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By now you should be aware that our economy is in a serious state of decline with 2.6 million jobs lost last year and this year starting off with tens of thousands being laid off already, and this is only January, with 11 more months to go!

You must at all cost have a plan of action in place to protect you and your loved ones from a financial disaster! And you can do this by starting a business, doing freelance work or finding some other source of income as you’re ace up the sleeve.

You will find 100’s of opportunities offering you financial security, huge some of money for little or no work and best of all they will be happy to let you in on this little secrete for a price! In reality if it’s to good to be true, it usually is!

I have done a lot of freelance work and making money opportunities such as web site design, mystery shopping, taking surveys and even being paid to read e-mail’s just to name a few! Some have been good and some not so good. I have decided to share my many experiences over time with others in an effort to help you avoid the not so good stuff!

This one I have been doing for years and for me it has been a lot of fun along with the best benefit of all making money!

I call this one “Trash 2 Treasure”! I’m talking about stuff to get free and sell! This is truly an art but you first must understand that your main goal is to make as much profit as possible on what you can get for free!

Starting out you will need to find a way to sell your product and I do this is at indoor/outdoor flea markets. I have several flea markets that I rent booths from to sell my found treasures.

But for a fee! Just kidding! All my stuff I sell I get for free! How you ask? Easy it’s called dumpster diving or for a more professional term “curb crawling”! Sounds exciting? It does for me considering on an average month I net over $1,500 working no more than 30 hours a month. Does this sound exciting yet? Ok, read on.

In most area’s it is perfectly legal but do check your local laws and ordinances to make sure. Also a truck or van helps, but I started out with the back seat and trunk of my car.

I simply got a city map and marked my area of interest based on type of income level for the area and type of homes. My primary focus was on middle class type homes and above in subdivisions. I got this information at the public library, from local realtors and from the county tax assessor office. Once I have all my information in hand I simply call the local trash service providers and ask them when service is provided for (Name) subdivision. With service dates in hand I schedule my run’s in my planner. I also make runs through apartment complexes. Don’t forget if you have any Colleges or Universities near you make sure you mark your calendar for move out day and you will have more product than you can handle.

My day starts out at day break and runs until 9:00 am. I spend about 2 to 3 hours per trash run. It would blow your mind what stuff you can get for free!

My tools of the trade are a good pair of gloves, overalls, power converter, boots, power converter and my handy dandy Janilink Trash Grabber.

I use my power converter and plug in stuff to make sure it powers up!

Like any other business, we have rules and so does Trash to Treasure. The first one is “Do not make a mess and if you do clean it up, second “Do not rip open trash bags, and our third rule is “Only stop if you can see a good item stop and pick it up”.

Now I only pick out the good stuff! Easy to fix or just clean.

Let me share with you what I made just in December 2008. During this time I made a total of 9 trash runs and found furniture, electronics, antiques and collectibles.

All the items I picked up sold during the month of December for $2,347 gross. Yes I did have some expenses such as gas, repair, and booth rent. All my expenses for this time frame amounted to $784.50 with a net profit of $1,562.50 with less than 30 hours of work!

Now keep in mind that this does not include the items that I kept and gave away to family and friends. As you can see not a bad return for a few hours!

In all the years that I’ve been doing this I have never made less than $1,100 in any month.

Keep in mind to start out small on your flea market boots and build up.

This will not make your rich but it may just help you survive.

A great book to read is The Dumpster Diver by Janet S. Wong.

Ozark Mike has been a freelancer for nearly 2 decades. Visit http://www.extramoneysolutions.com

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