Ask HN: If you needed to make $1000 in a week, what would be your strategy?
2 pointsby btcalex7 hours ago10 comments
  • Sabinus16 minutes ago
    Get a resource extraction job.
  • SunshineTheCat7 hours ago
    If we're talking no experience, need $1k a week, first place I would go is a warehouse job. If there weren't warehouse-specific options available in my area, I would branch off into other manual labor jobs.

    They pay better than most entry level jobs people gravitate to (fast food, retail, etc) and are nearly always hiring.

  • ben_w7 hours ago
    > If you had no connections, money, investments, or any property/possessions to sell, what would be your first steps?

    That'd a harsh set of constraints.

    I think the only answers remaining with those in place are "prostitution" and "crime", aren't they?

    Ditch a digit, $100 in a week, and you could do it with any normal job, stack shelves or whatever, but I don't see that getting you to $1k. $500 perhaps, from what I hear of US jobs (you did mean USD not any of the other dollars, right?), but not $1k.

    • PaulHoule7 hours ago
      The median income in the US was $83,730 in 2024

      https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2025/demo/p60-28...

      Now in some cases that is two or three people working, but a $52,000 a year job is not impossible to find for many people.

      • ben_w3 hours ago
        Sure, but with:

        > no connections, money, investments, or any property/possessions

        You're not going to get median, you're getting what you can reach on foot. Informal day labour, not median salary.

  • beardyw7 hours ago
    Well if you get 2 jobs, 14 hours a day you need to clear $11 an hour to make it.
    • dsr_7 hours ago
      And minimum wage in my state is currently $15/hour, so you can even do that after-tax.
  • elmerfud7 hours ago
    Manual labor work. I think in the US this is achievable although maybe not exactly easy.

    Mowing lawns, gardening, shoveling snow, cleaning, odd jobs, etc... It does depend on your location but this is still a fairly common thing in some places. Knock on doors ask people if they need work. Point out things that they could use help with weeding trimming mowing all of that.

    But if you take an average of $40 a job spreading that over 7 days that's 3.6 jobs a day. If you can do an average of 12 hours of work a day it'll be at your $1,000.

    • robocat3 hours ago
      Your calculation assumes an overhead of zero: for example you assume that knocking on doors takes up no time.

      Plus: is knocking on doors obsolete? I'm not sure you'd be able to get a response in my suburb (not that I've tried - too many gates - too many suspicious people).

      And prep, traveltime and cleanup all take time too. for example a mower doesn't magically get to a house and it needs time and expense to run (and where I live you'd often be expected to dispose of clippings - costing time or money or favours).

      Trite answers are cute, but they are not helpful.

  • andsoitis7 hours ago
    Get a job. Any job.
  • ksherlock7 hours ago
    vibe code something viral and sell out to OpenAI. Oh, you said $1,000 not $1,000,000,000.
  • MrSandingMan7 hours ago
    Sell a kidney?
  • bell-cot7 hours ago
    Doing hard work in not-so-cushy environments often pays pretty well. For example:

    https://alaskafishingjobs.com/earnings-and-wages/

    https://www.goarmy.com/benefits/while-you-serve/money-pay (depending on how you count the various benefits, [re-]enlistment bonuses, etc.)

  • PaulHoule7 hours ago
    Get a job.