I’ve mentioned here on occasion that people at the tail ends of the financial / behavioral bell curve fascinate me. Living in a van to get through grad school? Retiring at age 30? Making a living from points and miles? More, please!

So, along those lines, here are a few slightly less respectable tales from the financial fringe. But first, a PSA: for those of you who will be at the Charlotte get-together on Saturday, I’ll be wearing the red hat you see pictured above to make myself easy to pick out. (Apologies to Freequent Flyer for copying his hat thing.) Please introduce yourself, and please forgive me if you have to tell me your name five times as I am bad with both names and faces.

Now then: let’s move on to some ratings-grabbing financial tales.

I LIVE IN A DUMPSTER!: I’ve linked to stories about tiny houses, car houses, and bridge houses before, so I’m happy to finally have a story about a dumpster house:

Some might chalk it up to a classic mid-life crisis, but I would argue that it’s more complex than that. I wanted to challenge the limits of my life in a big way. True, I bought the stereotypical, post-divorce convertible (a Volvo — my mom always had one), but that’s where the stereotype ends. When my apartment lease ran its course, I decided I still had more space than I knew what to do with, so I sold everything I owned for $1 apiece and illegally moved into my office at the university where I was a professor (an untenured one, at that).

Selling everything I owned and secretly living in my office was pretty out there, but it was tame compared to what I did next. About nine months later, I moved into a used dumpster.

There are pictures at the link. Here’s one:

I SELL POSITIVE PREGNANCY TESTS FOR EXTRA INCOME!: Looking for a great prank to play on a dear friend and/or a hated enemy? Here’s an idea:

Buying and selling others’ pregnancy tests is the latest trend on the Internet. Those involved in the trade said the buyers’ motive is often to trap a man – and that is not all.

“Ninety-five percent of the girls just want to lie to get a man,” the seller said.

And the sellers know that.

One Craigslist ad posted last year by a Central New Jersey woman read: “I am pregnant and will sell you a positive pregnancy test. These will be taken right before you’re ready to pick them up. Wanna get your boyfriend to finally pop the question? Play a trick on mom, dad or one of your friends? I really don’t care what you use it for.”

Another ad from Buffalo promised no judgment at all. It read in part: “Ever since I became pregnant, I have been asked numerous times for a positive test, so I decided to start charging for it! I will test the same day you want to pick it up! I don’t care what you use it for, not my business!”

If you’re wondering, the going price for these things is $30. Hopefully you’re not wondering, though.

WHERE COLLEGE GIRLS SEARCH FOR SUGAR DADDIES!: The New York post had the privilege of attending a mixer where young women without money and older men with money try to reach mutually beneficial arrangements:

“I haven’t found one that’s attractive to me, and my standards aren’t that high,” said a 25-year-old co-ed who traveled from Nashville with her longtime sugar daddy.

The blond Army soldier said her 59-year-old benefactor — who was diagnosed with terminal cancer — pays $4,000 a month for both her and her sister’s living expenses.

“He tries so hard to make me happy,” she said. “He’s going to be my No. 1 sugar daddy until he goes.”

One Pace University student, 22, said she dates sugar daddies instead of working a part-time job.

“I grew up with money. I’m not a poor person,” the woman sniffed. “My parents still give me money, but only a certain allowance.”

She said a businessman from Dubai gave her $1,000 to have coffee with him at a Times Square Starbucks. She sees a 40-something man who gives her $400 to $800 every time they hang out. It never goes beyond kissing, she said.

I’d better end this post before it gets worse. Happy Friday, and I’m looking forward to seeing some of you this weekend!