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.<p>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.<p>Note: I do make pretty good money already, but my expenses/standard of living are also pretty high. :/<p>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)
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.
<i>I'm looking for a way to make large amounts of money very quickly, and I need some ideas here.</i><p>You've come to the right place.<p><i>I'm pretty proficient in both frontend and backend technologies</i><p>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 <i>someone else</i> tell you how good you are.<p><i>What are some good or creative ways to make a decent amount of money ($5k+) in a short amount of time? (1-3 months)</i><p>Put all your money into Apple stock during rumor season.<p>Read and execute on affiliate marketing.<p>Read and execute on ebook publishing for in-demand niches.<p>Bake bacon fudge and sell it on the street corner for a profit.<p>Bake cake pops and sell them to offices for a profit.<p>Busk.<p>Get hired at a place with a sign-on bonus then flee the country after they pay it out.<p>Sell organs (yours and/or others).<p>Dance like nobody's watching, put it on youtube, enable ads.
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.
I know you write "no relationships" but maybe reconsider this.<p>Imo combine:<p>* low cost of living / fixed costs<p>* remote work for SF/Bay based companies (biggest delta in budgets vs talent available)<p>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.<p>eg $5k+ saving for a few months sounds reasonable if you compare it with "global salaries"<p><a href="https://angel.co/jobs#find/f!%7B%22locations%22%3A%5B%22Silicon%20Valley%22%2C%22San%20Francisco%22%5D%2C%22remote%22%3Atrue%7D" rel="nofollow">https://angel.co/jobs#find/f!%7B%22locations%22%3A%5B%22Sili...</a><p>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
Seems to be a lot of no-content responses here which is a shame.<p>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.<p>Pull 80 hour weeks on in-your-own-time contracts and you'll make it in a week.<p>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.<p>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.
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.<p>Do you have access to a large sum of money?
> "I'm looking for a way to lose large amounts of money very quickly"<p>Fixed that for you.<p>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.<p>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.
What you're suggesting is perfectly doable, apart from the "very quickly" bit.<p>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 <i>do</i> 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.<p>If you're really serious about doing this, commit a year at least and start learning.<p>(BTW, you have read "The Four Hour Work Week", right? If not, definitely have a read.)
There are literally millions of micro-niches online where spending x will yield x per month, fairly consistenly. Just find these, and scale.<p>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.<p>Btw, my investment in the course was no more than $200 total. Plus of course about 20 hours of my time.
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.
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.
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)
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.