TEENAGER SERIES: HOW TO MAKE MONEY FOR TEENAGERS

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   Work for yourself. Treat it like a program or business. You can work by yourself, or you can start a mini-company by joining together with your friends. Yes, group work means splitting up the funds, but it also means you can get a lot of jobs done quickly and, more importantly, safely, which means you will also be able to go more places.
   • When working with your friends, divide the tasks fairly and equally (rotating if it keeps everyone happy), take your group around the neighborhood after school or on weekends, and offer to get various tasks done quickly for a set price.
   • A lot of people will turn away a lone teenager knocking at their door for fear that it will look suspicious. If they see that you’re working as a team, however, they’ll know you can get in and out quickly without concerning the neighbors.
   • If you are raising money toward a specific goal (ex. buying an instrument, being able to go on a school trip), let people know; they’ll be much more likely to buy stuff from someone with a purpose and may even give you extra.
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   Consider the basics. Babysit, walk dogs, or even record videos and put them online, with the right partnership company, there is a lot of money in it. Or mow lawns for your neighbors. You can make a lot of money, but it's hard work and could take up much of the weekend. If you get distracted or depressed, remind yourself that your hard work will lead to very real results.
   • Team up to do odd jobs like landscaping: One person mows, one cleans the gutters, one clips the hedges, one rakes up all the debris. Ask your parents and your friends' parents for all the necessary tools, or rent them from a supply store.
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   Shovel snow. Go to every house in a good sized neighborhood charging 10-20 dollars per driveway, or 30 dollars a week for shoveling the snow. (Charge extra when shoveling snow that has been driven on, which is packed down and very hard to remove.) Do this every time it snows. Someone may pay you in advance for a month if they know you, or if they like your work!
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   Do work around the house. Negotiate fees with your parents for extra choresaround the house. Try to pick things they might hire a professional to do, like cleaning the toilets, and charge them half price. Ask your parents if you can clean the house each week. Do your laundry and the dishes.
   • Be sure to do the chores properly or your parents might not think it's worth their money.
   • If there isn’t much work to be done, you might even be able to work out some other kind of arrangement (ex. "If I work really hard to save water and electricity, will you pay me the amount of money we saved on the bill since last month?").
   • Parents are sometimes more willing to help out if they know what your plan is, so share all the details with them.
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   Run errands for an elderly person. Get groceries, do heavy lifting, troubleshoot the computer, or do any other tasks they might have trouble with. Try to have a good relationship with the person; remember that they might be lonely and probably enjoy spending time around younger people such as friends. (It makes them feel younger.) The better they feel around you, the more they'll be likely to give you for your services.
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   Take trash to the curb. On the day before trash pickup, hit up all the houses on your street and ask for a dollar from each house to take all the bins out to the curb. (Don’t ask for any more than this; it’s a super simple job, so you have to maintain a reasonable cost-to-laziness ratio to get anyone interested.) If it works on even twenty houses, that’s twenty bucks for almost no work.
   • You might have even better luck in a retirement community or an area where you know a lot of elderly people happen to live.
   • Don’t do this in sketchy areas or go into anyone’s house for any reason. You might be better off working with a partner in some situations.
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   Start a car wash. Car washing and detailing is another great money-making idea. This is done most easily with several people: one person rinses and scrubs, one does windows, two detail the inside. Remember to thoroughly vacuum the inside, hit the wheels with wheel wax, rub the inside with vinyl scrub (if the surface is vinyl), and do a thorough job. Remember, if people don't like your work, they can probably go to a professional and get the job done cheaper. Keep in mind who you're competing against.
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   Sell items at a yard sale. Even if you don’t think you have anything lying around that anyone will want, you’d be surprised by how quickly a lot of little sales can add up. Empty out your closet, attic, or basement and gather together everything you don’t want. Put all the small-ticket items into a group to be sold at a yard sale, which you can advertise with street signs and Craigslist. (Often, clothes in nice condition will sell at a yard sale. Worthless clothes, especially simple tees, can be cleaned and sold in bundles as shop rags.)
   • Make a little extra at a yard sale by offering simple, cheap beverages or snacks. If it’s nice weather, offer lemonade, individual baggies of popcorn (stove-popped, not microwave-popped, which is way more expensive), or other sunny day refreshments; if it’s cold or blustery, offer hot tea or cider. You can either sell these at a very low rate (it’s a yard sale, after all), give them away (making people more likely to buy out of niceness and good will), or offer them for free but accept donations (some people will blow you out of the water with their generosity).
   • If you have the time, you can also make or build things to sell. Just make sure that there’s room for profit! You have to keep in mind things like materials cost.
   • If you're serious about selling things, learn how to haggle.
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   Advertise your services. Place a cheap ad in the newspaper or online for something like babysitting, house-sitting, pet-sitting, etc. You can also pass out flyers and business cards for people who need help advertising. Craigslist is a great place to offer your services, but plan on having a parent or guardian accompany you when you scope for work; it's probably not ideal, but there are people out there who could try to take advantage of you, and you want to be prepared. It's nothing to worry about, but it's something to be aware of.