The movie scene I thought of is in Clerks 2 where Randal and Dante are in jail and Randal is going off on Dante about how Dante complains about his life.
Very true, but consider that a stock can only move three directions: up, down, or sideways. This takes money. If you have the money to buy 5,000 shares of a $5.00 stock ($25,000), how long does it take that stock to move $0.10?
Using this idea you only bet when your batteries are charged, you have two hours guarenteed before your next crisis, you know the market is moving (almost every day something is moving), you feel good, you got enough sleep, you've already been to the bathroom, your favorite Starbucks/McDonald's/$WIFI-HOTSPOT is open, etc. Make sure you're ready to bet, watch the market, bet, go eat lunch.
I've been playing with this very idea. I've had to mentally hold one position over night. I don't like holding a position. I want to be in and out in two hours.
Gambling on the stock market is risky. I think lots of people, maybe most of the people that gamble this way, want to be rich. Well, I don't. As the OP asked the question, I only want to make enough to comfortably get by so I can spend the rest of my time living and learning.
Seems like playing the stock market is the easist way I've found so far. If you bet on a stock by buying 500 shares, the stock goes up ten cents (USD, $0.10), you've made $50 (I'm not counting transaction fees, just the base numbers). If you buy 5000 shares you've made $500. Make $500 three times a month and you're at $18,000 a year. Each $500 gamble may take one or two hours depending on how quickly the NASDAQ is moving.
For the specified amount of $24,000 per year, that's four $500 bets per month.