Today's post comes courtesy of Darren Rovell (CNBC's sports reporter) and his link to this New York Times article. Based on your following of this blog, it's safe to assume you are either a) as lazy as me or b) lazier than me, so allow me to summarize the article for you:
Jesus Leonardo, of Wanaque, NJ, is what's known as a "stooper." Stoopers are people who hang around off-track betting establishments picking up tickets thrown away by others. While most of these tickets are losing bets, a few actually turn out to be winners. So many turn out to be winners, in fact, that Mr. Leonardo practices stooping as a full-time job. He makes between $100-300 per day and over $45,000 per year.
OK, stop the presses. You're telling me I can make over $45,000 a year simply by digging things out of the trash? Where can I sign up? Seriously, this sounds like the best deal ever. And don't get all snooty and uppity about trolling through some trash. You're picking out bet slips, not maggots. It's like owning your own business plus gambling divided by the fact that you're not really risking anything. That's an equation for happiness, my friends.
This also got me thinking about what else I'd be willing to do to make $45K a year, without really working or having a boss. Everyone remembers the Seinfeld bottle deposit scam, but is that possible? Newman and Kramer thought they had it all figured out, but in the end it didn't work out (partly Jerry and Elaine's fault, but that's for another post). I had some friends once who delivered newspapers, but the hours were heinous (3am - 7am) and let's face it, newspapers will be completely obsolete in about three more years. I want something with more longevity than that. I'd suggest something involving strip clubs, but I'd end up either divorced or broke, so that's no good.
I need something I don't mind doing that other people would never think of or would never want to do, and most importantly, make money doing it. I'd throw out "listening to Rosie O'Donnell", but I don't think there's any money in that. Picking up dog feces? I can't figure out a business model that would work. Would people pay you monthly and then call you whenever their dog took a dump? The 1-800-GOT-JUNK people are on to something. Could I show up at people's houses and throw shit away for them? Maybe, but it would be tough to do as just one guy. I also might get arrested if I just showed up at someone's house and threw their couch away.
For now, I'm going to continue in my role as a sales executive. But I will continue to dream of my own "ticket in the trash" scheme...
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There is a business in State College that will come to your house and clean up dog feces in your yard. Maybe there are franchise opportunities available.
ReplyDeleteIf you ever watch Pawn Stars, some guy got paid to take away a Shelby car body. Turns out it was real and worth like 60k.
ReplyDeleteI love that show!! The best part is when some sucker paid some insane amount money for some fake piece of shit and brings it in all excited that he has this real piece and tells the story of how he got it. And then they tell him it is fake and they go outside and cry b/c their wife is going to beat their ass b/c they spent their savings on some replica gun that you can buy at any Civil War battlefield for $12.99...ha ha ha
ReplyDeleteYou have to keep your eyes peeled. I read an article on yahoo news last month, and supposedly through flyertalk.com it was mentioned that you could purchase United States minted coins with no shipping costs, because they were trying to increase circulation due to longer lifespans of coins over paper money. Basically people were racking up airline miles through purchasing these coins on credit cards then bringing them right back to the bank, still wrapped in their packaging, and repeating the process over and over. It was said that one guy made over $800,000 in purchases and is now a lifetime diamond/elite member on multiple airlines. It took the banks to call the US mint and tell them that these coins were getting deposited to end the scheme.
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