The main characters - the Bezzabotovs - live for their own pleasure: the husband earns on speculation, his wife Nini has fun with fans. To avoid being seen as parasites, the couple are registered as unemployed. Soon, Nini's husband receives a mail notification that he should pay 500 rubles in tax. Indignant, Nini goes to the financial department and states there that she and her husband are unemployed and don't have the money. But before visiting the officials, she forgets to take off her luxurious jewelry.

The NEP era. Two families with the same surname, Ivanov, live in Leningrad. They are visited by American relatives, who turn out to be confused. Ivanov the draughtsman's unsuccessful plan to rob the American is replaced by cooperation, as a result of which the American finds a job at Volkhovstroy and decides to stay in the USSR.