Good ways to make money under... Certain circumstances?

Hello, TVT. I've recently encountered a bit of a problem. Namely, I've been disowned. This means, in essence, that I need to obtain and save up money for my movement across the world and general fees that will occur as I go through university without a job.

I will have some money by default; I'm not sure how much, but roughly somewhere in the six to seven thousand USD range.

I have seven months to supplement that as much as possible to make things easier.

Problem: I'm legally blind. I can't get a menial high-school-student job. Furthermore, I live in Bumfuck Nowhere, and as such "odd jobs" in the sense of doing people favours in terms of manual labour for a hit of cash aren't available.

So far, I have determined the following:

• Starting in June (currently can't because of a piercing), I will be able to sell my blood to medical organisations. I'm type O+.
• I should be getting, at some point, a monthly disability penchant, and, if I'm lucky, some degree of back pay on that.

With the information provided... Any suggestions?

The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is to find some job you can do for some cash. Check around for advocacy groups, charities, or groups that can help you.

Being in the middle of Bumfuck Nowhere prevents that. It's not that I can't DO work- I'm a damn good worker- it's that I can't drive to work every day. If I lived in a city, that wouldn't be a problem.

In that case, you're looking for something you can either telecommute for or do at home.

• Proofreading (websites are often full of grammatical and spelling errors — they get run through a spellcheck, if that much. Get in touch with a couple of website designers and offer your services as a proofreader/editor. I don't know how many more people are like this, but my inclination to take a business seriously drops every time I encounter a their/there/they're confusion or a grocer's apostrophe, or similar error on their website.

I heard of people making money buying and selling junk on e-bay, and every now and then, you hear about these teenage geniuses making a killing on the online stock market, though I guess that would be a bit of a long shot.

If, besides your sight problems, you are physically healthy, you might qualify for drug testing, though I suppose you wouldn't have an academical hospital anywhere near, would you?

I have occasionally been offered a job as "social marketing expert", which comes down to shilling a product on facebook. No commute required, but you'll annoy the crap out of your friends.

But yeah, you've got some seriously limited options there. Do you happen to have certain skills or overgrown hobbies you might be able to monetize? Otherwise, expect to scrape the bottom of your dignity.

Actually, ebay is not a bad idea. If you can do it, setting up to peddle other people's stuff for them for a slice of the sale price can pay off pretty well. Not everyone has the time, knowledge or skill to make an effective auction listing — I've lost count of the number of times I've clicked away from a listing that I thought I was interested in because the pictures were fuzzy or out-of-focus or otherwise useless, or because the description missed covering key items like size, or what was included in something that had multiple parts. Thousands of times by now, I suspect.

I could definitely do editing, if I could get a job doing such.

eBay... My father does that. I could get him to show me the basics.

There are online data processing and document processing jobs. They kinda suck but money is money.

Sorry to hear about that.

If you are going to start university soon-ish, definitely search and apply for scholarships. Do that a lot. It's boring, annoying work, but it will pay off very well if you succeed.

Tutoring is also generally a pretty good way of getting some quick cash. If you are good at some subject, just make some flyers saying that you will provide tutoring to students for, let's say, fifteen dollars per hour, attach them near middle schools and high schools, and wait for calls. Same if you know how to play a musical instrument.

It's not going to solve your money problems, but every little bit counts.

If I remember correctly, you have some training in martial arts, right? This is a shot in the dark, and of course it depends on your skill level and on the situation of your hometown, but did you think about asking teachers if they need an assistant?

I used to tutor. Hrm, I could definitely do that.

As far as assisting martial arts instructors... There's exactly one boxing ring in the general area.

If you are legally blind, in America that will set you up to receive disability and more financial aid.

How were you disowned yet still in contact with your dad? I'm not trying to press you but if you were disowned you can apply for financial independence with your school, which means they don't require your parent's tax records and they judge everything off of your income. You have to prove this though so look into your university's rules over declaring independence.

It's been a long time since I've dealt with FASFA student aid paperwork but IIRC, the requirements for claiming financial independence for that is a rule under whatever governs that. The school financial aid people generally offer all sorts of guidance for dealing with that paperwork.

If you aren't already, consider doing as much of your schooling as possible through a junior/community college where the tuition is much cheaper. The classes will generally be the same (some argue better) and you can transfer to a bigger university later. If nothing else, knocking the gen ed stuff out cheaply will help.

Do you have hobbies and other interests which are potentially exploitable? Or an intended major?

Are you good with electronics?

A cousin of mine used to:

1. Buy broken iPhones from eBay
2. Collect the intact parts
3. Ones he had a full set, he put them back together
4. Sold them on eBay for profit

Alternatively you could work at a call center or as a caretaker (the latter also would look good on the curriculum)

edited 2nd Nov '12 4:39:56 AM by Kiefen