Meaning: money is earned, not picked. Use examples and meanings.
Rewrite 1: money doesn’t pop out as leaves in the garden
Rewrite 2: you can’t hand-pick money like fruit on a tree
Rewrite 3: money may seem like bulbs on a marquee, but it isn’t
Rewrite 4: money doesn’t flow like water from a faucet

Comment: There are lots of other metaphors to pick from – books from a shelf, cans from a grocery store shelf, toys from a chest, bolts from a bin, photons2 from the sun, etc…

More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• AlterNet MediaCulture Please Pass the Clichés: “Pro sports are still fun to watch, but press conferences and players' remarks have become dry and inauthentic.”

Note: By providing links to other websites I am only showing you what is out there about clichés – I am not endorsing any content or opinion expressed there.

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of all my cliché rewrites available in the archive list at the right.