Beetles & Bones: A Grizzly Profit

Dear Money & Crisis Reader,

Before we get into the meat of today’s issue, I wanted to give you a quick update on Monday’s story.

If you remember, my wife was stiffed with a ridiculously overpriced bill after a routine visit to the doctor.

We’re still working through the process but we’ve already found the source of two separate problems that contributed to the inflated price.

First, the doctor referred my wife to a clinic for tests. And while the clinic assured her they were in-network… they sent the tests to be analyzed at a separate lab that was out of network.

Second, my wife was billed for several therapy sessions with a psychiatrist… despite only going in for a single physical test and never having met with a mental health professional of any kind.

Mind boggling.

We’re still working through this, building our case. But I’m sure there’s more dirt to uncover.

We’ll keep you updated. But for now, let’s get back to our usual programming.

Today’s issue of Money & Crisis is all about a bizarre and grizzly side hustle opportunity.

You may want to buckle up.

Carla Brauer’s co-workers are flesh-eating monsters.

Literally.

I’ll explain everything in a moment. But for now, all you need to know is that her work with these ghoulish critters is 100% legal. And it pays well — up to $3,000 per month.

You see, Carla is one of those folks who had a weird and wonderful idea… and found a way to turn it into a bizarre and lucrative side hustle.

If you like to hunt, you might already have some idea where this is going. But folks who can’t stomach talk of creepy crawlies or dead animals… well, they might want to give this issue of Money & Crisis a skip.

“I grew up in a big city, but never felt like I belonged there,” writes Carla on her website. “I dreamt of the country, living more outdoors than in, being surrounded by nature.

“It didn’t look promising when I took a post-college job as a corporate copy editor in a downtown high-rise, but I knew then as I do now that no one hands you your dream life.”

In search of a simpler, more satisfying existence, Carla left the city behind. She started working and living on small farms, learning to raise animals for food.

But in the end, it was an episode of the Fox crime drama Bones that gave her the strange idea for the side hustle that would become a fully-fledged business.

The episode in question featured a grizzly process, known as skeletonization, in which bodies are stripped of their flesh using hundreds of flesh-eating insects.

Most folks who watched Bones that evening quickly forgot about the gruesome episode. But Carla, who lived in rural Oregon where hunting is a popular pastime, saw a business opportunity.

If she had a box of those beetles… she could offer a high-quality bone cleaning services to hunters… without having to lift a finger herself.

You’re probably wondering how you would go about buying a horde of flesh-eating beetles. Well, just about the same way you’d go about buying just about everything these days.

The internet.

For just $100, Carla bought a batch of hungry beetles online and had them flown in from Alaska.

You can find just about anything on Amazon these days.

Carla started off small with bone cleaning. In fact, at first, it was more of a hobby with a small side income than a fully-fledged side hustle. But it wasn’t long before business exploded.

She started stripping bones in bulk for hunters, taxidermists, museums and even providing props for big studio Hollywood movies.

These days, if you’re in Oregon, and you see an animal-skull trophy, there’s a good chance it passed through Carla’s Dermestidarium.

The best part is, after that initial investment of $100, Carla has never had to spend a single penny on buying more beetles. The one’s she uses today are direct descendants of that first batch from Alaska. They even regulate the size of their population based on how much “work” Carla is giving them.

The only regular outgoing costs for the Dermestidarium are the domain for her website and the monthly electricity bills. And, unlike taxidermy, you don’t need a special license to get started. Carla just needed a bank account to receive payments when the money started rolling in.

Of course, the best thing about this side hustle turned business isn’t that it makes lots of money… it’s that it allows Carla to live the life she always dreamed of.

“Today I live on a small farm where we try to be as self-sufficient as we can,” writes Carla. “We have a big annual garden, meat pigeons, ducks and geese, and I’ve become a self-taught hunter and angler only pretty recently as an adult.

“My time in the wilderness hunting, fishing or foraging is incredibly important to me, and even though I’ve spent many years visiting wild spaces hiking and camping, there is something truly special about being a participant in nature, not just an observer.

“A skull on the wall isn’t simply a trophy or decoration – there’s a story behind each one, big and small. A memory brought to life, a reason to tell your story. It’s an honor that I get to be part of that.”

“But I Don’t Want to Work With Flesh-Eating Beatles…”

So what am I getting at with today’s issue? Should everyone go out and buy a box of flesh-eating beetles?

Obviously not. (Though if you’d like to, please, be my guest.)

Carla envisioned her dream life… and then she picked up a side hustle that would make it happen.

It’s highly likely that your dream is different to Carla’s. (Perhaps you’re more of the Caribbean beach type.) And the side hustle that gets you there is going to be a very different animal.

Maybe it will be inspired by a visit to that country… or a TV crime drama.

But if you don’t want to wait around to be inspired, I highly recommend you check out The Side Hustle Bible.

In it, side hustle expert James Altucher reveals 177 six-figure income opportunities to earn passive paychecks for the rest of your life — including 10 separate, fully legal ways to make two grand in the next 48 hours.

Click here to reserve your FREE copy before it’s too late.

All the best,

Owen Sullivan
Editor, Money & Crisis

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