Customer Reviews

1001 Ways to Make Money If You Dare

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm a regular reader of Trent's personal finance blog 'The Simple Dollar'. I purchased his 1st book and was looking forward to this one. I'm still in shock after reading some of the tips that border on being illegal or are actually illegal (starting a chain letter or being a loan shark, for openers). Some of the other tips are just plain sleazy... open a strip club, write a porno, host a swinger's party, etc. Still others require dishonesty and/or taking advantage of others, like working as a telephone psychic. Some ideas seem in poor taste, like throwing a party and charging your guests to attend. A potluck would be fine, but I would never charge my friends to spend an evening in my home. Suggesting that someone could start their own religion or create a likeness of Jesus or the Virgin Mary in a grilled cheese sandwich to sell photos of it on ebay??? That last one really turned my stomach, as I read about how I could "end up making a fortune off a gullible religious fanatic".

If this book was written for entertainment and humor, I suppose that some would find parts of it to be funny. It left me feeling disgusted more than amused. The author is capable of much better than this; I feel sad that this book will be a part of his legacy as an author.

Gave this 3 stars because there is some useful information, but in the entire book I found only three things that might interest me and be feasible, one I already knew about and none of them worked (for me). These ideas might be great for someone else, someone new to the work force, who lives close to or in a major city. For my circumstances a lot of these ideas just don't pan out, I live too far away from the city and I'm mature enough to look stupid doing many of these things. Some of the ideas were a little insulting such as having a yard sale, selling your CDs, entering a contest and applying for a grant -- as if anyone needing money has not already had some of these brilliant ideas and there a many more along this same vein. Joining the National Guard is something you would plan to do if you had this particular desire- like joining the army or becoming a pilot- these types of ideas are life commitments, not easy ways to make money. Some of the ideas take some specific talent such as becoming a DJ, drawing cartoons, drawing Manga (I'd say these were "grasping at straws to fill space ideas"). Some were absolutely absurd-- "Get a Divorce" comes to mind. Many of the ideas would cost a fair amount of money, three examples are to become a hypnotist, belly dancer or pet taxidermist, it usually is not free and if you aim to be any good at these things or want any credibility you might have to spend a good amount of time in training. In all fairness to the author, the book seems well researched and is easy to use, I also like the way it is laid out-- you can work your way through the ideas (providing they are sane ideas) and mark them, add some notes- the concept of the book is great, the substance is somewhat lacking. Buy if you can find a good CHEAP copy, it might be worth one or two ideas you really had not thought of on your own and the rest of the book might be good for a laugh.

Worth the read. I think the subtitle says it all: "If you dare". :) There are "suggestions" in here that no clear thinking person is going to implement, but, almost all of those are written in such a way that more than a few are laugh out loud funny. I think the writer has a sense of humor, and fun, and play, and took some liberties along those lines in order to hit the "1001" total. Worth reading and worthwhile ideas on how to make some extra dollars.

Not to be taken seriously. It is a fun book to leave on the coffee table or the guest bathroom...

This book is full of ideas on how to make money in your spare time. It could make a great gift for someone or to read with your friends. Some of my favorite ideas are:

* Start a dating service for dorks
* Get and sell celebrity autographs
* Start your own religion
* Beg online

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

It has some terrific ideas in it especially for teenagers, college kids, retired, and semi-retired folks. I purchased several copies for friends and relatives in those groups.