7 Ways Your Teen Can Start Making Money

One of the easiest ways to ensure your teenager becomes self reliant and learns the responsibility of making their own money is to make him or her get a job. Whether it’s fast food, mowing lawns or babysitting, it’s essential that we figure out what our teenagers can do to make money in order to start teaching them financial literacy at a young age.


I started my first after school job at fifteen, working with my uncle at his auto repair shop after school. I only earned fifty dollars a week, but it was a valuable fifty spot at the time and having that job at such a young age allowed me to get an early start on saving and learning how to make my money go further.


In my case I was lucky enough to work for a family member. Many teenagers out there won’t have someone they can count on to offer them a job after school, so as parents we need to make sure we help our teens find ways to make money. The earlier we start teaching our adolescent’s the value of money and working to earn it, the better chance they have of developing responsible money habits.


In an effort to help you find a few ways your teenagers can make money, I’ve put together a list of the things I did as a young adult trying to earn a few dollars for things like movie trips, school outings, dates (let’s face it) and eventually my permit, license and a car.


7 Things Your Teenager Can Do For Money


1). Mow Lawns


Teenagers mowing lawns for some extra cash is one of the oldest in the book, but grass keeps on growing and people still want their yards taken care of. Many of whom can’t afford or just don’t want to pay a professional landscaper, so odds are if your child offers to cut the grass, they will pay him a few bucks to do so.


I used to consider myself the neighborhood landscaper because I lined up so many yards to take care of during summer vacation and after school.


2). Shovel Driveways


Another teenage job that isn’t going away is shoveling snow, especially for the elderly. No one (myself included) likes to see the driveway covered in snow and most people will be more than happy to pay a teenager $15 to shovel it for them. If you do three or four driveways every time it snows, there’s some decent money to be made.


3). Cleaning


Having teenagers clean for money has slowly faded, at least in my experience, but it’s still possible to find cleaning jobs in some areas. My brother was able to make $100 one time for a days work sorting and rearranging our neighbors garage.

Most people hate the thought of organizing tools and other junk that accumulates in a garage and sometimes they’re willing to pay a fair amount to avoid it completely. The key for this one is looking on Craigslist or the local classifieds to find those people willing to pay for someone to do the work for them.


4). Wash Cars


One summer when I was probably 12 or 13, there was an event in my town that drew in tons of people from all over the place. Even back then, I was always obsessed with making more money, so I found a way to capitalize on the event and line my size 12 pockets with some cool cash.

My brother, myself and our close friend made up a sign out of plywood and paint that said “Get Your Car Washed, $2 And a Tip!” Yes, we were bold in our attempts to strike it rich as kids. It worked though. We spent the entire day scrubbing in circles and walked away with over $50 to split between us. Washing cars turned out to be one of our favorite ways to make extra money.


5). Sell Juice, Water or Sports Drinks


This one might sound like it’s geared toward young children, but selling juice, water and other refreshments has netted me as much as $75 in a day as a teenager.

When I was probably 13, my neighborhood basketball court hosted a multi-town tournament that brought in hundreds of people. Since the court was just a block up from my house, my brother and I had the advantage of scoping out the opportunity first.

There was no snack bar at the tournament, so we went home, made up some juice, got some pitchers of water and set up shop. It was literally the easiest way I made money in my teenage years.


6). Online Surveys


My mom was always a pretty frugal person and she did alright with money, so I naturally picked up some of her habits. One of them was paid online surveys. She used to spend a few minutes each day filling out some questions and giving her opinion on new products. She often received gift cards and small checks, so I figured I’d check it out.


Since I wasn’t eighteen, my mother set up the account and got me started doing surveys for money. Back then it was MyPoints that was popular, but I’d recommend signing your kids up to GTM. They pay more for surveys and you’re not limited to gift cards.


7). Collect Cans and Bottles For Redemption


Collecting cans as a way to make money won’t be your teenagers most glamorous income, but recycling bottles for the five cent deposit does work. I used to pick up cans every time I saw them and I’d add them to garbage bags until I had enough to make it worth a trip to the bottle redemption center.


Get Those Teens Working!


My parents were very good at motivating me as a teenager to get out and look for ways to make my own money. If I wanted to go to the movies or a sporting event at my school, they would give me a few dollars, but only if I was still finding ways to make my own money too.


It’s not about cutting off your teens from money altogether, it’s about teaching them slowly what it means to work hard for the money they get. If I had been handed money every time I needed it as a kid, I would have never learned the true value of working for it.


In today’s economy, where no jobs are guaranteed and even parents are having a hard time earning an income, it’s important to teach our kids self-reliance. We need to show them early that they can make money if they are willing to work. The best way to teach them the hard truth about working for a living is to make them do so.