Easy ways to make money for kids

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf437665.tip.html

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.

Answers:

Pet Sitting 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

Errands For Elderly Neighbors 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

Start Working Before You Are 16 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.

If your child is into sports, umpiring is a way to earn money. Normally, there is some sort of training before the season starts. Country clubs may hire kids to caddy. Of course, these are not “occasional” types of jobs just to earn a little spending money and won’t work if that is what they want to do.

By Jan

Be A Class Helper 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

Garage Sale They can have a garage sale if they have old things they need to give away.

By Celeste

Lemonade Stand And More Tips 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, as 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

Hold A Car Wash, Yard Sale And Other Ideas 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 AL

Neighborhood Newsletter 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. So much for a ad for a 10 year old dogwalker or a 13 year old car washer. Sell your ads by each edition whether it be weekly, bi weekly or monthly. Make sure you set up a space in your free edition telling all the neighbors that you are selling ads. Oh, you can also list yard sales, cars for sale or furniture, whatever. You won’t become rich, but I’ll bet you can earn enough to get your IPod.

Neighborhood News Flash: Mr. Thrifty Is Gone

By Mr. Thrifty

Get Paid For Chores Or Babysitting 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

Get A Paper Route You can get a job at the local papershop by doing a paper route.

By Hannah

Making Money Advice 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 pamphyila

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

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

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

Feedback:

Idea for computer-oriented people: If your child is really good with computers, they can earn some money by teaching kids basic computer skills. (08/22/2007)

By ChrisB

RE: How Can Kids and Young Adults Make Money? Well, I’m from the old school and I can think of no better way for a teenager to make extra money that by doing yard work. In the summer there are lawns to be mowed and in the fall, leaves to be raked or blowen into piles then bagged up and in the winter, snow to be shoveled. This kind of work is especially helpful for older folks because they may have a hard time doing it themselves due to health problems like a bad back, etc. On the rare occasions a neighborhood teenager knocks on my door and asks me if he (or she) can do any yard work, I go out of my way to find some for him (or her), because I’m just thrilled to see a teenager who realizes the value of a buck and has gotten off the Gameboy and TV couch.

1. FREE WORK COUPON: You don’t have to, but if you have a computer and printer you can spend an hour typing up a list of your services with a “free” coupon for the first hour of work. This “free coupon” will let the adult see just how hard of a worker you are, and don’t worry about all that work for free, because you’ll probably get tipped extra money just because you offered your services for free. People really appreciate this.
2. GOOD DEALS: You can offer a “buy 3 mows, get 1 free” coupon or some marketing deal like this. Even better you can offer free services for the elderly or a “Gift Coupon” for other neighbors to buy your services for another neighbor in need of yard work.
3. Be a good neighbor, if you have a neighbor who is in the hospital or sick or just had a baby and can’t keep their yard up, organize a day where the whole neighborhood can get together and work on their yard. These kinds of things go a long way to advertise your services.

   Say, “Hi, I’m so and so from down the block, I live in the blue house across the way or my parents are such and such and here’s my card. I’m arranging a block work day from noon to 3 for so and so because he just had a heart surgery (or whatever). If you’re interested, just show up at such and such address. AND, if you ever need any help with your yard, I do a full range of services, here’s my card (or brochure with list of services).” Make sure it’s okay with the homeowner first before doing most work. And most importantly: Don’t cut “anything” down before asking.

   An example: My mom let a Realtor who was going to sell our house do a bit of pruning and weeding for a few hours (the work was free, what could she say?). While we were gone, the Realtor “totally” cut down her prize Rhododendron plant that she nursed and loved for over 35 years, it had huge flowers and was beautiful. Well, as you can imagine, my mom wasn’t to pleased (to say the least) when we pulled up and it was gone. Don’t make this mistake. A plant may look spindly and ugly in the fall, but look great in the summer months, don’t think it’s to be weeded unless you’re sure.

4. On you card say “I guarantee you’ll be happy with my work or no charge” because many adults think teenagers these days are lazy and won’t work hard. If you can prove them wrong, you’ll have a customer for years to come.
5. Keep you prices low and you’ll make it up in tips if you work hard. This way you can beat the competition. Sure, you need to get your money back for any tools (leaf blowers, rakes, etc) you needed to buy, but remember, by not having to pay for gas and a car to get to work you’re saving tons of money. So, you can start at $10 – $15 an hour or so for weeding to get customers. (You can always raise your prices if need be later on) or, you can do “piece work” meaning, just charge $25 or whatever, per yard mowed (depending on the size of the lawn).
6. Offer a monthly, seasonally or year-round service. Many adults make their living this way in our area. Instead of going door to door only when it snows, how about salting their sidewalks and driveways whenever there’s ice, too. This way, they can always know their sidewalk is free of ice and no one will slip and fall. You could bill them weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, kind of like a paperboy would. There are many grown adults in our area who make a living this way year round. They buy a leaf blower and a lawn mower and do a weekly leaf clean, mowing, weeding service. We once had a gal who did this and the great thing was, we never had to call her, she came every Tuesday and our yard always looked wonderful. She sent a bill to us monthly.
7. Moving, house painting, and spring cleaning services are another way to work around the neighborhood. If you know someone that’s moving, why not offer your services, They’ll appreciate the extra help.
8. Hanging Christmas Lights – Help the home owner, or do the work yourself, either by the hour or piece work. Just go around in mid November and pass out your business card or flyer and tell them you’re looking for ways to earn extra money.
9. When looking for odd jobs, try to actually talk to a real human, don’t just leave your card on their door. Go around and knock on doors during dinner time when people are home, usually between 6 and 7PM. Make sure your parents know exactly where you’ll be and never, ever enter someone’s home. People these days don’t take offense if you state “I know you don’t want to let the heat out, but my parents won’t let me enter someone else’s home. Can I talk to you on the porch please?”. And girls, take a brother or friend with you or have your mom follow you in the family car.
10. Keep good notes. Take a notebook and pen and write down each address and if they were home and what services they might be interested in and if they want you to come back.

I hope some of these ideas help you. Just let you neighbors know you are working toward buying a (whatever) and that you plan to work hard to get it and they’ll go out of their way to find work for you. We adults just love to see a teenager who will work hard for what they want. (10/18/2007)

By Cyinda

RE: How Can Kids and Young Adults Make Money? Well school is the most important thing as long as your job does not interfer with that. Girls could take in ironing at home or if you can sew and can borrow your mom’s machine you could make doll clothes or pet clothes to sell. McCalls has lots of patterns for both things to make. Walmart sells fabrics for $1.00 per yard you could make sets like table napkins and table runners.

Then on 2 Saturdays out of the month sell them at flea markets. Ask one of your parents or your grandparents to set up there with you encourage them to bring a few of there unwanted items along for them to make money on and make up some baked goods, like cookies or brownies to sell, also. Take a cooler with ice and fill it with canned generic sodas that you paid 25 cents for each and sell for 50 cents each. A flea market table or booth often only cost $7-10 for the day and you’ll make well over that if you have already made your items and have lots ready to sell.

For events of crafts, that the girls have made check your local Chamber of Commerce to ask them when craft shows will be in your area or near you. Call the director of those craft shows to see what the fee for a booth is and if it’s low within your budget set up there. Again ask your parent or grandparent to come with you to help. Or ask your parent to sell them for you on eBay if possible.

Offer to vacuum out and clean the inside of your family’s cars once or twice a month like your (aunts, uncles, grannys, etc.). Car detailing is quite expensive and you could do it for half the price they charge. Just go to the dollar store and invest in your supplies like Windex, Fantastic, Armour All, paper towels, etc. just the basics.

Boys who have knowledge of small engine motors could borrow dad’s basic tools and repair lawnmowers, weedeaters, things that do not require alot of replacement parts. Boys could also find thrown away salvage bicycles and repair them paint them and resale them.

What ever you choose to do at home keep a log of your customers name and number, the duty you provided, the price you charged, everything, even your money spent on supplies needed, so you’ll know if your choice you picked to do is paying off or if you were just breaking even from the money aspect of it.

Remember though your still young even though your able and want to be independent. So use caution wisely when dealing with strangers and always let your parents know when and where you’ll be and still listen to there judgment and ideas. They want you to be safe as well as independent. (11/10/2007)

By theseamstress

Summer Cash Fast During the summer my mom works from home, so she’s in her office all day. So, in the morning, I have her make me a list of stuff to do. I get paid for each chore depending on the difficulty of the chore. And, it’s not always not fun stuff. Once, on my list I had, “make cookies for 4th of July party.”

This is really great if your parents work outside of the house. Since I do this daily, I get paid daily too. I’m 12 and I live in a rural area, so I don’t have any neighbors to do stuff with. (06/29/2008)

By hi

RE: How Can Kids and Young Adults Make Money? Once I stayed up with my best friend really late making cookies and cupcakes. The next morning we sold them plus lemonade for just like 45 minutes and we got 35 dollars. It was a quick way to make money, and we have a great time doing it. (07/01/2008)

By Katelyn

RE: How Can Kids and Young Adults Make Money? When I was a teen my twin brothers at about the age of 10 decided to take over the street corner in our small town selling books. Even got in the local paper.

Years later, I gave the suggestion to my own daughter, gave her a bunch of my own books, and she had gone door to door to request used books. She used her bike and had been given so many books that she even had the local used bookstore owner buying books from her. Yes she too got her picture in the local paper. When asked what she was going to buy with her earnings, she mentioned an ATV (All terrain vehicle). (07/08/2008)

By Karyn01

RE: How Can Kids and Young Adults Make Money? A good way to sell your stuff is to put it on Craigslist.com. I put my old clarinet on it, but it hasn’t sold yet. It’s a good way to make $ (07/28/2008)

By Allison

RE: How Can Kids and Young Adults Make Money? For the kids who may already have a little money, but are really looking to boost their profits, I’ve got an idea. Find a professional T-shirt printing company and think of a logo or design that alot of people would really like to wear. It could be your schools logo, a saying, or a cool picture, just something people like.

Pay the T-shirt company to print the shirts (buy a relatively large quantity of the shirts) and then receive them. Advertise your shirts all over and say that people can buy them from you. Now, all you need to do is raise the price on the shirts higher than you what you payed for them, as much as you want. As the shirts are sold, you begin getting your money back then what you payed for the shirts. And after people start seeing the cool shirts people are wearing, your service will keep coming. (08/10/2008)

By Matt

RE: How Can Kids and Young Adults Make Money? I think a good way to make money would be to find places where you could get free stuff and sell that stuff cheap or to find places where you could get scrap metal and then take it to a scrapping center. Also, you could have a home garden and then sell the vegetables. (08/19/2008)

By ishcabible the 3rd

RE: How Can Kids and Young Adults Make Money? Suggestion: Never sell old video games or movies to Gamestop or EB games. They will only give you an average of 10 bucks for what you can sell on half.com for about $30. (12/21/2008) RE: How Can Kids and Young Adults Make Money? When I was little, my grandparents always bought me a new bike for my birthday, or at least every year I grew out of the previous one. Now, I have a bike that I will have for at least 4 or 5 more years now.

One summer, I looked in the garage and there where 3 bikes just sitting there, unused for years. They where in great shape after cleaning them off and after putting an add on a billboard in my local grocery store, I sold them for $50 each. Old bikes are a great way to make easy money. (01/22/2009)

By SellOldBikes

an animal lovers guide to make ca$h If you really like fish, then you could invest in a fish tank and buy and breed some fish. I breed sword tails and guppies, people pay more for sword tails, so I recommend getting 2 or 3 males for every 5 or so females, and if you just like having fish, then its more fun than if you were just going to sell them. You could also breed mice and sell them to people who own snakes, or sell them to your local pet store. Or, if your parents hate mice, like mine, you could breed then sell hamsters, what 8-year-old child doesn’t want a hamster? (01/28/2009)

By George B.

How can ya make money quickly? There is one simple thing you can do to make money. Well, two. Buy string and beads or whatever you like from Walmart to make bracelets and necklaces for people that live nearby. Or, sell them to people at school.

Secondly, you could put either tie-dye patterns on t-shirts or write cute quotes on them. After you buy them white, of course. But one thing you must make sure of is that you are receiving more money then you spent on the materials in the first place. You don’t want to lose money.

These are simple, easy, and quick ways to earn a pretty good chunk of change. Plus, much more interesting than mowing lawns and such. (02/21/2009)

By Kels

RE: How Can Kids and Young Adults Make Money? I have been trying to make money for a long time. But then I realized that the answer to all my money problems were my parents. I asked them for an allowance, and they agreed to pay me $30.00 a week as long as I do what they ask me to and I behave and stuff like that. I started spending it all, so I had to figure out a better way than just keeping it in a cardboard box in my room. I decided to open a bank account. You will have limited access to it, so you save. I started a week ago, and I now have more money than I ever imagined. (04/18/2009)

By MONEYMAKERKID

Report Spam or Abuse

Incoming search terms for the article: