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.
By Alice
By Sandi
By Kandi
By Jan
By Kelly
By Celeste
By Keith
By Amy
By Becky from Alabama
Neighborhood News Flash: Mr. Thrifty Is Gone
By Connie
By Hannah
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
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
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
I am about to turn 15 in June. I need to find a job so I can make some money to get a car so I don't have to walk to school on cold mornings and so I don't have to ask for a ride to go places?
I am from India. I am 14 years old. Can you give me some tips for making money?
You could babysit, do computer work, walk dogs, mow lawns, or tutor children younger than you.
Parents at some point will need to assist or support their child in finding safe, age appropriate jobs so that they can earn some spending money. This is a page about finding jobs for a 13 year old.
Younger children often would like to make a bit of their own money. Finding jobs for 10 year olds outside your home may be difficult. This is a page about job ideas for a 10 year old.
As teens get older more types of jobs become available to them. This is a page about job ideas for 14 year olds.
12 year olds are not old enough to work a regular part-time job. There are many jobs they can do for family, friends or neighbors. Get job ideas for a 12 year old in this page.
There are a variety of jobs that children can do to make money. The options depend on their age and experience. This is a page about 10 ways for kids to earn money.
My daughter sets up a table on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and sells small munchies like fruit snacks, baggies of oyster crackers, and a drink; hot cocoa in the winter, lemonade in the summer.