How can I make money on the side?

Re: How can I make money on the side?

I'm going to assume you're under 18.
In Canada we can get certain types of jobs as young as 14 years old, I'm not sure what your circumstance is but it might be worthwhile to look into getting a part time job, something simple that doesn't require a whole lot of experience.
Not only will it give you a sense of purpose and pride but it'll also instill some worth ethic into you over time along with a somewhat stable income.

Definitely look into the laws of where you currently live because then you'll know for certain what you're able to work, if anything at all,

Re: How can I make money on the side?

Thanks for the advice!

Re: How can I make money on the side?

talk to your family about your desire to help earn money. they could help you figure out how you can help in your specific situation where strangers on here can't know.

generally depending on your age and neighborhood you could offer to do yard work, shoveling for neighbors, some babysitting, dog walking etc.

Re: How can I make money on the side?

solid advice right here

Re: How can I make money on the side?

1. See if you can sell some things you already own and aren't using. That could help you finance your next purchase. Some people's trash are other people's treasures! I have had some success with Facebook's Marketplace and eBay over the years.

Also, since you are mentioning retro games, see if you can find alternatives that would be more cost effecient than the real deal. I know this might seem like boring advice, but I have been collecting video games for almost 20 years now and I think my perspective can be relevant for you. For example, there are many avenues available today that I would personally recommend over owning the real stuff:

- Emulation, it's totally free and is usually accurate enough to give you an equivalent experience
- Everdrives, made by Krikzz (https://krikzz.com/), are cartridges than you can plug into original consoles and run ROMs from an SD card. Impossible to tell the difference between a game played from an Everdrive and a real cartridge
- The MiSTer FPGA, which uses the same technology as Everdrives, but can replicate entire consoles and arcade cabinets. You can even connect it to retro TVs with the right adapter. If you're thinking of deeply exploring the rabbit hole that is retro gaming, I would keep this option on the back of my mind. This is how I do all of my retro gaming. See https://felixleger.com/posts/2020/10...e-mister-fpga/

The reasons I don't recommend investing in genuine retro consoles and games in 2024 are:

- Once you've had your fun, in 10+ years you probably will think about selling them to get your money back. Retro games are expensive and often grow in value, which makes them seem like an investment. However, selling them is a journey and takes time to find the right buyer. See https://felixleger.com/posts/2021/03...rding-project/
- As retro video games age, they need to be maintained in working order. Parts can be difficult to come across. This is great if you are interested in learning how these machines are made and work, but you have to be ready for it.
- Games such as Earthbound are popular among retro enthusiasts, and for this reason it is tempting for sellers to sell a bootleg copy as the real deal. Make sure you know what to look for before buying so you're getting what you think you're getting, otherwise you'll have a difficult time selling at market value, unless you rip off another collector (I don't recommend it!)

If you have any questions on the topic of retro collecting, feel free to reach out directly, I would be happy to assist on that front and prevent you from making the same mistakes I made when I was beginning.

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2. Have you had a discussion with your parents about their stress levels around money? They might have suggestions for you about what would help them. By the way, many adults struggle with money because they were never taught how to think about money. Education is the best recommendation I can make here. If you want to help your parents on that front, the best way might be to look for reliable sources of information. Gaining money is one thing; knowing how to use it right is a whole other thing! If you find the material below relevant, share it with them and try to have discussions on those topics.

One of my favorite resource for learning how to think differently about money is Ramit Sethi's I Will Teach You To Be Rich. He also has a popular podcast on the same topic (https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/podcast/) that my partner and I listened to together many times before going to bed.

Re: How can I make money on the side?

I want to say quick that I made it sound like my situation is worse then it actually is. I should have worded it diffrently. it's just that living in a big family cost a lot. But my living is not bad, it's good. It was just for a moment it felt like we were because of the lack of info I had. We have money for the necessities and more. Im sorry to lead people in the wrong direction. I sincerely apologies.

Re: How can I make money on the side?

you didn't say anything wrong. your desires are important no matter the situation. happy to offer advice and if it turns out you feel more settled about it after talking with your family that's great!

Re: How can I make money on the side?

Yup, totally alright. Maybe I went overboard. I'm happy that things are good for you. If you have enough for the necessities and more, then that's awesome. It means you have an opportunity that most people will never live: you have a chance at investing. There are many great books on the subject, such as Millionaire Teacher. No matter how much money you have access to, you will never be done learning about how to wisely use money. I hope that someone "rich" on this forum would confirm. I'm still learning how these things work.

Here's something random about money that I don't hear a lot about. You can make an Excel sheet that shows you in how many years you'll get 1 million dollars if you save (in the right type of account, etc....) X amount of dollars per year.



This will be depressing for some, and will be a source of joy for others. But it is the bare truth. Knowing is better than not knowing, because knowledge is power.

Have a happy life!

Re: How can I make money on the side?

So as someone who has always been reasonably good with money numbers I've decided to redo this graph with a few extra additions as well. The top left table is exactly the same as the previous one, the other ones either account for mortgage rates (for the first 30 years deductible from tax) and/or local tax rates. (All based on dutch law / economy)
On top of that I've also calculated the average yearly income left over after cost of living (excluding mortgage/rent payments since those have already been included).

Now it should be noted that the tax i'm applying is income tax that's constant at this rate over X years. But it should be roughly correct since your income will also grow with the taxes if the government is doing mentally okay.

But in the most reasonable of circumstances where you do not spend a single penny more than you should (no vacations, living frugal) you'd need to work well beyond your pension age (in my case if I start right now working a job that requires experience and a diploma in my sector of preference I'd need to quit at age 90) and that's not even counting the roughly €50.000 of student loan debt i'd acquire and have rent over paying that back.

Graphs like these are only fun when you don't look at the external circumstances, but only considering tax and rent/mortgage you're already looking at an incredibly depressing image considering the maximum amount of work you'll be doing is 50 years if you're around 20yo and the fact you won't start near the underlined amount at all starting out your career. I'd be dead before I'd be a millionaire

Re: How can I make money on the side?

Very interesting! I'm clearly not as well versed as you are in personal finance. I notice that you use a 2.46% average annual annual interest rate, what's the reasoning behind that choice? Is it linked to mortgage?

Re: How can I make money on the side?

Unfortunately these are the rates over here for banks that are well known by name / stable in terms of how long they exist. And since the government only guarantees up to €100.000 money back if a bank crashes the mortgage providers do not put a lot of trust in those banks (even if they go up to like 4-5%). 2.46% is actually the HIGHEST rate you're getting with the known banks right now, and even the one I selected is still quite new on the market in terms of how well-trusted they are.

This is all mainly an after-effect of the '07-'08 global crisis (thanks USA), on top of that we had the European debt crisis where several eurozone member states were unable to repay or refinance their government debt. The housing crisis has been hitting insanely hard here as well all leading to a really stagnant economy that's only been getting worse. And then the Russo-Ukrainian war came around, COVID and more and the oil supply got fucked. As you can see this has all led to a big decrease in rates that's only recently been going up again, though it looks like a dead cat bounce so i suspect it'll be back at 1-2% for ALL banks soon again as well.

Here are some historic rates the past 20 years for 10-year and 5-year secured rates. Again, all this is based on the local economy in the Netherlands, but things aren't quite as bright anywhere in the world right now it seems.

Re: How can I make money on the side?

The fact that you are asking here tells me you are looking for 'easy money.'
Because simple "money on the side" is not something you need to ask an internet forum for tips on.
What do you need extra money for?
What skills do you offer?

Re: How can I make money on the side?

Examples from personal experience that may or may not apply to you:

1. Donate plasma. Takes about 45 minutes to an hour per donation 2x maximum donations per week. $110-$120 per week.

2. Work a part-time merchandiser job. I started working for Retail Merchandising Services (RMS) earlier this week. About 10 hours a week, roughly $13usd an hour. I'm a merchandiser vendor for a Super Target near my house. I go in this evening to break down the Valentines Day greeting cards and set up the Mother's Day cards if the shipment came in.

Both act as a secondary income with my full-time Amazon job.

Re: How can I make money on the side?

this is the kind of thread where it would have been really hard not to get banned giving terrible advice in 2007