We have been getting a lot of requests from young folks looking for ways to make money before school starts. Here are some Brainstormed ideas for them by the ThriftyFun community. What are your tips for what kids can do to make money? Post them below.
Susan from ThriftyFun
Very Important: Before starting any job or trying any money making ideas, you should run them by your parents.
How about starting a pet sitting service for neighbors who are going on vacation? The kids can feed and play with cats, change litter; walk and feed dogs; feed birds and fish and keep their respective homes clean and uncluttered. This works well for city as well as suburban dwellers. My son put a sign up on the bulletin board in near the mailboxes in our building and had a very successful (financially) summer.
By Alice
The old standbys are yard work, pet sitting, and car washing. How about running errands in the neighborhood? In small towns or in areas where there is a grocery store close by, elderly folks or someone who can't get out, might be thankful to have someone run to the store to pick up milk, bread or other small items for them. Make up a brochure and leave it with folks who can then call you when they need your service. Another thing that could be done is assisting with light housekeeping such as taking out the garbage, vacuuming, dusting, emptying the dishwasher, folding clothes, matching socks, etc.
By Sandi
How about asking your parents if you could wash their car? Cars are constantly getting dirty (thanks to the birds), meaning they always need cleaning. Ask your parents for $20 per car you clean and you should be making tons of money by the end of the week. Hey, and maybe while you're cleaning their car, someone might ask you to do theirs too. A business in the making.
By Kandi
This may be a little too "mainstream" but we just got our 14 (almost 15) year old daughter a job at McDonald's. They will hire kids that young. Personally, I believe teaching our kids to work is one of the best things we can do for them. Even if they "hate" the job, it teaches them a lot. Also, our daughter has taken lifeguard training through the park system and when she is 16, if she passes certification, will be able to get a lifeguard job.
By Jan
If you have a local dance class in your area, ask the teacher if they need any help passing out supplies. My two sons volunteer at the local YMCA dance classes for kids ages 4-6. My boys are 9 and 12. The boys help out in classes after school twice a week and the teacher generously pays them $10 a week. The boys enjoy helping out and are proud of their earnings. It also teaches the boy responsibility.
By Kelly
They can have a garage sale if they have old things they need to give away.
By Celeste
Ok, the absolute best way for any kid who is responsible enough to make money in the long run is to buy a lawn mower, preferably a riding one, and offer to cut grass. This may seem unrealistic but let me explain. One could ask his/her parents to take him/her to the bank and get a loan for however much the lawn mower would cost. (around $1000) Now, go and buy a lawnmower that is capable of vacuuming the leaves and grass and other debris into bins, THIS IS CRUCIAL.
By Keith
The kids sold lemonade and cookies during our neighborhood garage sale. They made $30! That was profit, paying back Mom for supplies. The kids will also be pet-sitting, which they love animals. Last year my son cut the neighbor's lawn and house-sat while they were on vacation. Sometimes the kids have the best ideas given the chance.
By Amy
My kids make extra money by holding a " new school clothes" fund raising car wash. My 11 year old cares for pets while neighbors are out of town, just about twice a month, for $10 a day! She just made $40 this weekend! They also host a "fund raiser yard sale" where they sale their clothes that they can't wear anymore. Usually we donate old clothes though. Tell them to get creative! What is something they are good at, like soccer. They can host a "soccer camp" in their backyard one week.
By Becky from Alabama
How about starting your own little neighborhood newsletter using your own computer and printer? First you print up a sample newsletter with nothing but neighborhood news (A lot of good news) Then pass out this newsletter to your defined neighborhood. Now you can charge your neighbors a subscription for this letter, but it would be better off to give it to them free. What you make your money on is selling ads to all those youth like yourself that need neighborhood jobs.
Neighborhood News Flash: Mr. Thrifty Is Gone
I saw a TV show one time and the father had an absolutely wonderful idea. His son broke one of his electronic games. His father who was very wealthy refused to buy a new one and made his son earn money to buy a new one. So for each chore he did, (cleaning up the kitchen, taking out the trash, washing dishes, emptying the dishwasher, etc) he got a $1.00. Each week he was paid for each item he did. The more he did, the more he got paid. Why couldn't a child do something like this for money. Any working parent would probably love to have kids help out around the house, especially after a long hard day at work. I know I would surely pay my kids to help out with chores around the house. Or do what I did my whole childhood, babysit. I had so many babysitting gigs I had to turn them down. There are tons of families out there who need responsible teens to babysit all summer long while school is out.
By Connie
You can get a job at the local papershop by doing a paper route.
By Hannah
There is no such thing as making money "fast and easy". One may make money, yes, but it is a slow process and, at the same time, one has to SAVE! I agree with Sandy: yard work, cleaning, running errands, car washing, anything legal. Target single parents and the elderly, who may need someone to help. They may not be able to pay much, but if you save what you earn, you will also earn interest and eventually, you will get there! Also, make sure you know the difference between a wish and a want. Good luck!
By Willem
My elderly parents always wished they could hire kids to do the things their own kids used to do - like wash cars, mow the lawn, shovel snow from driveways, etc. Try approaching the senior citizens in your area and see if they have work to do, errands to run. Maybe you could take them grocery shopping, take them to the doctor's, run errands and so on.
When I was a kid, I also had a flare for running children's birthday parties, playing games and so on. I picked up money that way, too.
How about setting up a "summer camp" program for the little kids in the neighborhood and entertain them with crafts and games a few hours a day?
By pam munro
Ask your parents if you can use their lawn mower to mow people's grass. Offer to help pay for the gas with what you make.
Set up a mini daycamp for kids. It would just take a few hours a day but give the parent's a chance to run to the grocery store, clean, read a book or have a few friends over.
Talk to people in your neighborhood to see when they are going on vacation. Offer to take in the mail, newspaper, water the plants, take out the garbage/recycling, etc.
Find people that will hire you to walk their dog. Ask the same people if they will pay you to pick up after the dog. Not a glamorous job but I think you will find many people would pay for this.
Make some small crafts and sell them. Friendship bracelets, fun frames, whatever you have for crafts, see what you can make. If you live in an area where you have some traffic, set up a table similar to a lemonade stand.
Have a kid/teen garage sale. Advertise as this and get rid of the things that you no longer need but another kid would think is really cool.
Decorate/paint t-shirts and sell them.
Think out of the box for ideas.
By Leslie Hess
I'm, 11 and I really want an Xbox 360. I asked my mom if I could do extra stuff around the house and I get about $5 a day. But I'm done with all of that in a hurry. I want to do extra jobs, sometimes I work at my mom and dad's place and I get $5 an hour.
By Joey
I suggest mowing lawns. I'm 12 with a busy life and do it every Sunday. This way, I build muscles and get $10 an hour, that's an average of $50 on Sunday, alone.
By Matthew
I'm 13 and I luv fixin cars so my cousin put me in Quick Fit. Without him, I couldn't work there. Now that I work there, I get money and experience. Every Saturday, I get 80 pounds.
By Rizwan
One thing you could do that I've done over the summer is maybe get together with a couple of friends and start your own business like that. For instance "S&S Landscaping" and come up with something you both enjoy. That is how you make the most money. One thing I did to make money is buy bumper stickers for $0.99 then raise the price and sell them at $4.99. You could make a bumper sticker with your town's initials and sell them for that much more and make that much more profit!
By J-Dub
Well, what you can do is you can sell lemonade. Make flyers and hang them up and on any certain day, you can have a lemonade sell, $0.50 per cup. I've done it and altogether we got $40.00. Have a friend with you.
By Shaina
OK, well, if you play soccer, then refereeing is a great thing to do. You need to contact someone who is part of the soccer league in your town and get the information, take a course, and buy supplies. After you ref a few games, the cost of the course and uniform is gone. Seriously, this job is amazing. For 9-10 year olds, you make $16 per game, and for 11-12 year olds, you make $25. It is even more for older players but since you have to be older than the kids you ref, I don't know about the other rates.
By guyonthesidewalk
Well, you could sell stuff that you don't use anymore. Once I sold some old stuff and I got $200.00.
By LOZZ
I think that kids should be able to work at restaurants and places like Kroger or Target. We need the money too, not just 15 or 16 year olds. Many people don't need their car washed or their lawn mowed, and, even if they did, they wouldn't hire kids that are 12 and under. <3 Good Luck
By hello
If you have some old video games or DVD's laying around, you should bring them to EB Games or Gamestop. They let you exchange the games/systems for some cash. An average working game usually gets about $10, depending on what it is- so that can really add up if you don't play a lot of your games. An entire video game system is even more- plus there's the controllers, which adds more money to the total.
By Christine
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Is there an age limit for sites like www.mechanicalturk.com & Taskrabbit?
The first is a website that has you do small computer tasks for $ & the second is supposed to be a way to sell your services to do odd jobs. I also just read an article (in the 11/28/11 Newsweek) about a man renting out his possessions - using peer-to-peer sites like Zilok.com, Rentalic.com & Snapgoods.com & that old standby craigslist. (In the winter you could rent out your snow blower - or yourself + snowblower & clean up snowdrifts on driveways, etc.) Have an old trumpet you aren't playing? You could rent it out to a student who is just learning.
Well H! x)
Something else you can do is if you have a younger bro/sis babysit.
Sell lemonade (Believe me I got $50 I even sold to the Ice Cream Man!)
Ask your parents what you can do to help them and ask them how much they would give you
Ask your parents for a $1 or $2 & see if you win the lottery...lol
Paint splatter pics.
Invent things & sell them or if you have a printer & computer then print pics out & sell them (if it's ur parents, ask first even if you don't want to).
Ok well I hope this helps.
By Rawr>.
Me Happy!
Referee sports. At our local soccer fields kids as young as 13 ref games. Depending on the age of the team u-6 all the way to competative teens. They make as much as $12-$22 per game. They are also able to get one free drink and sandwich at the concession stand.
I like the pet sitting idea we have needed this service from time to time. Washing cars is a good idea but where we live you can wash your car $3 at the automatic carwash. Not the best job but it is livable. Kids today are so computer savy they can make money going to yardsales and reselling on Craigs List or Ebay.
I would rather teach a teen this way. Get them 2 jobs one where they go to work regular like McDonald's etc so they can see how obtuse a daily grind can be and how little they pay you. While working there I want her to buy and sell at yard sales and see what the return is for each venture. Clearly she will make more with Ebay but it is not as regular.
The smartest thing I think you can teach a teen is how to live on less. Teach her to live in the camper so when she goes on her own her first place will be lot rent not apartment rent. Just because you own a camper you don't have to own a gas guzzling truck or car you can pay somebody to move you when you need and drive that prius banking that money.
Did you know you can toggle insurance on a vehicle that you own outright? Yes in states with mandatory insurance you must carry insurance but there are vehicles that just tow your camper. It might be cost effective to do this. I say if you really track your use of these items it is cheaper to just rent a truck when you tow your camper.
Here in Louisiana they want you to turn in your tag when you drop insurance but if you ask there is a way you can keep your tag on the truck and you call your insurance provider for insurance on a as needed basis. It cost less but is a PITA if you did not know this tip. So if you have a camper that you use only when threatened by hurricane here is the way to do it.
I'm 13 and I need to raise 1,500 dollars to go on a school trip to Washington D.C. Some ways that I make money are selling candy bars at school and cleaning other peoples basements or just houses. I snow shovel and do yard work during the winter.
I am a 13 year old girl (14 in April 2018) and I have no money, I live where not many people are trusted so I can't make pet sit or things like that, I don't have a lawnmower, rake, or shovel and my family and I have no money, so I can't ask for a lone. It's summer so there isn't any school yet, I want money for when I go to school and when I'm in school. Any ideas for me?
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