How can I earn extra money with my knowledge of computers?

[3lackMamba]

Hello, long post here so TL;DR I want to make extra money with my knowledge of building and fixing computers on top of my current job, but haven’t a clue where to start or what to do, any ideas?

Okay so, I am 28 and work full time as a supervisor in Tesco and I’ve been here just over 7 years. Me and my SO have been together for 4 years and we have been saving for a mortgage for about a year now, I’ve become quite good with saving money and have managed to work myself out of any debt I was in over the years and it’s why I’m usually able to afford the latest computer tech.

Due to covid and some other things it was announced in November that the store I work in will be closing sometime this year, probably within the next 5 months and so I will be getting made redundant. I could have transferred to another store and just kept working but it would be reduced hours and pay, and my redundancy will be quite significant toward my savings for a mortgage provided I find a new job quick enough and don’t have to eat in to my redundancy to survive, plus I’ve been in this company long enough and I’m quite sick of it so in all honesty although they’ve been good to me, I need to leave and find work elsewhere. I am confident I will be able to get full time work quick enough, though.

Computers is, like all of us here a huge hobby/passion of mine. It started with gaming back when I was 10 and through the years I became quite knowledgeable and have built my own computers and fixed numerous, then I decided to study them after I left school and eventually ended up doing a computer science course in uni, which I dropped out of after 6 months. This course made me realise that even though I love computer technology, building computers and fixing them etc I absolutely hated coding/computer mathematics and was ultimately terrible at that side of the hobby. I was never the greatest academic tbh and was always better at fixing things/physical jobs.

Anyway, I make roughly 16-17k a year in my current job after tax, and will most likely make less in my next job because I probably won’t get a full time supervisor or higher position given the current climate and my lack of education (on paper). I have some ICT diploma’s, math and English GCSE and that’s it really.

I honestly don’t mind working average jobs as I’ve done it since I was 15, but I’m getting to a stage of my life now where I NEED to start making extra money, I probably should have been in this frame of mind years ago but.. better late than never eh?

Computers and technology is the thing I’m probably best at in my life, and if I could find some way to turn that in to some extra cash that would be amazing. I’ve thought about trying to start building PC’s for people but I hear it can be hard to get started and established because people on Facebook market place or gumtree don’t want to spend even close to £1000 on a decent computer, and also it wouldn’t be a career so I won’t have the time to be tech support for people when something inevitably goes wrong with the computer.

I’ve also thought about flipping computer hardware, but am unsure if there is a worthwhile profit to be made from that in the UK.

I just need something I can do in my spare time that I could make an extra 3-5k a year, obviously I’m not expecting huge profit from the get go but something I can work on and build my way up.

If you actually read all this, thank you

 

[Zefan]

The best way to make more money using your knowledge and passion for computers would be to use it to move away from minimum wage jobs. Id focus on that instead of trying to squeeze extra money from working in your spare time.

I don't mean to be brutal but if you can't see the business opportunities yourself without having to ask, you will struggle to make any sort of side hustle work.

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

If you are working full time i.e. (37.5h on £9.81 minimum) is £17,300. Are you sure that you have your finances correct post tax?

I wouldn't pursue build/fix computers personally as I don't believe there to be any money in it.
The general public also think that if you add a new DVD drive that it is your fault that the sound stops working in six months i.e. They think it comes with a free unlimited warranty.

 

[kai]

My advice: look at something other than general IT and lean towards not becoming a jack of all trades.

Financial technology, VR and Security are all growth sectors exploding.

 

[Zefan]

If you are working full time i.e. (37.5h on £9.81 minimum) is £17,300. Are you sure that you have your finances correct? If you are a team leader at Tesco you should be on something like £11.50 per hour.

Was stating net, not gross.

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

Was stating net, not gross.

Noticed that and edited .

Personally I would look into work that he economy actually needs. There is a constant shortage of HGV drivers or welders . Whilst you would need to train, the pay will be much better, plus finding work if you fancy a change or want more money is much easier.
There really is no money to be made in building/fixing computers on the side anymore.

 

[Nasher]

Get an IT job in the defence sector (or Home office I guess), get DV clearance and a few years of training/experience. Along with about a 10k pay rise on what you have and usually a much more relaxed environment.

Companies pay loads of money just for people with high level security clearance, even if they aren't all that experienced. It allows them to bid for the big bucks government contracts and stay onboard the gravy train.

 

[wesimmo]

The best way to make more money using your knowledge and passion for computers would be to use it to move away from minimum wage jobs. Id focus on that instead of trying to squeeze extra money from working in your spare time.

I don't mean to be brutal but if you can't see the business opportunities yourself without having to ask, you will struggle to make any sort of side hustle work.

Pretty much this IMO.

You can always try and use a mental trick to make retraining and moving into an IT job seem like it's increasing your savings.

If you find another similar job as you expect (and don't put yourself down, I'd take experience over GCSEs any day) then you will know your salary with your current qualifications.

If you find a job in IT that looks like you would enjoy it and there is a salary increase from what you're doing but it requires a qualification, sell the retraining to your own mind as being paid £x/hr, i.e. your salary increase / hours you will take to gain a qualification.

It's not a very accurate calculation, the salary would need to be factored over the rest of your life and discounted for inflation and all that jazz, but as a motivation to do training and stick at it a simple calculation may help.

 

[Arsonist]

Noticed that and edited .

Personally I would look into work that he economy actually needs. There is a constant shortage of HGV drivers or welders . Whilst you would need to train, the pay will be much better, plus finding work if you fancy a change or want more money is much easier.
There really is no money to be made in building/fixing computers on the side anymore.

I can second the welding thing. We employ a few welders and I've got good knowledge of welding car panels etc, but the real professionals doing structural steel and aluminium earn an absolute fortune, and their work really showcases their skill. Sometimes keeping your hobbies and work separate is the best course of action.

 

[Begbie]

Yep what zefan said, educate yourself to get a better job. Building and selling pcs just isn't profitable and you'll be held responsible for numerous repairs/fault finding etc that it'll destroy any spare time you have.

 

[Maundie]

No money to be made as a side hustle, you'll always be that guy that they come back to as you were the last person to touch it and expect it to be put right for free, refuse and they'll destroy you on Social Media (this will be the main way you could advertise your 'business') as everyone is good at complaining from behind a keyboard.

A few people have said find a job in IT and get in that way (I've been approached by a recruiter offering 1st line support for £24k recently so the pay is better than I thought) and Security is a great one to get into as if you show an interest you may have to take a bit of a pay cut to start but they'll put you through the courses.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

Yep what zefan said, educate yourself to get a better job. Building and selling pcs just isn't profitable and you'll be held responsible for numerous repairs/fault finding etc that it'll destroy any spare time you have.

The more you do the more your soul gets destroyed as people tear you apart.

 

[kai]

Get an IT job in the defence sector (or Home office I guess), get DV clearance and a few years of training/experience. Along with about a 10k pay rise on what you have and usually a much more relaxed environment.

Companies pay loads of money just for people with high level security clearance, even if they aren't all that experienced. It allows them to bid for the big bucks government contracts and stay onboard the gravy train.

Agree, but DV clearance is expensive unless sponsored and a royal pain. eDV you tell them the salary!

 

[3lackMamba]

Thanks guys

@Zefan don’t worry, you aren’t being brutal, just honest. And whilst I agree with you, I’m not in the same position I was in when I was 20. I have my own house now and many more bills than just rent, I don’t think I could afford to pay everything if I went back to education. If any anyone else who studied at a later age is here, tell me how you did it please.

I have also debated getting into a trade like some of you have said, but I always thought trade apprenticeships were always for the younger man, not someone who is pushing 30? If I’m wrong please, let me know.

@OpenToSuggestions driving is actually the line of work I was aiming to get into after I am made redundant. Obviously all driving jobs need previous experience but I do have a plan on how to get started although it would take about 6-7 months to play out. I always wondered about how much potential money was in HGV jobs, as I work in Tesco I talk to a lot of lorry drivers and for the amount of money it is to acquire that licence, it doesn’t seem really worth it from what I’ve been told. But that was just Tesco drivers, obviously there are 1000’s of other HGV jobs that pay more, if you’re an HGV driver talk to me!

Okay so it seems building/fixing/flipping computers is out of the question, I was kind of expecting it tbh hence why I made this post but just wanted to be certain.

I haven’t the first clue about IT security, it sounds daunting but I’ll check it out tonight when I’m home.

 

[Nasher]

Agree, but DV clearance is expensive unless sponsored and a royal pain. eDV you tell them the salary!

It comes with the post. You don't pay yourself

But at the moment you can pretty much only get it by working for the government as the backlog is so huge. Demand is high.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

As others have said here, building and fixing computers as a sideline has had its time. It was big business back in the 1990s because computers were more difficult to build. E.g. each drive required a jumper setting, then you had to figure out which IDE cable to use. You had to set up a boot order in the BIOS and sometimes a boot floppy was required. You also had to know how to get into the BIOS in the first place. There was also a time where you had to tell the BIOS how many sectors the hard drive had. Then you had soundcards, ethernet cards and modems which used to be separate cards that were attached to the motherboard. Once Windows was installed, you then had to install all of the drivers and pray that you had the floppies for them, because without internet help, you were stuffed! Also, getting online was more difficult because you had to input your ISP settings and POP3 accounts etc. Finally, you would also come across IRQ conflicts, in particular with your expansion cards (ISA and PCI), until Windows NT/2000 came along and then that problem went away.

Building and configuring a PC has become more accessible in the last 10-15 years.

I still do the occasional no-for-profit upgrading and troubleshooting of PCs, and they give me alcohol as a thank you

 

[dlockers]

Isn't first line tech support about 15-17k?

 

[!bluetonic!]

Start by looking at jobs for first or second line IT support on Reed or Insight. See how your current skills compare and look salaries too for expectations.

IT security is quite a skill as you need to think like a hacker and learn to use the vast toolkits out there to test and penetrate physical premises and software defenses.

I'm not judging you, but a friend wanted to get into 'IT'. I set them a small and basic test. There was no depth to their answers and no drive to use online learning or YouTube to further their knowledge.

The money will be in the YK3 bug or cloud reversal computing.

 

[Kaeo]

Heh, I guess I can kinda comment on this one. I was driving for a supermarket driving their vans, and the wages drove me nuts for the work. Took out a small loan, put myself through HGV training and two years later I'm on ~40k driving a truck. It can definitely be worth it, but only if you're able to put in the hours. I thought working in kitchens was long hours until I took this up. Good luck anyway.

 

[theone8181]

Heh, I guess I can kinda comment on this one. I was driving for a supermarket driving their vans, and the wages drove me nuts for the work. Took out a small loan, put myself through HGV training and two years later I'm on ~40k driving a truck. It can definitely be worth it, but only if you're able to put in the hours. I thought working in kitchens was long hours until I took this up. Good luck anyway.

How many hours do you work out of interest. I always find it useful to know an actual hourly rate as 40k is reasonable, but not if you have to put 60 hours in a week.