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Are there any biglaw attorneys out there that have a side gig to make some extra cash here and there? I live in the Bay Area and it's a well known fact that the cost of living is ridiculous and unaffordable (even on a big law salary). So I'm curious to know if anyone has a business on a side or invests in certain areas to make extra cash.

No

You're not doing things right if you can't live in the Bay Area on 160k.

"living" is not the issue. Being able to save up for a home, an unforeseen circumstance or a decent vacation is the difficult part. Especially when you have to pay an enormous amount in loans every month. I'm from the Bay Area born and raised, I know plenty about what it takes to survive out here.

What could you even do? Uber?

Anonymous User wrote:"living" is not the issue. Being able to save up for a home, an unforeseen circumstance or a decent vacation is the difficult part. Especially when you have to pay an enormous amount in loans every month. I'm from the Bay Area born and raised, I know plenty about what it takes to survive out here.

This is basically why I moved from SF to LA. That and to be closer to family, and because both my husband and I like it better down here. But mostly the money, since we both had jobs we liked in the bay area.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:"living" is not the issue. Being able to save up for a home, an unforeseen circumstance or a decent vacation is the difficult part. Especially when you have to pay an enormous amount in loans every month. I'm from the Bay Area born and raised, I know plenty about what it takes to survive out here.

This is basically why I moved from SF to LA. That and to be closer to family, and because both my husband and I like it better down here. But mostly the money, since we both had jobs we liked in the bay area.

I'm also from the Bay (hence the picture) and moved to LA. OP, I've heard that many Bay Area biglaw associates have roommates. Other than that, I don't have any ideas for a business and most reliable investments won't get you the quick cash you're looking for. Minimize costs now as best you can and plan for the future.

SF to $190k

Here's an idea, and I have no idea how to do it, but maybe try and become an adjunct professor. That's the best I've got.

instride91 wrote:Here's an idea, and I have no idea how to do it, but maybe try and become an adjunct professor. That's the best I've got.

Pretty sure adjucting pays like minimum wage

Also bay area raised and lived SF on biglaw salary. How about just getting a typical 2 bed in Soma or whatever for $5kish, sleep in the smaller bedroom, rent the larger bedroom to someone for $2k ish, if you have one rent the large walk in closet to someone for $1k ish, and put up a partition in the living room and rent each half of that for $2k ish? That way you're completely clearing rent and can sock away some of that biglaw money to maybe one day afford the down payment on this beautiful SF property:

(literally not a joke) http://www.vice.com/read/the-cheapest-h ... r-350k-511

Or just fucking leave cus fuck making almost $200k and living like a fucking college freshman eating ramen

jfc just gas the whole bay area

Serious answer. Commute.

I work in MFH and I am saving for a lot. I considered, for a second, Ubering. Then I realized that if I increased my commute by 30 mins (to an hour each way) I would be "working" an extra hour a day, but between rent, tax, restaurants, parking, gas (uniquely for mfh, I'd need a car either way), groceries, clothes, etc. I have another $4000 a month. Accounting for the fact that savings aren't taxed (i.e. At our tax bracket $4000 in savings=$6000 in wages), that's more than I could hope to make elsewhere

SemperLegal wrote:Serious answer. Commute.

I work in MFH and I am saving for a lot. I considered, for a second, Ubering. Then I realized that if I increased my commute by 30 mins (to an hour each way) I would be "working" an extra hour a day, but between rent, tax, restaurants, parking, gas (uniquely for mfh, I'd need a car either way), groceries, clothes, etc. I have another $4000 a month. Accounting for the fact that savings aren't taxed (i.e. At our tax bracket $4000 in savings=$6000 in wages), that's more than I could hope to make elsewhere

This. Also buy a house when you can rather than renting. We're about an hour outside DC but we pay less on my mortgage for a full house per month than we did on renting (~3/4 the cost). Renting is a sucker's game.

I knew of a BigLaw lawyer who did uber on the side. But they once confessed to me while drunk that it was easier to meet people that way, and it wasn't about the money.

that is the saddest thing

I'm getting into real estae. Plan on buying a duplex and renting out the other side so I can essentially have my mortgage payment paid for. Intend to keep buying investment properties. I am in a low CoL area though, so I don't know if this helps you at all.

HAve you heard of elance? I once hired a lawyer to do some contract work for me over elance. His fulltime gig was a big law associate.

I'd be interested to hear of someone's experience using elance or other similar freelance services.

I'm a first year biglaw associate and have been thinking about the side hustle. Every month, 1 out of 2 paychecks goes straight to loans + rent.

If you have anything of value outside of law, whether it be a website or book, etc., it may be worth it to just sell it now because you don't have time to improve upon it or negotiate.

Anything with rigid hours isn't going to work. You could do Uber but you'd probably be better off just not having a car in the first place. Frankly the idea of having a side gig in biglaw seems insane to me. If you can find a passive income source then more power to you, but if anyone on here has a reliable and lucrative idea they're sure as hell not gonna share it.

dixiecupdrinking wrote:Anything with rigid hours isn't going to work. You could do Uber but you'd probably be better off just not having a car in the first place. Frankly the idea of having a side gig in biglaw seems insane to me. If you can find a passive income source then more power to you, but if anyone on here has a reliable and lucrative idea they're sure as hell not gonna share it.

Plus I'm sure no firm would be happy having their attorneys driving for Uber. We're in a profession where working in document review or for a solo gets you blacklisted.

Uber pay is extremely terrible. Like, if you work 60 hours a week, maybe you'll make 20-30k/year or so net cost in low COL areas. Maybe higher in SF/NYC but it can't be by much.

tutor LSATs or SATs. flexible hours and you can get paid up to 100/hr during your lunch break.

sinfiery wrote:Uber pay is extremely terrible. Like, if you work 60 hours a week, maybe you'll make 20-30k/year or so net cost in low COL areas. Maybe higher in SF/NYC but it can't be by much.

Most of the people have side jobs. By virtue of its setup, Uber attracts more go getters than your run-of-the-mill taxi stand. Quite a few Uber drivers work in sales, and Uber is really just a 30k/year supplement while they do sales over their bluetooth

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