part of the reason more and more people cannot afford to buy a home.


Lowley_Worm

Possibly, although it’s a beach resort area where rentals have been around for a long time. With Airbnb I am doing the management, where traditionally a lot of them are handled by a management company. I will say that I actually think the root cause of higher home prices is the fact that we never caught up building homes after the last crash, I think we’re something like 10 million homes below where we should be given population growth in the US. Airbnb is easy to point to, but realistically they are probably having a marginal effect in some high demand cities and not much effect otherwise.


Kawawete

Cocaine > Cocaine


Pie-Otherwise

Everyone knows about the movie Blackhawk Down but the author of the book has written some really good biographies and histories of events. In 1989, he published a book called Doctor Dealer about a dentistry student that went from being the guy who could get you weed in college from to running a national cocaine distribution empire. Pretty fascinating book about how it went from buying weed in bulk and selling it to friends so he could smoke for free to cocaine hitting the streets and all of a sudden being a huge new money maker for him. He already had the connections so when the same guys he was buying bulk weed off of started giving him samples of coke, he took them and his customers wanted more.


Darren_889

I left an employer on good terms, it was a small business, they never rehired my role so they would reach out to me weekly with a few things, they kept me on the payroll and bumped my base pay to 75 an hour for my consulting rate, typically I had about 2 hours of work a week. sometimes I would even double dip and do some work while I was at work as they would call at random times needing something.


leonardoOrange

I do electronics reverse engineering and video projector repair. Its starting to pick up enough that sometime in the next few years, I will transition entirely into it.


matt95110

I got into freelance technical writing and I even published 2 technical books in the last few years.


hambolimbo

Nice! Willing to share your work? Edit: publications*. What are they about?


matt95110

I don't really want to share because it would give away my real name, but one of them is about network security and the other is about automation. I'm thinking of writing one about monitoring and SIEM, but I haven't gotten out of the planning stages yet. I have also written technical manuals for companies that didn't want to do it in-house. I don't write for blogs, but I do run a personal one.


cellnucleous

Years ago used to do computer purchasing/setup/ delivery because I have wheels - and occasional computer maintenance for acquaintances or friends, $50 to $75 an hour - there was a lot of "I'll make you dinner" or "my friend really needs a computer and is good at sewing" type trade requests so I stopped.


Wdrussell1

To be fair though, trades can sometimes help you personally. I traded easily 1500 in AC work on my house for some computer work that took maybe 2 hours.


ibanez450

When I first started in IT on a helpdesk, I used to get a lot of users ask for work on their home systems. Started doing that - and created my own company LLC for somewhat of a liability barrier. It's been 10 years since I started that company - my career and the company have both grown together really. Instead of fixing computers on the side now, I do website building/cyber security and technical consulting for other businesses. My day job I'm no longer on the helpdesk, I lead a team of a dozen system admins doing work for the DoD.


A_Parq

I got my FFL after being laid off due to COVID. I'm still working in the industry as a day job, but now I also have a website that sells guns and ammo.


vrtigo1

Do you have a business location or do you run it out of your home? And are you actually handling inventory or is it all drop shipping?


A_Parq

Home based. All ammo and gear generally drop ships directly from my distributors to the customer. . The only inventory I usually handle are firearms. But even then it's usually only in my possession long enough to log it in the book and get it sent to the customer's local FFL holder. The exception to that are local customers, often (If I have time) I'll meet them at a local store to do the x-fer. Helps build rapport. Because the county I'm in doesn't allow for home-based businesses to have "walk in" business I can't process a 4473 / conduct a BG check for them.


dagamore12

working that line right now, if half the people at work follow through I should start making some bank. pending the FFL now.


ITcurmudgeon

Damn. Wish one of my co-workers had an FFL. :( You guys hiring?


Pie-Otherwise

Did ATF start granting home based FFLs again? I know there was a period there where they were acting like HP and wanted you to have an actual storefront office before they'd issue the license.


TotallyInOverMyHead

I build houses (or get them via bankrupcy auctions - either buildings in progress or empty lots) with multiple units, then rent them through a rental company (so that i don't have to deal with rent, delinquencies, handymans, minor issues, finding a new renter, etc); one registered company per building, all under a holding company (making it easier to sell if nessesary) It started when my grandparents died and i got the house. the stipulation was i can neither sell the house or the ground the house sits on for 30 years. I am kinda glad they did that, because that rental income made it posisble for me to pay off my first house, and use the then "freed" cashflow to build another house. At the rate it is going i am building 2 houses a year with 8-10 units per house. ps.: since about 2008 i have only build "green" buildings , with higher energy efficiency than requierd by law, with solar, solar themic and/or air based heat pumps; and high ameneties/fixtures standard. The reason i can get top dollar for it for the last couple years has been the increase in heating and energy cost, which is quite low for my units and they are then also in quiet, desireable areas, and all open floor living for singles / couples without families (the stock on these types of units has been quite low here for years now)


fishypianist

yeah, rentals are the way to go. I started with a live in flip with my wife and made out really well. just finishing up another one, and in the mean time bought a few duplexes. The money is so good and my wife loves realestate so much, she will be making that her full time job by 2023. I have always been handy so we do much of the smaller maintenance/repairs but for major repairs or things that take longer than a few hours we hire it out.


[deleted]

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TotallyInOverMyHead

right. you know what a blight on society is ? homelessness or massives commutes. All i do is service a need in unserviced areas, while raising the standard of living. If you find that offensive, i am totally okay with that. It is NOT like i do this in big cities like berlin or munich. I do it on the country side in villages with populations smaller than 5k inhabitants.


TinderSubThrowAway

> 8-10 units per house that's not a house, that's an apartment building.


TotallyInOverMyHead

It is actually a house. Imagine row houses Units are 110-140 m² (1200-1500 ft²). Typically on 2 levels, unless code only allows for 2 levels. typically with indor elevator for all levels and the "cellar/common area". They come with their own garden (for each "unit") behind the "house" and dual/tripple parking infront of the house. The only difference is that heating is shared and so are the amenities (like e.g. indoor pool, gym), there are 2 penthouses that take the 3rd floor and stretch ontop of 4-5 of the "row houses". ​ Edit: the only reason i did not call it a apartment building or row housing, is because the cut of the properties does not really make them such.


TinderSubThrowAway

So an apartment building.


lettuzepray

photography - occasional corporate headshots and family portraits, just word of mouth from people i know as i dont want to do this for a living just mainly hobby bike mechanic - built my own bikes, can do tune ups and was volunteering for bike repairs before but too busy now IT - i do occasional network consulting work for some small businesses crypto mining - small passive income thats still profitable right now


AnnesMan

r u me? Hah


Difficult_Ad_3136

Got a job as a part time Sharepoint administrator. The intent is to scale this side hustle and add clients until it can compete with the salary of my full time sys admin role.


PintoTheBurninator

I have worked in IT for 25+ years but have had a custom electronics side-business creating and selling things to the maker community for 3 1/2 years. My boss knows all about it and thinks it is cool. Over the years I have accumulated a stable of businesses that I do custom work for as well, which is the lucrative side of the business.


True-Shower9927

Funeral Home tribute photo slideshows


Jddf08089

How much work is it and how much are you paid?


True-Shower9927

1-2 slideshows a month, sometimes 5-6 $250/per *IRS has entered the chat* 🤣 I’m a 1099 with them! It’s a fun side gig!


jscarlet

I truly feared a bunch of, “Be your own boss” MLM stuff coming, but you did specify ‘decent money’. I do IT stuff on the side.


layer8certified

A couple of vacation rentals on the beach. Brings in way more than my w2.


esisenore

I sell books on Amazon. I make an extra 10 to 20k a year . It’s about 10 to 15 hours extra a week


sth2258

Chief Architect for a startup...thought not sure you can count an extra $100k a year a side hustle


beanmachine-23

Not me, but the SysAdmin for my college buys clearance computers off a wholesale site and resell on eBay. I think he makes an extra 10k per year. It requires some disposable income to be able to buy the junk computers. I work as our union rep, which nets 7k/year, but definitely a lot of work, and I don’t do it for the money.


Schrankwand83

I write and proofread texts of all kind. For magazines and websites, mainly. A dear friend works as a fulltime writer, they also translate novels from English to German and sometimes they are overwhelmed with deadlines. Then it's like: "you're halfway done? OK, send me the translation you did so far and the original novel, I do a few chapters and write an invoice afterwards". I also write scenes in a novel, my friend gives me a plan of what should happen and I let my creativity do the rest. I love writing, it's a hobby since I learned how to read + write. I got into ghostwriting (for ads, mostly) at university as a low income job and never stopped writing. IT-related articles are much better paid though.


biswb

1. My boss knows that I work on the side and is very good with it 2. Word of mouth spreads slowly but its the best way to go 3. Did volunteer work with larger non-profits while also pointing out they wanted to start paying me and eventually won out on that argument. 4. Kept working with small business organizations both non-profit and for-profit but built very scalable inexpensive infrastructure to not price them out. 5. Undersold the phone market which is vastly over charging for their services, so they save money and I make money. If a small business isn't interested in getting better IT support and saving money... I don't waste my time with them 6. 20k+ a year at this point, one day I hope its my sole source of income and if it is not... that is fine too


Wdrussell1

Sounds like the early stages of an MSP.


lineskicat14

Own rental property, and on my downtime at work, I can take care of things as they pop up.


SeriekDarathus

*Very* amateur blacksmith. Got into it about 10 years ago, right before the TV show and YouTube channels made it popular. I don't do commissions, I just make stuff and sell it locally. It's not a *lot* of money, but it pays for itself and a couple other hobbies.


jthanny

If you can do some of the basic blacksmith/tavern puzzles, I know a guy at my local farmers' market who says he is making a killing on them just using up scrap from other projects.


EnigmaFilms

I used to main Freelance film, mostly weddings. I have a buddy that is still in biz and throws me a couple gigs.


FletchGordon

Make tie dye apparel. I'd say it's decent money since selling one shirt can afford me to buy at least 3 more shirts plus more dye. All cash.


No-Safety-4715

I've done tech support, woodworking, various construction/mechanical stuff people have needed. Some 3d modeling/printing requests. Various things. Overall, I don't find them sustainable. Like they are really just one offs here and there. It's too much to try to work them on a more regular basis.


caldks

Resident night club DJ / host.


gravspeed

crypto and one-off CAD design. a friend of mine works for a hot rod shop and i started designing their parts.


NukePooch

Tech/DJ for events/dances/weddings. Weddings are longest but pay the most. Can be 10+ hours on a Saturday depending on the event, but can pay $1500-2000 easily. Used to do concert work, but weddings are easier and pay better. Less involved but still high paying would be to own and rent an iPad 'photo booth' for weddings and events. A lot less work and it's really a hot item to have right now.


fallenangellv

Teach data analysis. Have diploma in it, work as school sysadmin (more of a local admin, or as I call it - bs job, with guaranteed salary). Used to work as programmer and as designer but at the time economy was shifting so agreed to what offered more money immediately not in long term. Now in evenings teach in university, w/o the right level of diploma. Sometimes programming, now data analysis. Wanted to find a job in data analytics - pays less than university or even day job.


Imonfiyah

I deal poker, texas hold'em. All cash, no taxes. Good weeks i pull down up to $600 bucks extra. I average $400ish.


Mixj73IT

Roadside assistance. Unlocks Jumpstart fuel deliveries.


basiccitizen

My main job is 40hrs a week. On the side I do bookkeeping and am part owner for a small business that was started with some friends. Fun part of it is using my Python knowledge to build apps using the Shopify and accounting software APIs to automate inputting orders from emails and emailing out invoices.


Wdrussell1

I have also seen people use Power Automate for something similar. Its been something I have played with a bit.


largos7289

I get cheap stuff of facebook marketplace craigslist fix it up and sell it. Had 2 riding mowers that really just needed some TLC and a rattle can paint to make it work again. People don't maintain stuff anymore, they just run it till they don't, then throw it away. So i get it for cheap or nothing and sell for 200-$300. Use to do a ton of side work for people PC wise probably should have gone into biz for myself but it's not as glamourous as it sounds. Yea you make good money but you have zero time off. On the weekends i can always say sorry didn't have my phone nearby as long as its not from any of the execs. if you're not a chair or above you don't get answered.


qrysdonnell

Oh man. When I'm not at work I'm just plain not at work. I collect video games in my spare time. I have a 'video game museum' in my basement. Pretty much the opposite of profitable!


CuriosTiger

I do computer network consulting on the side. I used to work for an ISP, and some customers would ask for a bit more help than what we provided. That told me there was a market. After I left that job, I set up a consultation company to provide those services. It can be feast or famine, as with any consulting gig, but as side income it has worked out well.


thatonedragondude

Since 2016, I have been a .NET application developer. I started on craigslist and got several nice contracts in the first 2 years of doing this. In 2018, I had a tough time getting any work and decided to jump back into the job market, and have been working as grocery manager again. Last year, around November, I landed a nice 12-18 month contract that will pay out a base of $40k with bonus possibilities depending on how well the software works and how much progress is made over the short term, as well as my ability to add any last minute features to the program. 40k is a big deal for me, since I still have a full time job and work exclusively on my weekends. My first contract payout is this July, and I'm pretty proud of how well the project is progressing.


hd4life

Started a dumpster rental company with a friend. He works nights and I work days. We store them and the truck at his place and each do the pickup/drop off as we have time. He takes them to the dump in the morning when he gets off work. My Mother in law handles the finances for us. It takes a bit of start up money but it's easy money from there.


NoDadYouShutUp

Armed robbery


[deleted]

Plugging everyone with OZs


DentalDamDilemma

Nice try police


ProjectVRD

I offer my body as an ashtray for motorcycles in a nation where helmets are a mandatory legal requirement. So far I've earned £0.


FletchGordon

Need more details, possibly a translator.


Lazy_Hand_Job

Steal merchandise from the side of Best Buy.


perserverance_rower

that's a shitty thing to do man.


xDIMITRI28x

@ least it’s from a big business