Making or Saving Money

[tibberous]

I am getting a house and between the new payment, bills and taxes I'm going to be poor as hell. I will basically have just enough to live on, working 40 hours a week - I'll also have very little money to try and make money with.

 

I am looking for a way to make 1-2 thousand more a month in addition to my full-time ($1,500-1,000 under-the-table)

 

I know PHP and Flash, which might be the easiest way to make money, but it is hard to spend all day programming just to go home and program. I thought about renting out part of my new house, but that really wouldn't make much money.

 

I could do body work on the weekends, would only have to pay a thousand or two for a setup. What sucks though is that I don't have a garage -- but I do have a spring house that I could probably turn into a garage.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

[xylex]

Don't buy a house you can't afford?  Thought that one was made pretty clear with the current market.....

[.josh]

You could sell your body to science.  Or to locals looking for a good time...

[TheFilmGod]

You are F****. You could always sell some narcotics...

 

Making extra money isn't easy. You could sell your cds/bonds/car/property. You could start saving money by buying cheaper food/clothes. You could get a loan? Possibly get an equity.

 

Or even better. Nationalize the programming industry. 

[Maq]

Buy Ramon noodles and hunt deer in your backyard.

[corbin]

You are F****. You could always sell some narcotics...

 

Making extra money isn't easy. You could sell your cds/bonds/car/property. You could start saving money by buying cheaper food/clothes. You could get a loan? Possibly get an equity.

 

Or even better. Nationalize the programming industry. 

 

 

Or he could just sell his wife/kids.

 

Kidding.  Maybe.

 

 

 

 

But seriously.  Perhaps don't buy a house you can't afford?  Maybe your standard of living sucks now, but will it really be any better if you're constantly wondering how you're going to pay the mortgage?

[.josh]

But seriously.  Perhaps don't buy a house you can't afford?  Maybe your standard of living sucks now, but will it really be any better if you're constantly wondering how you're going to pay the mortgage?

 

you know, most people do live paycheck to paycheck.

[corbin]

Yeah, but just because most people do it doesn't mean it should be done.

 

 

Then again, I would probably want a house too x.x.

[Maq]

But seriously.  Perhaps don't buy a house you can't afford?  Maybe your standard of living sucks now, but will it really be any better if you're constantly wondering how you're going to pay the mortgage?

 

you know, most people do live paycheck to paycheck.

 

Not even, the majority of the people in the United States are technically in debt.  Granted, it is mostly by choice, such as buying a house or car etc...

[.josh]

Yeah, but just because most people do it doesn't mean it should be done.

 

 

Then again, I would probably want a house too x.x.

 

yes, because most people choose to live paycheck to paycheck.  Probably because it beats being rich.  I hear that's a terrible thing.  Easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than get a rich man into heaven even.

 

[corbin]

I was basically expecting that response.  Just felt like being difficult and pointing out that your first response to me was worded to imply that because a majority of people do something, it is the most correct thing to do.

 

 

 

I guess I don't really have issues with paycheck to paycheck living.  I have issues with people living out of their means, which is to what paycheck to paycheck living can eventually lead.

 

 

Then again, you could easily use the same argument again.  "Just because someone has less money than someone else, the less well off person doesn't deserve an equal quality of living?"

[.josh]

well my initial statement was meant as a "most people don't have the choice, not everybody can be rich."

 

And I think I have to disagree with your assertion that paycheck to paycheck living eventually leads to living outside of one's means.  You need a car to get to work.  You can spend thousands of dollars on a new car or you can spend thousands of dollars on a mechanic to keep an old car running.  You need a place to leave.  You can spend thousands of dollars on a house that you will eventually own or pay twice as month in rent every month and never own it.  You can work 40hrs a week at a McJob and reduce practically eat for free or you can work 100hrs a week at a "real" job that pays more but have no time to cook, forcing you to buy expensive ready-made stuff. 

 

I don't know where you live but I've lived all over the states and in my experience there are very few people who have lots of money and nothing to do with it.  You get a better paying job and it demands more money to be spent to keep that job.  You get a job that doesn't require shit and you get paid shit.  Apparently we've got it down to a science to make sure no matter what, you are indeed living paycheck to paycheck or in debt.

[Ken2k7]

Buy Ramon noodles and hunt deer in your backyard.

I think Ramen noodles is expensive. You'll need to either eat 10 cups or 5 bags of them just for one meal. And you'll be hungry after 3 hours. Then you'll need to make more of them. Waste of electricity or gas just to cook them while they don't fill you up at all. But I do love them. Too bad it's not great for my health or else I would eat it all the time like Naruto Uzumaki.

[corbin]

And I think I have to disagree with your assertion that paycheck to paycheck living eventually leads to living outside of one's means.  You need a car to get to work.  You can spend thousands of dollars on a new car or you can spend thousands of dollars on a mechanic to keep an old car running.  You need a place to leave.  You can spend thousands of dollars on a house that you will eventually own or pay twice as month in rent every month and never own it.  You can work 40hrs a week at a McJob and reduce practically eat for free or you can work 100hrs a week at a "real" job that pays more but have no time to cook, forcing you to buy expensive ready-made stuff. 

 

 

 

Hrmmm....  Fair enough.

[zq29]

Then again, you could easily use the same argument again.  "Just because someone has less money than someone else, the less well off person doesn't deserve an equal quality of living?"

 

Personally, I don't see that as a valid argument. Generally, people who earn more money have put more effort into getting to where they are. People who put little to no effort in don't deserve an equal quality of living to that of the former. You get out what you put in.

[.josh]

Then again, you could easily use the same argument again.  "Just because someone has less money than someone else, the less well off person doesn't deserve an equal quality of living?"

 

Personally, I don't see that as a valid argument. Generally, people who earn more money have put more effort into getting to where they are. People who put little to no effort in don't deserve an equal quality of living to that of the former. You get out what you put in.

 

What a load of shit.  If that's true then why is it that the most back breaking jobs are also the least paying jobs?

[Daniel0]

I think what SA meant was that the higher paying jobs require skills that take a long time obtaining. Studying several years on a university and working yourself up to a high level management position in a large corporation takes a lot of time and is thus highly paid. The low-pay back breaking jobs, on the contrary, typically require no prior qualifications, and you could walk in from the street getting the job assuming they need more people.

[zq29]

I think what SA meant was that the higher paying jobs require skills that take a long time obtaining. Studying several years on a university and working yourself up to a high level management position in a large corporation takes a lot of time and is thus highly paid. The low-pay back breaking jobs, on the contrary, typically require no prior qualifications, and you could walk in from the street getting the job assuming they need more people.

Sorry, yes, that was what I meant.

[.josh]

Yeah but to me he also implies that everybody starts out on equal ground and some work harder than others to reach those highly paid positions, when that is not true.  Most people start out low income and consequently, remain in that bracket for the rest of their lives.  This is relatively speaking, of course.  Even the poorest American is still living better than the average 3rd world country person. 

[Daniel0]

Right, of course some people just have rich parents which makes their possibilities for success far greater. Complete equality obviously isn't possible. Not even in so-called communist countries does total equality exist. Some people are satisfied not being super wealthy though. Some people are satisfied with being trash men, cleaning staff, etc. and to be honest, that is a good thing. A society consisting solely on academics and executives wouldn't work.

[akitchin]

takes money to make money.

I am getting a house and between the new payment, bills and taxes I'm going to be poor as hell. I will basically have just enough to live on, working 40 hours a week - I'll also have very little money to try and make money with.

 

I am looking for a way to make 1-2 thousand more a month in addition to my full-time ($1,500-1,000 under-the-table)

 

I know PHP and Flash, which might be the easiest way to make money, but it is hard to spend all day programming just to go home and program. I thought about renting out part of my new house, but that really wouldn't make much money.

 

I could do body work on the weekends, would only have to pay a thousand or two for a setup. What sucks though is that I don't have a garage -- but I do have a spring house that I could probably turn into a garage.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

 

sounds like the body work will be costly to start up, and capital isn't exactly something you're rife with at the moment. i would have assumed that logically, body work is out right now.

 

whether you like the idea of programming or not, it's probably the only effective way to increase your income at the moment. nothing says increasing your income should be easy or fun. other thoughts for after-hours jobs are a paper route (i know, i know) and tutoring (if you happen to know common topics such as science and math quite well).

 

as for everyone else telling you not to buy a house you can't afford, i think they're missing the point that you CAN afford it, but that you won't have much left over to play with. considering a house is an investment (better than pissing money away on rent, despite how much interest is in the earlier payments), i don't think that's such a bad thing. that is, assuming you don't NEED this extra income to cover the mortgage.

[zq29]

I appreciate that everyone doesn't start out on an equal footing, but there are countless success stories of people starting with nothing and becoming very wealthy and it almost always involves a lot of hard work. I know you're always going to hear about the extreme stories, but I'm sure there are thousands of self-made fortunes that you don't hear of because they lack that extremity.

 

The problem is, you'll get a different view of what "hard work" is depending on who you ask - The people arguing that they deserve the same lifestyle as the wealthier are probably under the illusion that "hard work" is keeping their head down for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week; or lifting bags of sand around for 6 hours a day. The wealthier will argue that "hard work" is 20 hours a day, 7 days a week.

[akitchin]

The problem is, you'll get a different view of what "hard work" is depending on who you ask - The people arguing that they deserve the same lifestyle as the wealthier are probably under the illusion that "hard work" is keeping their head down for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week; or lifting bags of sand around for 6 hours a day. The wealthier will argue that "hard work" is 20 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 

i would add that "hard work" probably includes a measure of risk for those who have risen in rank. it's easy to work hard labour and not try anything new, and bring home a steady paycheque all the time. it's different to save $x amount of money, only to invest it in something that could totally fail, or to open your own business that could also fail, or to go to school to get a degree that could end up being useless, etc.

[.josh]

while I do certainly agree that 10 people will probably have 10 different opinions as to what constitutes hard work, I'm not so sure I'd personally agree that the element of risk is necessarily part of that equation.  I mean by that logic, you can throw gambling and playing the lotto into the mix and call that hard work (no offense to the professional gamblers.  Speaking at you Tom, lol).

[akitchin]

while I do certainly agree that 10 people will probably have 10 different opinions as to what constitutes hard work, I'm not so sure I'd personally agree that the element of risk is necessarily part of that equation.  I mean by that logic, you can throw gambling and playing the lotto into the mix and call that hard work (no offense to the professional gamblers.  Speaking at you Tom, lol).

 

i agree, i guess i should have said investment instead.