There are remote work sites where you can get $30 USD an hour or more programming if you speak English. That’s massively more than local wages. for devs. So even a partial success at foreign freelancing can create a lot of financial breathing space.
One of my difficulties was when I had college debts, I kept trying to find remote work for around 25 USD, and people still thought it was too high, on freelance.com and whatnot, but I couldn't go lower because then I would lose money (ie: not cover my debts and expenses).
Was thinking upwork. I may be off on rates. But when I hired a dev on elance (precursor site) a few years back, $30 was the price I paid. I tested a couple people for whether they could understand the request. Could have gone cheaper with worse English ability, but seemed like a mistake.
I imagine you do have to stsrt lower to get some reviews first. That’s a big thing clients look for.
I got my last two long-term remote jobs through upwork.com. But probably it's hard to find a job above $20 per hour if you don't already have reps there. Having some rare skills helps though.
If you don't mind (remote) full-time, you can try remoteok.io, Angel list, stackoverflow jobs etc. Recruiters can also help.
