Side Gigs and Unconventional Income

[AstuteShift]

I guess my current side-gig is to finish fixing my new (to me) car so I can sell our old compact-SUV and deposit another $15k into the brokerage to go forth and multiply.

I thought I found a SWEET deal on this car...less so when I got it home and found out it needed $2,000+ in work (mostly labor). I have the knowledge, experience, and tools to fix it myself...and I'll save more $$$ per hour fixing it myself than I would make working my normal job so that's the route I'm going.

There you go, that is pretty dam sweet

[Eric]

There you go. You might have just found a side gig. Look for cars that need work but that you can turnaround and make a profit on. It appears that you have a passion for this kind of work and it could prove to lucrative when you combine the fact that you can get paid for doing something you like.

Eric there you go. You can set up shop on your property and when you fix a customer's car they can eat some garlic bread while waiting for the car and buy some high end garlic from you before leaving; kinda of like a side, side gig.

20 years ago I was all set up with a lift in my garage working on cars until 2am. Somehow I knew like 50 people that needed new clutches...and they all knew people that needed clutches... Even though I was a "retail" tax-paying customer, I had a "wholesale account" that got me something like 35% discount at the local clutch distributor. Now I don't really have a "garage", I have a 91 year old "carriage house" that sucks to work in, no more lift, and wrenching is a lot less fun than it was back then.
I know the owner of a repair shop near me and working for him is somewhere down my list of backup plans...he posted on Facebook about getting storm damage last week and I (only half-)jokingly told my wife I should go help him clean up, I might need a job from him in the future.

Plan A: Win publisher's clearinghouse "$5,000 a week for life" sweepstakes.
B:Try to stick it out where I'm at until trading can take over as primary income.
C: Get another job in IT until trading can take over as primary income.
D: Grow or make something until trading can take over as primary income.
E: Something else I can't think of right now until trading can take over as primary income.
F: Turn wrenches until trading can take over as primary income.
G: Some combination of the above.
H: Peer-to-peer camper rental until trading can take over as primary income?

[DrSven]

@Eric: Wow, that is a lot of plans.
Did you learn fixing cars in any "official" way, ie apprenticeship, or did you teach yourself/learning by doing?

[xkosmox]

I recall that a friend had a side-gig ongoing to purchase non-branded domain keywords from GoDaddy; to wait for offers from companies in the future. Focusing on upcoming trends

[Eric]

@Eric: Wow, that is a lot of plans.
Did you learn fixing cars in any "official" way, ie apprenticeship, or did you teach yourself/learning by doing?

Starting around age 7 or 8 I would read the owner's manuals to my parent's cars on long trips to pass the time. When I got my first car at 15 I went to the library and borrowed Haynes and Chilton's manuals for it and basically read them for fun. In high school I took shop classes which included machining, welding, and small engine repair. At 18 I got a job in a local repair shop doing tires & oil changes; it was there that I learned I don't want to be a mechanic for a living (it's really hard on your body...you don't see many mechanics over age 50...) I tried to get away from cars but kept getting pulled back... A mechanic friend asked me to move in to his place after his girlfriend moved out and we started fixing cars at night, then bought the lift, then found an opportunity to get a real shop through kind of a sweat-equity arrangement. The friendship turned sour, we both walked away from the shop and the (rental) place we were living and haven't really talked much since. I went to work at a tires & repair chain as a service-writer (the person that estimates the repairs, sells the job to the customer, then orders parts). Along the way I worked at a automotive detailing shop, tried selling cars at a Dodge dealer, drove a tow truck for a while... Around 2007 I took a job at a machining company that made medical implants & surgical tools but was laid off after Obama took office & people stopped getting elective surgeries (thinking they would all get free surgery if they postponed their surgery a little because socialized medicine means everyone gets unlimited amounts of the best medical care...) I worked in a warehouse for a while and in 2010 I started school for IT. In 2012 before even finishing school I fell into my current position through the dumbest of dumb-luck.

[SOL]

@Eric: Wow, that is a lot of plans.
Did you learn fixing cars in any "official" way, ie apprenticeship, or did you teach yourself/learning by doing?

Starting around age 7 or 8 I would read the owner's manuals to my parent's cars on long trips to pass the time. When I got my first car at 15 I went to the library and borrowed Haynes and Chilton's manuals for it and basically read them for fun. In high school I took shop classes which included machining, welding, and small engine repair. At 18 I got a job in a local repair shop doing tires & oil changes; it was there that I learned I don't want to be a mechanic for a living (it's really hard on your body...you don't see many mechanics over age 50...) I tried to get away from cars but kept getting pulled back... A mechanic friend asked me to move in to his place after his girlfriend moved out and we started fixing cars at night, then bought the lift, then found an opportunity to get a real shop through kind of a sweat-equity arrangement. The friendship turned sour, we both walked away from the shop and the (rental) place we were living and haven't really talked much since. I went to work at a tires & repair chain as a service-writer (the person that estimates the repairs, sells the job to the customer, then orders parts). Along the way I worked at a automotive detailing shop, tried selling cars at a Dodge dealer, drove a tow truck for a while... Around 2007 I took a job at a machining company that made medical implants & surgical tools but was laid off after Obama took office & people stopped getting elective surgeries (thinking they would all get free surgery if they postponed their surgery a little because socialized medicine means everyone gets unlimited amounts of the best medical care...) I worked in a warehouse for a while and in 2010 I started school for IT. In 2012 before even finishing school I fell into my current position through the dumbest of dumb-luck.

A very storied life and I would add full of interesting to excellent experiences. Most people live a sheltered life that in general is boring and lacks meaning, but that's another story.

Could you continue with school on the side, so that you can better your IT skills further and then quit. I heard Google, Cisco, etc now provide options for training directly with them and if you pass you can get in.

[DrSven]

Thanks for sharing your impressive story, Eric.

[Eric]

I finally made enough time to clean up the wife's old SUV and post an ad for it. Sold it in just a couple days and the guy that bought it mentioned that he rents his family cars out on turo.com. I looked at it and top of my head math indicates daily rental rates are approximately 1/5th to 1/6th of a 48 to 60 month loan payment... Example: Turo estimates the vehicle I sold this morning for $14,750 would rent for about $51/day and could be rented as much as 17 days per month. I just looked at my credit union rates and a $15k loan would cost about $335 for a 48 month loan or $263 for a 63 month loan (my CU is doing a 90-days no payments promo on 60 and 72 month loans).

I don't think it's for me, I live to far away from the major airport to get many rental days but it's an interesting concept and I can see myself possibly bring a customer (can rent a Lamborghini for about $700/day... That would be terrifying and probably fun too.)

I was browsing and did see multiple people that had as many as 4 cars listed for rental.