Income Help ideas for a struggling single father

I'm a single father and the econemy is really taking it's tole on me. I work close to 40 hours a week as a computer repair tech and know tons about pc repair.

Basically i need a quick prooven way to make cash on the side. Due to conflict of interest with work i'm unable to use my computer repair knowledge to help for income due to the fact that if i loose my full time job i'm screwed.

Has anyone found any easy ways to make some supplimental income on the internet? Google searching only brings up scams and etc.

So far i have tried selling stuff on ebay and well i'm running out of stuff to sell....

Any ideas? Anyone have anything that works? Any help would be appreciated.

Ideas by ATSer's so far:
-Creating a Website for Computer advice pay by donation
-Building Computers to sell buyer pruchases parts i put together and aquire labor
-Waiting Tables
-Scrap Metals
-Sand Etched Glass
-Off Grid It packages
-Test Banks ??? don't know what this means
-Learn how to splice fiber optics
-Create a dating Site
-Design a porn site
-remote computer repair
...... hopefully more to come

[edit on 5-1-2009 by lightinthedark33]

[edit on 5-1-2009 by lightinthedark33]

[edit on 6-1-2009 by lightinthedark33]

Besides repair, what other expertise do you have with computers.

Just curious to get more ideas.

reply to post by lightinthedark33

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Sorry to hear of your situation, I was in the same fix back in the 70's,
I brought up two little boys on my own, so I appreciate just how hard it can be.
Would it be possible to set yourself up a website, under a mysterious name, just like here on ATS. Give advice, and have a 'donations' facility, {paypal maybe} go from there, other ideas will form once you get started. It's always more profitable to be self employed, provided you can find the work.

Best of luck to you,

Always remember, you are not alone, there are loads of us in the same boat.

Regards,

Horsegiver.

I follow the Eastern ideologies , traditions which hold that
adversity, and Struggle are to be welcomed.

the modern quip is 'No Pain No Gain'

Well i've never been a single parent (me and by partner have been together for 10 years) but i do know what it is like to support a family of 4 on a single income.

Funny you mention, i use to work in computers in the 90's. I was System Engineer. While doing the design for a small bank in Canada, i was approached by a few friends who asked me to build them great PC's for a cheaper price.

I also had the conflict of interest, but i got around it by having THEM order all the parts (tigerdirect, ebay) having them delivered to their homes, and then i would stop in, put it all together, update it and collect 200-400 a pop depending on what they wanted.

But if you know any university/college/high school, you can make a killing with this, you can build a great PC for under 500 and charge them 150 more and they'll take it over any DELL, parts all had manufacturer's warranties so if anything broke i would just order the part and do the maintenance. It worked well for me while i needed it.

Just an idea...

I wish you the best of luck, single parents are some of the most courageous people on the planet!

Have you thought about waiting tables? Depending on where you live and what restaurant you work at, you might be able to make some decent money that way. I work in a restaurant, and although I no longer wait tables there, the severs I work with are telling me they're still making decent tips despite the economy and slow-down in business.

If you decide to go this route, try to choose a restaurant that seems pretty busy and which has moderately priced food. In general, the higher your check average, the more tip you will get.

The restaurant I work at hires a lot of part-time people. Some of them come in at 5:00 p.m. and are out by 9:30 p.m. or so, leaving with cash in their pockets. Of course, that will mean less time for you to spend with your son, and if you have to pay for childcare, you'll have to factor in the cost of that when deciding if it would be worth it for you to get a part-time job.

Sorry, I don't know have any ideas on how to make money on the internet.

I wish you the best and hope your situation will improve.

I say look for metals such as brass,copper (like in plumbing pipes) and steel and go to a scrap metal yard.If you have a car or truck it helps.

[edit on 5-1-2009 by DrumsRfun]

learn to sand etch glass and sell that on ebay. its not hard and there is a ton of information out there on how to get started. I do several pieces a year mainly for presents for the family. its great you do your taping and designing and cutting of the mask all while sitting with the kids and relaxing at night. then you take your off day and etch them.

Also if you know any thing about web design its easy to get into blogging and then making a very small income from adwords or adbrite. and your skill as a computer tech is the perfect thing to blog about. any questions U2U me

reply to post by lightinthedark33

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How about making off-grid IT packages?

Ive been wanting to build a wifi dish using an old satellite dish to add to an offgrid powered laptop but I have no idea of what to do regarding the programming or circuit boards and the like

How to build a WiFi bi-quad dish antenna using a satellite dish

I'd happily pay for one

Wow thank you all for all your replies. I'm currently letting everything sink in.

The only reason why i prefer to not work another job is due in part to the fact that i really want to be there for my son as much as i can. He is only 16 months old. On top of that a second job would just send more cash to the baby sitter.

Thank You for your ideas and please everyone keep them coming. I will look into each on and let everyone know what i decide to pick. Afterwards i will keep everyone updated in this thread. Perhaps my findings can help you or someone else. I will keep this a running post.

Thank You again and i look forward to more ideas from fellow ATS'ers. I will pick my area of attack by tomorrow morning and get started on it.

reply to post by lightinthedark33

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I don't know where you live and if such jobs are available but I always found that bartending/waitressing jobs are a good way to supplement income. It's not glamorous and they tend to be horrible jobs but in a time of need that can provide some much needed cash.

reply to post by lightinthedark33

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What country are you in? As it may help you gain some better ideas from those in the said areas,

I know some computer guys who make some money making test banks for companies that sell books to schools. Don't know if that is your area of expertise?

reply to post by jam321

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I know repair is a general term so here is what i'm capable of doing with computers.

-Virus/Spyware removal (manually)
-Network Setup
-Hardware Diagnostic and Replacment
-Building Computers
-Data Back Up
-Recovery of Deleted Files or Recovery of files after a o/s has been restored recently
-Training Tutoring
-Training and Hooking up of all External Components
-X-box/Ps3 Media setup wirlessly

-Extremly limited use of Web Design
-Full Knowledge of Office 07 and 09

Thats about all i can think of

Ok brainstorming with a few friends here.
Learn how to splice fiber optic cables.It is in demand apparently.
Start a dating site.
The little things like growing your own veggies and hunting.
Design a website for a pornsite.
If you can play an instrument,then do some busking.
Carpool for profit.

reply to post by asala

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Im actually in the United States. Maryland to be exact.

I understand if you are a single parent more time away from your child may be an issue ie childcare

some people have posted great ideas though..not sure how much work you would get done posting to a porn site though ;]

how about remote fixing ..
Many jobs can be taken care of 'remotely'.

making solar panels, childcare swaps..

i will keep thinking.. my thoughts are with you

Thank You for your kind words ladysharrowandherbarrow ! I'm so proud of this community and their responses so far. I'm currently working on some stuff and having some conversations u2u about the topic. I will supply an update to the first post with everyones ideas listed.

Thank You

and i look forward to hearing from more ATSer's

Have you thought of looking at your budget to see where you could be saving more, instead of trying to earn more?
What could you cut back on, or buy cheaper, or change?

Unfort yes i have. Honestly the only expendable income i have right now is my internet connection, tv and cell phone. If SHTF these will be the first to go but that is why i'm exploring other income options.

The only other thing i buy is gas and food for my son. I have even been budgeting when i go shopping.

Other bills include

Electric
Rent
Car Payment
Water
Cell Phone

After that i'm pretty much tapped out month after month