Last October I got blindsided by layoffs at the startup I'd been grinding at for 3 years. Data analyst role, decent pay, but honestly the work life balance was trash and my manager was let's just say not great. But still, losing your income overnight hits different when you've got student loans breathing down your neck. The first month was very hard. I applied to probably 200+ jobs and got maybe 5 calls. You know how it is right now like everyone wants senior level experience for junior positions with horrible wages. I was starting to panic. Then my neighbor mentioned she was struggling to organize all her late husband's collectibles to sell them. Vintage cameras, old records and some random electronics from the 90s. She offered to pay me to help sort through everything and research values. Figured it was better than just sitting around. Turns out I have a weird talent for finding valuable stuff buried in what looks like junk. Found an old camera worth 1.2k that she had sitting in a shoebox as well as a prototype gaming console from the early 90s. It almost felt like that time when I pulled off a crazy 4k win on jackpotcity. Word spread in my neighborhood and suddenly I'm getting calls from people wanting help clearing out estates, garages and storage units. What started as a one off favor became this whole side business. I'm charging a percentage of what I help people recover, and some weeks I'm making more than my old salary. Last week I got offered a remote data analyst position that not only pays better than my previous job, but they're cool with me keeping my "estate consulting" work on the side since it doesn't compete with them at all. So now I've got steady income again plus this treasure hunting gig that's actually really fun. Still can't believe this is my life now lol