Ready to start playing with your money? Not interested in complicated businesses or boring bank C.D.’s? Here are some methods that aren’t quite a business because you can do them once, or just when you feel like it. Start small and the risk is small.

Loan Sharking

Years ago a friend got a good job when I loaned him $300 to buy the necessary tools. I and mega888
mega888 charged a $6 per week loan fee (don’t call it interest) until he paid in full. That’s more than 100% annual interest, and yes, we’re still friends. Check the laws in your area  if you try this, and take collateral. I don’t loanshark any longer, but in my early twenties I loaned as much as $2,000 at a time ($100/month loan fee), and only once was stiffed on a small loan.

Investing In Other’s Expertise

John showed me several car magazines before I understood why an old fiberglass car was a good deal at $2,300. What’s a Corvette? He convinced me to put up the money, and after a new transmission for $900, he sold the 1976 Corvette for $4,300, netting us $1,000. I took half the profit ($500) for putting up the money for the two weeks.

I’ve done this many times with friends who know cars but don’t have cash. Incidentally, if I had paid a $50 cash advance fee and 18% interest to raise the money with a credit card, my profit would still have been over $400, and John did all the work. I love playing with money. Do you have any friends who know about boats?

Buying Estates

My wife and I met a couple who buy out estates, sell some of it at flea markets, then run the rest through auctions. They’ve made a living at this for years. After negotiating to buy a whole house full of stuff, thay load up their trailer. If they don’t want to do the flea market thing, they auction everything on Sunday afternoon for a nice profit.

If you’re a good judge of value and have an auction nearby, you could also do this with rummage sales. Offer $100 for everything, then auction it off piece-by-piece. An auction near us lets anyone in, with no fee to enter – just a 25% commission on anything sold.