Ricky has never been the smartest guy in the group. He's failed Grade 6 at least three times and didn't pass his Grade 10 until he was an adult. He has trouble with big words and struggles to understand others, and, of course, he can never seem to recall common words or phrases, creating his own aptly named "Rickyisms."
But, what he doesn't have in book smarts, he makes up for in street smarts—well, actually, not really. Ricky's money-making schemes, while sometimes seemingly brilliant or actually doable in theory, rarely work out how he plans them. While always on the prowl for ways to make a quick buck, his stupidity and overzealousness are his downfalls, and his dumb schemes are never thought out enough to succeed, especially with Jim Lahey around.
Robbing A Bank
While this seems like the most obviously terrible money-making scheme, Ricky and the boys' plan was actually pretty solid. They created a fake armored truck from cardboard and tape, fake uniforms to get them into the bank, and actually got the money and were ready to ride off into the sunset until Jim Lahey decided to crash the party.
A drunk and disorderly Lahey, after being rejected by Julian, then threatens to jump off the top of the building. This leads to a halt in their escape plan, after which they are all caught.
Growing Dope In Recycle Bins
Once again showing Ricky's insistence on growing dope, he devises a new, more impressive way to grow and make money. Using modified recycle bins, Ricky and the boys attempt to create prototype grow boxes to then sell to others that want to grow their own dope.
With a surprisingly good design and some actual ingenuity put into them, these grow boxes almost come to fruition— that is until, once again, Jim Lahey crashes down on them hard, this time literally. Lahey drives his car right into their prototypes, destroying their hopes for this short-lived scheme.
Selling Homemade Liquor
For once in what seems like the whole show, Ricky and Ray's plan of bottling and selling their own liquor actually kind of works. Bottling it up themselves in the dump where Ray lives, with the help of Bubbles, they sell to the inhabitants of Sunnyvale, with good reviews from patrons like Lahey.
Everyone seems to like it and it sells well, but, of course, Lahey can't let the boys get away with anything, so he once again sets off to foil their plans and even steal the money they've made.
Growing A Field Of Dope
Ricky assembles three fields of dope outside the park, and he and the boys just have to cut and sell it all before Lahey and the cops can find it and shut it down. They attempt to send it to a buyer through a courier service, but they are once again interrupted by Lahey who goes crazy and tries to kill Ricky and himself.
The deal goes through, but Barb ends up scamming the money off of Cory and Trevor, who were put in charge of the deal after the boys get sent to jail.
Growing Dope In A Trailer
Trying to grow dope once again, Ricky sets up an Airstream full of plants, lights, and water. Everything seems to be going well until the boys find an infestation of spider mites amongst the plants. When they try to quarantine them in Bubbles' shed, faulty wiring sets the shed on fire, burning up Bubbles' home.
Then, after having the trailer stolen by fake missionaries and retrieving it, they sell off the remaining dope, but, in the process, they get into a chase with the police, ending with their arrest and the destruction of the trailer.
The Hash Driveway
This is either the most idiotic or ingenious way to hide some dope. After stealing a lot of hash from some of Ricky's old friends, the boys pave a driveway of it in front of Ray's trailer to hide it in plain sight. They spend much of season five trying to protect it, and Ricky starts to sell it to high schoolers. When Lahey eventually gets wind of their operation, he snitches to Cyrus, the original owner of the hash, and a large gunfight ensues in the trailer park.
Garbageland
Ricky's "genius" idea leads him to steal people's yard furniture and grills. He makes Trevor do most of the work and then takes the stolen goods to his own yard and sets up a store, which he calls "Garbageland."
Trying to get more customers, Ricky hijacks a TV news crew at the park who were there to do a story on other businesses. After constantly interrupting Bubbles, who's trying to show off his own business "Kittyland," bees attack everyone, and Lahey shows up drunk, ruining the news story and Ricky's shop.
Illegal Gas Station
Echoing a similar idea from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Ricky and the boys set up an illegal gas station in the park by siphoning gas from stranger's cars. After giving vouchers to customers of Sarah and Lucy's hair salon, Lahey starts to get suspicious and tries to get the boys on video selling illegal gas.
After only recording Cory and Trevor on video, Ricky messes up the scheme himself after dropping a cigarette into some gas, lighting a car on fire. Cory and Trevor are arrested, but the boys get off scot-free.
Selling Stolen Meat
Trying to make some quick money after getting out of jail, Ricky and the boys start stealing meat from a butcher and selling it at a local plaza. Julian bails on the scheme pretty quickly, but Bubbles and Ricky continue on with it.
However, after Bubbles almost freezes to death after getting stuck in the freezer while trying to steal the meat, he quits, too. Ricky is then left all alone, and, not wanting to do it by himself, he bails on the scheme, as well.
Selling Stolen Barbecues
Employing Trinity and her friends, Ricky starts stealing barbecues and repainting them to sell. Thinking that the young kids can't get arrested for stealing, Ricky believes this to be a foolproof plan, when it is actually his dumbest.
Ricky is spotted by a policewoman at the high school parking lot with barbecues on the top of his car, and, after seeing reports of stolen barbecues around town, the cop confronts Ricky. He only gets out of this one because Julian asks out the policewoman, who is infatuated with him.