Ask HN: How do I make a lot of money quickly?

15 points by makufiru 10 years ago | 49 comments

I'm a 22 year old software developer with nearly 2 years of experience in full-stack software development. I'm pretty proficient in both frontend and backend technologies, and have built full web systems through to completion that are in production use today.

I have a lot of free time. I'm young and single with no interest in relationships right now. I'm looking for a way to make large amounts of money very quickly, and I need some ideas here.

Note: I do make pretty good money already, but my expenses/standard of living are also pretty high. :/

TL;DR : What are some good or creative ways to make a decent amount of money ($5k+) in a short amount of time? (1-3 months)

smoyer 10 years ago |

It's easier to keep the money you earn than to earn more, and the discipline will provide long-lasting benefits. You'll be surprised to find that you can live with far less expenses without decreasing your standard of living. It will however require thought.

thenomad 10 years ago | |

"It's easier to keep the money you earn than to earn more"

That's true in some cases and some circumstances, but not all. Apart from anything else, if there are things you want or need that cost more than you currently earn on a per-month basis, then it's definitely easier to earn more in order to be able to afford them.

There are also a number of circumstances where it's far easier to make more money than make more savings - for example, the very common "freelancer drastically undercharging" or "exemplary, beloved full-time employee who can probably get a raise just by asking" ones.

"the discipline will provide long-lasting benefits"

Depends how you do it. In general I'd agree with you, but being excessively frugal can be just as damaging to your health and happiness, and that of your family, as being spendthrift.

seiji 10 years ago |

I'm looking for a way to make large amounts of money very quickly, and I need some ideas here.

You've come to the right place.

I'm pretty proficient in both frontend and backend technologies

This is where you fall down. It's possible you are very amazing and nobody knows it yet. If so, you have an advantage — you can create something new and crush competitors before they know you're a threat. It's also possible you're in the "overestimating abilities" phase of a career. The best case here is to have someone else tell you how good you are.

What are some good or creative ways to make a decent amount of money ($5k+) in a short amount of time? (1-3 months)

Put all your money into Apple stock during rumor season.

Read and execute on affiliate marketing.

Read and execute on ebook publishing for in-demand niches.

Bake bacon fudge and sell it on the street corner for a profit.

Bake cake pops and sell them to offices for a profit.

Busk.

Get hired at a place with a sign-on bonus then flee the country after they pay it out.

Sell organs (yours and/or others).

Dance like nobody's watching, put it on youtube, enable ads.

CPLX 10 years ago |

Are you handy with chemicals? Happen to own an RV?

makufiru 10 years ago | |

Good suggestion, but I'm looking for something a little more wholesome. Like a hired hitman.

gspetr 10 years ago | | |

You came to the right place. Why not raise a round with YC to disrupt the assassination industry?

I always thought they were making a killing.

If only you could take out the competition.

raincom 10 years ago | |

Work as a mule?

floor__ 10 years ago |

I hear the lottery pays out well. To make a lot of money quickly requires a lot of money to begin with. You have no interest in relationships? Some would say a relationship and the experience is worth far more than any amount of money.

andreasklinger 10 years ago |

I know you write "no relationships" but maybe reconsider this.

Imo combine:

* low cost of living / fixed costs

* remote work for SF/Bay based companies (biggest delta in budgets vs talent available)

People tend to recommend "project based contract" work. Imo those attract people who want to pay less. Look for people who actually look for quality employees and are happy to pay global salaries. Combine this with a low cost of living and you have a good place to start with to save money.

eg $5k+ saving for a few months sounds reasonable if you compare it with "global salaries"

https://angel.co/jobs#find/f!%7B%22locations%22%3A%5B%22Sili...

apart of that: you have a job that works in your resume and you might end up working on a project that becomes a big learning experience

Mandatum 10 years ago |

Seems to be a lot of no-content responses here which is a shame.

Realistically your best bet is to do consultancy/contracting work. With 2 years experience you could easily pick up a Jnr or Intermediate role at $40-80/hr. Over a month you'll have your 5K.

Pull 80 hour weeks on in-your-own-time contracts and you'll make it in a week.

You also need to cut living costs out entirely. If you wanted to go extreme, sell everything you own and live in your car, and take a free 7-day trial at every gym in your area over the next few months.

I did this before moving overseas for a few months, once a month I'd stay at a friends place for the weekend - definitely not for the faint of heart.

aspdotnetvan 10 years ago | |

I don't know if I am being ripped off, I am currently working at a small company in BC, Canada, doing ASP.NET with some front-end (recent college grad, working full-time 9-5). My salary is ~37k/year. "With 2 years experience you could easily pick up a Jnr or Intermediate role at $40-80/hr" - is it in the Valley?

mattm 10 years ago | | |

Pay in BC is low compared to what you'll read about SV here. My first job in Victoria was around $45k but apparently I was lucky to get that as the standard junior level salary was around $36k (this was back in 2007).

If you want to make more money, you'll probably have to move south. If you live in Victoria or Vancouver (I'm guessing Van from your username), the cost of living isn't that much higher in SF but you'll be able to make a lot more.

Vic/Van seem to have a "nice place to live" tax. Companies pay less because people like living there. OTOH, there is less stress and 9-5 usually means that so it's a tradeoff.

Mandatum 10 years ago | | |

For 2 years experience as a .NET dev if you're earning <50K you're either living in the boondocks/working remotely.

The rate I indicated was for contract work rather than full-time employment, however.

This sounds like your first job, your first job always sucks. If you're not learning anything new, or getting bored I'd suggest dusting your CV and putting yourself out there.

kspaans 10 years ago | | |

For reference my first job was $70k/year at RIM/BlackBerry in Waterloo, Ontario. I was writing C code for the BB10 phone app (middleware, not UI or cellular radio stuff). Admittedly I had ~2 years work experience from UWaterloo's co-op program though.

miguelrochefort 10 years ago | | |

Two years of mobile development (iOS and Android) experience in Montreal. I make less than you do.

Surely that's a Valley thing.

ineedhelpwmath 10 years ago |

I would think the best way would be to start out with a large sum of money and invest it conservatively. If the initial sum is large enough, your investments will yield a lot of money quickly.

Do you have access to a large sum of money?

makufiru 10 years ago | |

If I did, I probably wouldn't be asking how to make money quickly.

ineedhelpwmath 10 years ago | | |

Well you should have stated that clearly in the initial prompt, I'm not in the business of making assumptions.

kleer001 10 years ago |

> "I'm looking for a way to lose large amounts of money very quickly"

Fixed that for you.

Any scheme to maximize wealth over time with minimal risk has already been exploited. When you open yourself up to large gains in a short time you also take on large risks. Ain't no rewards without risk. And if there are they get drained really quickly.

Sorry if it sounds age-ist or judgmental, but at 22 maybe you haven't quite realized how long human civilizations and markets have been around, how many smart people have worked their whole lives to maximize their reward versus risk ratios.

brightball 10 years ago |

Reduce your cost of living. Simplest and most direct approach that is easy for you to control. Penny saved is a penny earned and all that.

HeyLaughingBoy 10 years ago | |

This can be a good approach, but it's fundamentally limited. If your living expenses are $X/month, the biggest increase you can get by reducing expenses is $X/month.

OTOH, if you focus on producing something, you can potentially achieve $X*BIGNUM/month

mkozlows 10 years ago |

Bet on the winners of sporting events.

(Note: This works best if you have previously picked up a sports almanac from the future.)

thenomad 10 years ago |

What you're suggesting is perfectly doable, apart from the "very quickly" bit.

Making $5k a month shouldn't be too hard, but almost all of the ways to do it have ramp-up time. Becoming a specialised contractor, starting a business of one kind or another, going down the usual Internet Marketing routes (which do work if you put the time in) - they'll all get you considerably beyond $5kpm, but none of them are really doable in a 3 month window.

If you're really serious about doing this, commit a year at least and start learning.

(BTW, you have read "The Four Hour Work Week", right? If not, definitely have a read.)

aliston 10 years ago | |

Could you expand on the "usual" internet marketing routes? What would be some good places for a beginner to start?

thenomad 10 years ago | | |

SEO, paid traffic affiliate marketing, infoproducts, SaaS, viral / social media-led stuff, paid blogging - those are the usual routes that spring to mind. Some cross over.

Good places to start learning:

"Four Hour Work Week", as mentioned, and Tim Ferriss' blog. "The $100 Startup" - book. Smart Passive Income - blog Viperchill - blog ProBlogger - blog. Ignore the guest posts, read stuff by the founder Darren Rowse.

taphangum 10 years ago |

There are literally millions of micro-niches online where spending x will yield x per month, fairly consistenly. Just find these, and scale.

For example: Udemy courses. I have one that does $3,500 a month on the high end, and about $500 a month on the low end. I know a guy who gets about the same average but has created roughly 40 courses. He, as you can imagine, makes a little more than $5k a month.

Btw, my investment in the course was no more than $200 total. Plus of course about 20 hours of my time.

Rainymood 10 years ago | |

What are the courses on? Could you elaborate a bit more on what you provide for the X / month? Do you make 20 videos and then put them on? Do you have to grade their homework?

thepredestrian 10 years ago | | |

I too would am curious to know

HockeyPlayer 10 years ago |

Pick up some local nights & weekend work on Craiglist. You want $5k in 2 months, that means you need to charge $50/hour and work 15 hours/week for 7 months.

zyncl19 10 years ago |

Switch jobs. About 2 years experience is a good time for a switch. You probably won't find a $5k/month raise, but you might get a $5k/3 month raise.

Mandatum 10 years ago | |

Seeing as this is his/her first job, it'll likely be a 50%ish pay bump.

vrnut 10 years ago |

I think you should probably clarify how much you don't want to work a regular job (Seems like the simplest way to make that amount of money in that time)

makufiru 10 years ago | |

Actually I'm looking for the income in addition to my regular job.

ianstallings 10 years ago |

I remember this feeling. If I could go back and teach myself anything it would be the power of saving. You already said yourself you make good money.

oliv__ 10 years ago |

Rent a place and airbnb it.

thfuran 10 years ago |

Do contract development work for contractor pay.

beamatronic 10 years ago |

Negotiate for a signing bonus, this used to be very common and $5k is not unreasonable, though you may need to increase that to account for your tax situation.

bradhe 10 years ago |

Get a job and live minimally? $5k take-home is about $75k/yr.

makufiru 10 years ago | |

Have a job, struggle to live minimally when I have about $2k in expenses that I'm locked into.

smlacy 10 years ago | | |

This sounds like a choice. Get out of that situation. Sell your car. Pay off debt. Get roommates. Stop eating out.

For someone your age, reducing fixed costs should be fairly easy, but still require some life changes that will be uncomfortable at first.

vishalzone2002 10 years ago |

do freelancing. offer to build MVPs. Build some websites and try selling them

CaiGengYang 10 years ago |

Speculate in stocks and commodities

ktdrv 10 years ago | |

That's also a great way to lose a lot of money quickly.

CaiGengYang 10 years ago | | |

Yup , thats true ... The stock market is basically like a casino. You can go broke or get fabulously rich speculating in stocks like George Soros