How to Upgrade an Old Phone into a Porsche

[Heel n Toe]

Most people throw away old cell phones without a second thought. Steven Ortiz is not like most teenagers. This 17-year-old Californian went on Craigslist to turn a used cell phone a friend gave him into a Porsche convertible. Harvard Business School, watch out for this guy.

Ortiz's story brings to mind the similar accomplishment of Kyle MacDonald, a Canadian who started "Craigslist swapping" with a red paperclip in 2005 and eventually ended up with a two-story farmhouse. Through his blog and the kindness of strangers, MacDonald made 14 swaps over the classifieds website, upgrading one item to a more valuable one until he ended up with a house a year later.

:::snip:::

Unlike MacDonald and his red paperclip website, however, Ortiz didn't publicize his efforts—he did it quietly on his own. It took him one year longer than MacDonald, but the Glendale, CA, youth managed to turn an outdated phone into a 2000 Porsche Boxster S.

Ortiz spends five to six hours each day searching Craigslist for the right kind of swaps. Over the last two years and 14 trades, he's had an eclectic assortment of items in his possession, including an iPod touch, various dirt bikes, a MacBook Pro, a golf cart, and a 1975 Ford Bronco. It was the Bronco that allowed him to become the only kid at his high school who drives his own convertible Porsche to class.

More: how-to-upgrade-an-old-phone-into-a-porsche: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

[stomachmonkey]

I hate that kid.

[Christien]

At 5-6 hours a day, he could have worked at a minimum wage job and bought the car sooner.

[crustychief]

He doesn't want it anymore. It costs to much to maintain.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by crustychief

He doesn't want it anymore. It costs to much to maintain.

Of course.... Boxsters are still 15k cars... You can pay it all up front or you can give part of it to your mechanic... Your choice....

[TechnoViking]

Originally Posted by Christien

At 5-6 hours a day, he could have worked at a minimum wage job and bought the car sooner.

That's the first thing I thought. Kinda reminds me of this lady on the local news who does nothing but clip coupons and enter sweepstakes, contests, etc. She makes a reasonable amount each year, enough to pay all her expenses. But it takes pretty much all day, every day.

Might as well get a job and do something productive with your life, I say.

[nostatic]

"something for nothing" is only true if you consider your time worth nothing.

[porsche4life]

I'd like to see how well I could do trading.... But I don't wanna spend much time doing it....

[aigel]

If you read the fine print, it will tell you that he also fixes the items he trades. So, if you get something, fix it and trade it again, it is no big surprise that you trade up.

If fixing stuff counts, my 993 also goes back to a $2500 beater 10 years ago ...

George

[stomachmonkey]

If I were to give any of you a choice of working 6 hours a day cutting lawns in the blazing summer sun or surfing the net in the comfort of your air conditioned home for the same pay which would you choose?

[Christien]

Well, if that were his options, maybe he could trade jobs up the corporate ladder