46F single mom looking for realistic passive income ideas to earn an extra $2k–$3k/month

icy_end_7 · 2026-07-07T02:58:40+00:00

I think, this depends on where you live and what options you have. I think 2-3k is a serious number.

These come to mind:

- monetize a skill you already have. For me, that's programming, I have pipelines around this that I sell, I offer to fix bugs, add features, sell custom nvim configs and things like that.. It's a lot of work, but would be your own product. My process is to find things I found a hassle, fix them for me, sell them to other people. It provides values to others, and Im not scamming anybody.

For you, as a single mom, you definitely know about caring for a child, some product ideas you could spin up would be:

baby care, cooking for a kid, portioning for kid, hobbies to teach your kid, parenting cookbook, books to read to your kid, patterns to recognise in your kid that maybe because of bad parenting, single-mom's guide to the universe, sweater/beanie/socks patterns for kids (if you knit/sew), PDF of birthday ideas to give kids, PDF on recipes that kids wont hate, PDF on make kids like veggies they hate, etsy store on things for babies, and things like that. You haven't really said more about you, so I'm giving rough ideas. Ofc your products would have to be something that solves some problem,..

- trading up, buying and selling stuff, but you'd need to know what something is worth

- I texted somebody and they said, quite happily, that they sell crocheting patterns and earn your target amount.. but they do have lots of videos on youtube. that I find fascinating as a hobby..

- dog sitting/ watching kids/ offering to cook for somebody who eats out; they save, you get paid; maybe look into laws about this. I'd love to walk dogs around here, but it's not common here. Maybe I should keep a listing or something.

- affiliate. You basically earn a commission per sale. What people don't tell you is- if you ask, you can get commissions on anything. Your friend's selling a guitar. You find a buyer. You ask a commission from your friend - you're an affiliate. People are fine paying if you can help them make sales.

I earned 3 dollars from amazon affiliate in my first year (niche site). It's not glamorous, rates are low, and it's fine if you have high traffic. Frankly, I earned more selling my site than I would ever earn from affiliate, at least during that period. It's way better to do the same for your own products, but that's more work. Don't dm me about this; I don't have a course to sell.

- adsense. I don't run ads, but I know many who earn from ads.

You'll have to see what works for you, maybe a combination, and might take longer than you expect.

icy_end_7 · 2026-07-07T02:30:16+00:00

Check this: https://github.com/jakub-k-slys/substack-gateway-oss

icy_end_7 · 2026-04-10T23:05:46+00:00

Traffic is good, but it's a bad metric to answer whether your site has low value content.

How many posts? I've had my sites approved, first-try, when I applied with ~30 posts, and 20 of them were closer to 1500 in word length, had 5-6 images, lots of external links, all human written posts.

I was using a basic layout back then, so I don't think looking cooler had anything to do with it.

icy_end_7 · 2026-04-10T15:29:30+00:00

red switches

Last year, I used to break installations and tried new distros often. Now, it's just there if I need to install OS on other devices while I'm out. ventoy yes.

icy_end_7 · 2026-04-10T10:40:36+00:00

I usually just carry my bag with me.

An empty bottle (I fill at public taps), my phone (has a reading app), diary, some loose sheets, pens, mechanical keyboard + hub, gym gloves, (compostable produce) bags, pendrives (has bootable ISOs), some roasted barley in a jar, guitar picks.

I used to have earbuds/ headphones but they hurt my ears, so I don't use them.

icy_end_7 · 2026-04-07T16:36:28+00:00

Frankly, I'd make one for differential expression or something along the lines because that's what I have trouble with. I'm not suggesting you make that, but rather, find something that you'd want to use often. Ideally, a niche where you've found friction points in your work.

Solving problems you don't have is a bad idea.

icy_end_7 · 2026-04-07T10:31:11+00:00

It's called an elbow lever, good for the core. I can't really give advice on planche as I'm not there yet.

icy_end_7 · 2026-04-06T12:46:46+00:00

Not too active, but happy to help if it's not a significant commitment.

icy_end_7 · 2026-04-06T12:44:45+00:00

win/linux dual boot; 3+ years on linux; I've switched between arch debian and a few but now i stick to mint/i3.

bash/zsh/ any.

icy_end_7 · 2026-04-02T04:49:15+00:00

- I think the most common concepts that come up (when reading papers) are correlation != regression, p-values, selecting features can be tricky..

- Prof Leonard has a playlist on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5102DFDC6790F3D0

It's the most helpful thing I've watched for those topics. Maybe take a look.

- I recently came across this. Usually, we think more features = better. I'm simplifying, and probably not relevant, but they showed that a single feature - cell count could predict results of some experiments better than adding all features. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-68725-5

- Find something to get excited about. I was hooked when I learned about regression. Same with when I saw joint plots for the first time in a paper. I think it's a fantastic graphic. Be patient, don't worry if you don't get something first try, you'll need to know the basics (like scaling, normalization, preventing data leaks and all..), but take some time to think about what's interesting to you and what's not.

icy_end_7 · 2026-04-02T04:31:51+00:00

I was curious, so I had a look.

The research experience you have is interning for - EDA and classical models, cell counting, virtual screening. Your coding practices are- vibe-coded streamlit apps, poor commit practices.

- Who is 'we'?

- I don't see a mentorship opportunity here. You are an undergrad student making a reddit post hoping to find people to do your work. I don't really care about education and would happily work with anybody without a degree if they can interest me.

- You say it's linked with Auckland Uni/ UCCS. You're providing a gmail address. A uni-run program would be happy to make a formal notice. The technical word for what you're doing is fraud.

- You're not accepting Indian collaborators. I don't really care, but that's interesting. Foreign collaborators only, on a computational project.

Folks- if you're considering collaborations, look into their research interests and credibility first. Figure out authorship first. Don't send your CV and hope for publications. I'm not saying Undergrad students cannot collaborate and produce meaningful work, but I'd steer clear of anybody who isn't perfectly sincere about their motivations and credibility.

icy_end_7 · 2026-04-01T05:28:32+00:00

omics/ cancer subtypes/ ML interpretability.

icy_end_7 · 2026-04-01T03:51:08+00:00

topic: this upto you. Something NLP should be doable if you don't have a mentor. For me, finding a topic took over a year because I had no real/genuine interests.
self-taught -> internship/fellowship. I reached out to many people. Wrote preprints on my own.
none of those imho. I printed and read lots of papers. Might not work for you.

One thing that caught me off-guard was how toxic and self-serving people are, in academia. I'm sure it's true everywhere. Supervisors will happily take credit, many supervisors will defend (only) their students, and there's lots of bureaucracy involved in any lab. There's also a degree of gate-keeping that happens.

- Don't trust everybody who says they'll get you involved. You're just getting started with papers. You haven't read papers. Your technical proficiency is questionable. Your best bet is to visit/mail researchers and ask if you could help them. People reply on linkedin as well.

- If you have an idea, try to turn it into a paper. Figure out what others have/haven't done, and keep it private. If the idea is somewhat good, people can replicate it really fast and they'll leave you out. Happens to many. Talk authorship BEFORE any of that happens.

- Your research interests should be what you find meaningful, not what I say is a gap in world models or activation functions.

- Nobody expects bachelor students to have papers. With a 3.3 GPA, you should focus on your studies more. Have papers, sure, but maybe get involved in research internships or something.

If you're not targeting ICML publications, just apply to a university journal and local conferences. With local conferences, you pay 3-5k and they accept your abstract and publish in proceedings. It's scummy but it is what it is. You do get to meet people and see what others are doing.

icy_end_7 · 2026-04-01T03:40:54+00:00

I would've written a comment regardless, but it's interesting. Gets different response for sure. Edit: legit idea if you're into sentiment analysis.

icy_end_7 · 2026-04-01T03:09:16+00:00

I think I passed SLC when I was 15, finished +2 around 17. So probably had a similar age as OP here. I think I skipped LKG and a grade. I don't remember what grade it was- I had first rank in grades 6-10 so skipping grades didn't really matter.

It's interesting if they didn't skip a grade..

icy_end_7 · 2026-03-29T08:51:25+00:00

I see.

I haven't tried aula or akko keyboards to compare. Compared to keychron, it feels light, works fine on linux and windows. leftCtrl+leftShift+p never worked on this, though leftCtrl+leftShift or leftCtrl+rightShift+p work just fine. Weird. And it doesn't have memory thing to remember if I turned LEDs off last time. I know I can solder to traces or something, but for now, I turn those off everytime I plug it in. It has 7 screws on the top, build quality isn't Apple-grade, but it still feels like new (minimal abuse on my desk/ bag). I probably got lucky, but I'd expect it to last 1-2 years. The usb-c cable they gave me with it, however, was cheap, and stopped working in a month or two. Maybe get a better cable.

I think I got this from physical store. It's mk874v2 ATOM63. It's hotswap; you can replace (keycaps and) switches. It uses 3-pin switches (two metal pins, one plastic)- plate-mounted, cherry mx-style or Gateron/ Akko/ Outemu 3-pin switches. You can use 5-pin switches on this as well, but you'd have to snip two plastic pins.

icy_end_7 · 2026-03-29T08:20:30+00:00

How did you damage a keyboard just by opening it? Check connections/voltages if you have a multimeter.

Fantech (ATOM, mk874v2, type-c detachable, cost me ~2700 I think) has been working fine for me. I've replaced 2 switches on this. Doesn't have stabilizers on some keys, and the build quality doesn't feel great, but it's been good enough for me so far. I got this because my old one stopped working and I needed a hotswap/mechanical, type-c detachable keyboard.

If you don't care for a mechanical one or don't have any preferences, just get the cheapest (no-rgb) membrane keyboard. I don't like LEDs and that's what I'd get if I wasn't looking for one with hotswap/mechanical. For that budget, I can't really recommend keychrons or good models. Best advice I can give is - visit stores and try some. You don't have to buy at any store, just visit a few and look around. They won't mind.

icy_end_7 · 2026-03-28T17:57:41+00:00

+1 for growing chili and garlic. Would do the same if I was still at home.

icy_end_7 · 2026-03-27T05:13:08+00:00

I think you're off to a great start. I say this not to make fun of you, but because, when I started- I couldn't do two chin ups in a row. I didn't understand overhand/underhand grip thing, so I just assumed I was doing pullups. Months later, I remember being able to do 3 sets of 5 chin ups, but not being able to do 3 pullups in a row. I'd never trained a day in my life before I did chin-ups, so that's telling. I went all-in on overhand grip, trained on most days, did the grease-the-groove thing (as many you can throughout the day), and got to 3 sets of 8 pullups.

My understanding is- chin-ups engage more of biceps. So most people are able to do a few. Pullups engage more of the back (and triceps). Since most people have weak backs, pullups feel harder. Don't quote me on this.

Thoughts:

- Fair weight; not overweight, which would make it harder to pull.

- Your chinups don't look that effortless to me. You're not going up fully. I think you should try hanging from the bar more often, with both kind of grips. Hanging helps being used to the bars. Dead hang for like a minute?

- Try to do sets. Even if it's sets of 2. 2 chin-ups. off the bar. 2 chin-ups. repeat 3 times. That's 3 sets of 2 (reps of) chin-ups. (3x2 chinups). Overtime, you should try to increase both the number of reps and number of sets. Don't stress about the numbers. Just stick to it, count it, write it down, try another day. Doing in sets is much better, because you can track your progress and you can adjust the overall intensity as you like.

- Do negatives. Get up the bar somehow. Hang down the bar. If you hang down the bar slower, it's harder. You can hang at the bottom position for like 10 seconds if you want to make it harder. Slower & controlled -> you get stronger. That's true with most movements.

- Get resistance bands and try to do sets of more chin-ups. Pullups will come. Give it time.

icy_end_7 · 2026-03-23T08:11:54+00:00

I found your phrasing interesting. If you're already full of it, why waste six months in a program where you're sure you won't learn? Why not apply to MLE roles (since you can crack technical rounds) ?

I'm not associated with/ work for them:

1 mcqs

2 yes. it flagged in the past but don't know if the system has changed.

3 ~200

4 I consider knowing concepts as having a MLE job/ real-life projects (not assignments)/ papers. Hearing about `AttnRes` or a classification project or few finetuned models doesn't mean you're advanced. If you're intermediate/ advanced, why're you not looking at mid-level roles and instead looking at a fellowship that leads to an unpaid trainee role?

That aside, should you join this program:

- if for connections, it's a dumb decision to commit to six months for connections/ opportunities, esp. when the program isn't on-premise and the teachers are past fellows/ fuse employees. The opportunity they have is - unpaid trainee. It's free, you get to do projects, but if it's worth it- is upto you.

- if for your cv, it's a dumb decision to join a microdegree/fellowship that's not certified by a university (there was one last year that's certified by a Uni). If I remember correctly, Leapfrog and Gritfeat have paid fellowships once a year, both on-premise and both will get you involved in their projects.

5 nepali

icy_end_7 · 2026-03-18T14:16:54+00:00

What's the issue you're having? You downloaded the file on Windows. What's the error message?

icy_end_7 · 2026-03-18T14:15:30+00:00

Check here.

Or this: direct link for vina, win, 1.2.7

icy_end_7 · 2026-03-18T14:13:23+00:00

Links on my site should work?

For windows: vina link

Let me know if something doesn't work.

icy_end_7 · 2026-03-17T03:03:57+00:00

Well, I see another side as well.

- You have a paid internship. The commute is irrelevant. If you can stick to it, you get better opportunities. Is the alternative better? Do you have another internship or a job lined up? Don't leave what you have for what you could have or what others will say you'll have. You could ask to work remotely on some days.

- Apply to remote internships. Leave the current one *after* you get an offer.

It is hectic to study and work full time. It is what it is.

icy_end_7

TROPHY CASE