Fed never getting higher paying job — ideas for side gig?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any ways you can cut expenses? Cars, vacations, house cleaner, cable, lawncare....?

We drive 10 year old Toyotas and need two for commute. No cable and only streaming is Disney+, no lawncare, we live like grad students albeit with kids and no Uni department events to sneak food from.

Housing, camps in summer are huge and vacations are modest but add up but really want to avoid cutting that (spouses preference, would rather work job that hates rather than give up vacation). House is a 40s sht shack, but location is close to work with decent schools no easy fix there.

How old are your kids? How much longer will they be in summer camps?

And it also might be time to look to other family members to help care for your disabled sibling.

I grew up fairly lower middle class, and as a Fed I vastly out earn my extended family (many are on welfare), but regardless there is no immediate family who would help my sibling. Parents are dead, one aunt is on welfare and the other is estranged and that’s it for FOB.

Can you go full remote and sell a car?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any ways you can cut expenses? Cars, vacations, house cleaner, cable, lawncare....?

We drive 10 year old Toyotas and need two for commute. No cable and only streaming is Disney+, no lawncare, we live like grad students albeit with kids and no Uni department events to sneak food from.

Housing, camps in summer are huge and vacations are modest but add up but really want to avoid cutting that (spouses preference, would rather work job that hates rather than give up vacation). House is a 40s sht shack, but location is close to work with decent schools no easy fix there.

How old are your kids? How much longer will they be in summer camps?

And it also might be time to look to other family members to help care for your disabled sibling.

I grew up fairly lower middle class, and as a Fed I vastly out earn my extended family (many are on welfare), but regardless there is no immediate family who would help my sibling. Parents are dead, one aunt is on welfare and the other is estranged and that’s it for FOB.

Can you go full remote and sell a car?

agency is not offering that for my position and in fact will be in office multiple times per week and on call

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any ways you can cut expenses? Cars, vacations, house cleaner, cable, lawncare....?

We drive 10 year old Toyotas and need two for commute. No cable and only streaming is Disney+, no lawncare, we live like grad students albeit with kids and no Uni department events to sneak food from.

Housing, camps in summer are huge and vacations are modest but add up but really want to avoid cutting that (spouses preference, would rather work job that hates rather than give up vacation). House is a 40s sht shack, but location is close to work with decent schools no easy fix there.

Can your spouse really not downshift? If your spouse transitioned to gs14 or 15 role wouldn’t that be enough? How much are you paying for sibling? If you really need a side gig, would you be qualified to tutor, especially in math? You could easily clear $40/hr and it’s flexible and these days everyone is doing zoom tutoring.

I

It’s a drop of $100k to go GS15, so we need to make that up somewhere.

I guess what I’m asking is why you need to make that up. How much does the sibling cost? We live very comfortably on two fed salaries and you don’t sound like you are leading a lavish lifestyle so where is the $$$ going?

[Anonymous]

Open a robinhood account and buy some BTC!

[Anonymous]

This is just a fancy way of asking what kind of business you should start. And that depends on what kind of skills you have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any ways you can cut expenses? Cars, vacations, house cleaner, cable, lawncare....?

We drive 10 year old Toyotas and need two for commute. No cable and only streaming is Disney+, no lawncare, we live like grad students albeit with kids and no Uni department events to sneak food from.

Housing, camps in summer are huge and vacations are modest but add up but really want to avoid cutting that (spouses preference, would rather work job that hates rather than give up vacation). House is a 40s sht shack, but location is close to work with decent schools no easy fix there.

Can your spouse really not downshift? If your spouse transitioned to gs14 or 15 role wouldn’t that be enough? How much are you paying for sibling? If you really need a side gig, would you be qualified to tutor, especially in math? You could easily clear $40/hr and it’s flexible and these days everyone is doing zoom tutoring.

I

It’s a drop of $100k to go GS15, so we need to make that up somewhere.

I guess what I’m asking is why you need to make that up. How much does the sibling cost? We live very comfortably on two fed salaries and you don’t sound like you are leading a lavish lifestyle so where is the $$$ going?

I agree - I know you want to make this up with a side gig, but that's 1) unlikely and 2) not sustainable. I would do a deep dive into your budget and make a budget that includes what you NEED (i.e., mortgage, food, health care). Then see what happens when you add back in things like camps and vacations, and see what kinds of trade offs you're willing to make. And maybe you can cut some stuff, too.

[Anonymous]

Would spend some time making absolutely sure the disabled sibling is getting all benefits they can possibly get from local, state, and federal governments.

I'm trying to generate side hustle ideas for myself as well OP, so have been listening to some side hustle podcasts out there, like "Side Hustle School."

Here it seems like tutoring, lawn care, home repair, cleaning services, and dog walking are in demand, but they all take physical energy that I don't have after my job.

Could you try babysitting kids that are similar ages to your kids, and turn it into fun on the weekends or after school /evenings?

Pet sitting at your house, if you like animals? Seems like there is a lot of demand for this service right now.

[Anonymous]

Forgot to say, I have a friend who loves animals and runs an "animal b&b" at her house as a petsitter. She has repeat clients who drop their pets off for the their trips. Another friend just checks on pets(mainly cats) at their owners houses and feeds them, makes sure they are ok while the owners are away.

[Anonymous]

OP - so you guys can't balance the books on 350k+ per year?

I think you have a spending problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could babysit for $20-$25 cash on weekends. Lots of parents need a break. Take the kids to the park for 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. At night, sit on your phone in someone's house while the kids sleep and parents are on a date.

I thought OP is a guy. Are families comfortable to hire a male baby sitter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - so you guys can't balance the books on 350k+ per year?

I think you have a spending problem.

Yes, it’s called a house with decent schools and commute less than 45 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would spend some time making absolutely sure the disabled sibling is getting all benefits they can possibly get from local, state, and federal governments.

I'm trying to generate side hustle ideas for myself as well OP, so have been listening to some side hustle podcasts out there, like "Side Hustle School."

Here it seems like tutoring, lawn care, home repair, cleaning services, and dog walking are in demand, but they all take physical energy that I don't have after my job.

Could you try babysitting kids that are similar ages to your kids, and turn it into fun on the weekends or after school /evenings?

Pet sitting at your house, if you like animals? Seems like there is a lot of demand for this service right now.

+1 on making sure you're getting all of the benefits you can from all available sources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - so you guys can't balance the books on 350k+ per year?

I think you have a spending problem.

Yes, it’s called a house with decent schools and commute less than 45 minutes.

If the house is that great, rent out a room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a Fed in a technical role who has been trying to land a higher paying job for years so spouse can downshift from their stressful job (law).

I have applied to hundreds of jobs, had dozens of interviews, and probably a dozen job offers — and none paid anymore than my GS14 job but required longer hours and usually actually less pay. And I could not nail down growth potential for salary, no bonuses, etc.

So it’s clear I’m not marketable in the $200k job market. So instead of changing jobs, I’m going to try to bring together a weekend job that maybe could bring in $30k (I know that’s a big ask), and looking for ideas. No entrepreneurs in my family or close friend circle, so coming to DCUM. I was thinking I might make a small useful app (I’ve had some ideas for parenting apps that I would use) and sell for $1 or what not (I don’t want ad supported software, it’s just a curse on humanity). Or maybe doing websites for small businesses? Or freelancer.com or something like that? Or should I just do dog walking — but that’s usually during work times, and as a Fed I need strict firewall of hours worked and this side gig (and I’ll get ethics approvals).

Thanks for any advice!

You have a FT job, DH has a FT+ job, and you are looking to work more hours? And you have kids?

That’s not how I would square this circle.

[Anonymous]

Same boat.

I'm DW working full time as does DH, two kids, looking in to a side hustle for more money. I also have several app ideas but don't know how to make them.