If you say that someone is getting money for old rope or money for jam, you mean that they are getting money very easily and with very little effort. I had always believed that the fashion model's job was money for old rope. His only responsibilities will be to keep the fences in order and to maintain the grass. It sounds like money for jam. Note: In the past, sailors used to unpick lengths of old rope and sell the strands to shipyards where they were used to make the decks of ships watertight.