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Playing
With Money to Make More
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by:
Steve Gillman
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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 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.
Playing With The Casino's Money
When I worked the roulette wheel at a casino I saw many people
foolishly writing down the numbers that came up. Their theories were
mostly nonsense. Casinos welcome these players and even hand them the
pen and paper.
One man, however, was actually scientific about it. He found a bias in
the wheel, after "charting" it for more than 5,000 spins. A number pays
35 to 1, but one of the numbers, due to manufacturing imperfections or
whatever, was appearing 1 in 27 spins, instead of the average 1 in 38
spins.
He bet $10 a spin, and he profited $80 for every 27 spins of the wheel
in the long run, or about $100 per hour. Since the ups and downs are
dramatic, this is not for the faint-hearted. Even though he made tens
of thousands, I saw him lose as much as $700 in a night. Remember too
that not all wheels have biases (the casino eventually replaced that
wheel). Have you ever tried "card counting" in blackjack?...
About the author:
Steve Gillman has been studying every aspect of money for thirty years.
You can find more interesting and useful information on his website; http://www.UnusualWaysToMakeMoney.com
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