Luis Paz explains how important it is for inmates to have a prison hustle. Not only for having extra currency, but because it teaches you all sorts of skills you can use on the outside.

Luiz Paz

Life is a battlefield. You’re either a predator or prey. And in prison? That truth is magnified by a thousand. In prison, you’re inside a shark-eat-shark world, and if you’re alone without any type of support, you have two choices: sit around, complain, and starve like a loser — or step up, sharpen your mind, and hustle like a champion.

Most people on the outside don’t get it. They think prison is a place where you just sit around and do your time. But that’s wrong. Prison is an economy. A jungle. And in the jungle, only the strong survive.

Money still runs everything, but the currency is different. Everything is ten times more expensive inside – and everything’s for sale: what you buy from the commissary, favors from others and buying influence. And if you don’t have money coming in, you better figure out how to make it, because the weak get eaten alive.

So how do the real hustlers make money inside? The same way winners do in the real world —by being smarter, faster, and hungrier than the competition.

In the American penal system, most prisoners are broke. The state gives you just enough to exist, but not enough to live. And if you want anything extra beyond the lousy food, hygiene products, clothes — or even the ability to communicate with the outside world — you are going to need money.

But here’s the catch most people don’t know. Prison jobs pay mere cents per hour. A month of work might get you enough to buy a few packs of ramen, if anything. So let’s be clear about one thing. Prison jobs don’t help anyone. They are what we call inside “time sitters.”

That means if you’re relying on prison wages, you’re already a loser. The real money is in the underground economy, the hustles that separate the weak from the strong. The topic not everyone wants to talk about. So let me begin by breaking it down for you:

Hustle #1: How to Make Money off of Commissary

Most people on the outside have no idea how money moves inside prison. They think the commissary just offers snacks in between meals in the chow hall. But in reality? Commissary is inmates’ breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is their currency. It’s survival. And for the ones who know how to play the game, it’s a business.

The smart prisoner takes advantage of the system by flipping the commissary into cash.

Here’s how. They invest in buying commissary items in bulk – popular items such as ramen, chips, meat products, coffee, candy, or cakes – and then sell them at a premium.  This isn’t just spending, it’s investing.

This isn’t just about flipping snacks. The goal isn’t just to make a quick buck. It’s to build something sustainable, helping your fellow prisoners along the way. It’s about learning how money works. If a prisoner can run a business inside prison with limited resources, imagine what they can do when they get out. This is training for real-world success. The ones who treat this like a real business come out stronger, sharper, and ready to win.

Hustle #2: Selling Personal Skills for Survival

If a prisoner doesn’t have capital, they can sell their skills. This is what separates the intelligent from the average. Prison is a world where favors are money and what better way to give favors to others than to benefit from them?

Barbering is one of the most popular favors in prison. Everyone needs a cut. And if a prisoner knows how to fade, line up and keep people looking fresh, they can get paid. Simple as that.

Tattooing is the highest paid favor I have seen in prison. Is it Illegal? Sure. Is it profitable? Absolutely. They use homemade machines and ink made from burnt hair products, which goes a long way.  If a prisoner is a good artist, people will line up for months to get a tattoo, supplying the tattoo artist with enough money to buy everything he needs while he’s in prison.

Legal Work is another example that’s high in demand. Prisoners who don’t know the law need help from prisoners who do so. This hustle can help prisoners without law understand a chance to fight their cases, write appeals, or draft parole letters. This is a next-level game. If you’ve got charisma, this is one of the easiest ways to bring in outside money.

Some of the best product hustles in prison are handmade products. If you can create, you can sell. Period. For the prisoner who knows how to draw, this means being able to sell custom greeting envelopes, holiday cards, portraits, and tattoo designs. Or whatever else the customer might want. Some prisoners in Tennessee make anything from clothing to home décor to stuffed toys, basically anything made from yarn which is available to buy from the prison’s approved vendors.

Then there are the prison “cookups,” one of my favorites. This works best for the prisoners who work in the kitchen and can take basic food items back to their cell and turn them into delicious meals like pizzas, burritos, noodle dishes. Selling hot meals to guys who don’t know how to cook or don’t have access to the oven can easily turn from five to ten dollars to twenty-five or fifty dollars.

The smartest prisoners don’t just make money, they build businesses. For example, King Guru or Nikki K Hail have written books and some of the books are even turned into movies available on apps like Tubi. Others hire a ghostwriter to write and publish their books.

Hustle #3: Creating Value On the Outside

One of my personal hustles is building up a social media presence. Some prisoners like me have learned to use outside contacts to help run Instagram accounts and build a brand even while locked up. On my Instagram, @barsandredemption, I share my journey of turning struggle into success, even from behind bars. I love shedding light on prison realities and the power of education.

In my personal opinion, a prisoner’s mindset is responsible for his financial freedom while being behind the walls. Hustlers think differently. We see opportunity where others see obstacles. We refuse to be victims. We simply live by five principal rules:

1. Living with No Excuses: Nobody cares why you’re broke. So Fix it.
2. Be Ruthless: Business is business. You either make money or you don’t.
3. Stay Disciplined: If you waste time, you waste money. Every day is a chance to get ahead.
4. Adapt and Overcome: If one hustle dries up, find another. Winners adjust.
5. Never Be Broke Again: The goal isn’t just to make money—it’s to build something that lasts.

Most people are weak. They wait for someone to save them. The real hustlers? They save themselves. We have no time for laziness.

At the end of the day, prison is a test. If you can make money here, you can make money anywhere. The skills that can be developed inside like grinding, networking, selling, and adapting are all the same skills that build empires in the free world.

The choice is simple, in prison you either hustle or you starve. There is no in-between.

Luis Paz 526750

2520 Union Springs Road

Whiteville, TN 38075

The post So How Do the Real Prison Hustlers Make Money Inside? first appeared on Prison Writers.