Not sure what my options are for making some money
ZpykeEboto
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I doubt I'll be able to keep this short. But I'm looking for alternatives or suggestions for making money in my situation. You don't have to read but the first few paragraphs, honestly, though.
Everyone has things they want to buy, even me. And I would like to make sure I can help my mom with the house (Considering I live with her.). So I want to make some money.
I recently got SSI, but as anyone in America would know, it's paltry.
The main problems in job hunting, or making any sort of money, is that I live in a small town called Cibolo. It's not so tiny anymore, but it's mainly residential, and much less business. Furthermore, no license and I live in the outskirts where the coyotes can be heard.
I've had a couple jobs in the area, but I always generally break down from my other disorders, mainly a combination of depression and anxiety. Even my job at the gas station, easy as it was, ended in a mental breakdown.
My only real skills are in computers, and I'm not as knowledgeable as a trained professional who knows hardware and the registry, etc, and gaming. And gaming you can't really make a life out of, at least not in a hick town like this where the only game they know to exist is Madden, Halo and Call of Duty.
So I'm looking open to any real suggestions. Any type, really.
For instance, something I looked at was maybe getting into Warhammer 40k or another miniatures game, and selling pre-painted units, if I'm good enough at it (Or models like Gundams.).
I thought about doing game tournaments, but again, I really don't know any actual gamers around here, much less have the room for it in this house. I could try going to other tournaments myself and winning, but that would require putting tons of money into things like Magic the Gathering.
I've thought about helping people with computers for relatively cheap, but craigslist is full of that sort of listing, and there's a guy right down the street who is much more experienced than me who has his own shop set up. He's a jerk, but people still go to him, so I can't really see myself making business on that angle, though I could be wrong.
I've even considered what I consider a horridly silly idea of getting on Second Life and making virtual goods that people buy, as I believe you can turn the virtual money back into real cash (Unless they changed that.). But I have no idea how many people would buy my stuff, and Second Life has thousands of players who make their own stuff, so it wouldn't be easy.
I'm sure there are other things I have thought about that I have forgotten.
Well, hopefully that gives an idea. This isn't meant to whine or rant. I'm really looking for alternatives here.
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Ichinin
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Considered learning programming/HTML? There are many online tutorials for say, php that can make you create scripted serverside webopages. You can make a decent living out of that.
Most start out with a LAMP/WAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP. W = Windows) package thatis free, easy to install and easy to get started with.
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ZpykeEboto
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I guess one of the bigger things I had forgotten to mention is that I didn't want to lose my SSI. Income in the bank means I start to lose most, if not all, of my SSI. Once it's gone, I lose it as well as my medicaid and other stuff. Considering my disorders keep me from keeping a job, It's probably not good to lose that.
I have considered it, though. Well, learning a programming language, that is. Do you think I could somehow manage to make money with it, without losing SSI and the help that comes with it?
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Sweetleaf
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I have considered it, though. Well, learning a programming language, that is. Do you think I could somehow manage to make money with it, without losing SSI and the help that comes with it?
I think your best option would be find some way of getting non-taxed income...for instance if you helped people with computers for cash un-officially or whatever you could do something like that. Or like having a garage sale just anything that does not involve you getting paid by an employer in any sense. Any sort of 'job' for taxable income can run the risk of making you lose SSI so I'd be careful about that...unless your plan is to move into making your own income and not use SSI but from the sound of it that's not the case.
But yeah they don't base it on how much money you have in the bank not even sure they are authorized to look into your personal bank account and even if they where I'd think it would only matter if you have more than enough for your lifetime and are still trying to get benefits for instance. It's more if you start making income and they decide you are making too much income to need SSI.
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Ichinin
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As Sweetleaf said, try doing some sort of non-profit work. Make a homepage for some non-profit organisation, if you feel its what you wanna do and something that can sustain you, then go for it.
Remember that you may have to travel a bit to find customers (which can cause stress), companies only need one portal (they are probably not going to buy more than once) and also compete with others. You also have to deal with people, some of that can be solved by finding a business partner, preferably someone you know earlier and have a degree of trust with and that have abilities that complete you.
If a business isnt what you wanna do, you can try finding a job in programming. It can be hard to find a understanding good boss, but right now people are screaming for developers. When i logged in on WP today for the first time in over a year, i had a job offer in the mailbox. I also get them constantly on Linked in and on Facebook as well.
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ZpykeEboto
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Well, I'm not sure if it's different here in Texas, but the way it sounded when the guy was explaining it to me, was that they are allowed to check my bank accounts.
Yeah, cash in hand is how I was hoping to make some money. I forget to mention, but I thought of maybe going to flee markets, garage sales and other places online and offline, and getting things cheap and re-selling them for face-to-face cash. Or cash on delivery, though I've never done that so I don't know how it works.
I just don't know if I can do that. I'm not an expert on the value of things.
Edit: To Ichinin's response: I'm not sure how non-profit can make profit, if it's non-profit?
And if it is, how does that work, and where would I go to learn what I could set up, where, and how? I know nothing about business, honestly. Never took a class in it.
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They actually have programs so you can work part time to supplement SSI. I would contact you Social Security Office to find out what the rules are, but I think there is an amount you can make and not get it taken out of your check or lose Medicaid. A friend of mine did it in grad school and was getting paid for tutoring by the University without losing her SSI.
ZpykeEboto
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Well, according to the paperwork I got, half of any income other than ssi I get (Which can be traced, obviously.) is deducted from my SSI.
I would rather not contact SSI offices. They are a pain to get a hold of, never call back, and are very rude and dismissive. I only want to call them when absolutely necessary, as they just cause me undue stress and rage.
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~Harga blarga~!
Skype is the same as my username. Always looking to meet new people and make friends! So add away if you like nerdy stuff like games and anime.
My Steam name is SirMaximusOwnage. Again, feel free to add me.
Ichinin
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And if it is, how does that work, and where would I go to learn what I could set up, where, and how? I know nothing about business, honestly. Never took a class in it.
The non-profit work is to see if you are cut out to do the work. Its not about making money.
Having a job that gives you a bit of cash, but makes you miserable and makes you thinking about quitting - wont sustain you. I had plenty of jobs like that and i were unable to stay at any of them. I went for what i liked (not towards the money) and i've successfully worked in a position for almost over 4 years now.
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ZpykeEboto
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Well, I want to make some cash, so I don't know if non-profit is good for me.
A non-profit would be good for making friends and stuff, but there's none of that out here in the country. Not that I know of or would enjoy.
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Ichinin
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A non-profit would be good for making friends and stuff, but there's none of that out here in the country. Not that I know of or would enjoy.
You are missing the point: Non-profit = can work for it and try it out without worrying about loosing your SSI. You can try writing webpages and stuff like that - if you do not like it, you have not lost anything. I am not saying you should do it permanently, i am saying you should use it as a testing platform to see if you like programming.
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ZpykeEboto
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Well, I know I like programming and maybe web design. I just know I can't really work a stressful job for too long, which is why I could do one project, then get a new boss/job, etc, with a break. Or be my own boss. But again, I would like to avoid it going into the bank.
_________________
~Harga blarga~!
Skype is the same as my username. Always looking to meet new people and make friends! So add away if you like nerdy stuff like games and anime.
My Steam name is SirMaximusOwnage. Again, feel free to add me.
I've been looking for a job in programming or web development for 2 1/2 years now and I have only found a few very small jobs.
I've been looking for a job in programming or web development for 2 1/2 years now and I have only found a few very small jobs.
I'd like to know if Ichinin is right, too, because if that's true then I might look into that.
ZpykeEboto
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Well, I might look into non-profit and/or contract programming.
But other than that, looks like all the options I knew are basically what is available to me.
_________________
~Harga blarga~!
Skype is the same as my username. Always looking to meet new people and make friends! So add away if you like nerdy stuff like games and anime.
My Steam name is SirMaximusOwnage. Again, feel free to add me.
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