25 Best Ways to Make Money as a Kid

This article originally appeared on Arrest Your Debt and has been republished with permission. 

When I was a kid, there was always something I wanted to buy. The problem was, I usually had spent all my birthday money, and my parents were not in the habit of buying me whatever I wanted just because. If I wanted to buy something, I needed to learn how to make money as a kid on my own.

It was much harder to make money when I was a kid because we didn’t have the internet with all these great ideas! Now, with a quick search, you can end up on an awesome web page like this to figure out exactly how you can start earning money–at any age!

For you grownups reading this post, there are also great ideas for you to make a little extra money on the side, as well!

An Easy Way to Make Money as a Kid–If You’re 13 Years Old or Older

Some online side hustles require you to meet certain legal standards to be paid. This section is dedicated to those jobs for kids 13 years old or older who are too young for a full-time job, but ready to start making extra cash.

1. Online Surveys and Survey Sites

Are you 13 years old or older? If so, I have a great idea for you. With your parent’s permission, you can sign up for several different types of online survey sites that will pay you in gift cards or cash.

Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is a completely free website that will pay you $1–3 dollars for every survey you take.

Inbox Dollars

Inbox Dollars is a website similar to Survey Junkie where people can take surveys and complete tasks and are awarded real cash.

Swagbucks

Swagbucks takes online surveys to a whole new level. You can earn extra dollars from using the Swagbucks app to play games, watch advertisements, and other YouTube videos. Swagbucks makes money from affiliates and passes some of this money along to the user.

2. Play Video Games for Gift Cards

By taking various online surveys, many companies will incentivize people by rewarding them with gift cards. Another way to earn gift cards is to play games or watch videos.

Mistplay

Mistplay is another great app that lets you test out video games and earn gift cards while doing it.

3. Collect and Resell Golf Balls

If you live near golf courses, you may potentially be sitting on a gold mine! Because new golf balls are relatively expensive, people will pay good money for gently used golf balls. Grab a couple of grocery bags and walk or bike around the outside of a golf course and look for lost golf balls.

Make Money Fast as a Kid–At Any Age

Here are some of the best ideas for children to make money. It involves a little work, but you’ll make more money by doing some of these chores instead of online surveys.

4. Recycle Aluminum Cans for Cash

This was probably my favorite way to make money when I was young. We would collect cans at home in a separate bin and take the cans to a recycler when the bin filled up. With an entire bin, I usually could make about 30 dollars from the collection.

5. Recycle Plastic and Glass Bottles For Money

In a similar vein, some states will pay you for glass and plastic bottles in good condition. If your location has these types of recycling facilities, take advantage and recycle bottles as much as possible.

6. Help Your Parents with a Garage Sale

More than likely, your parents have a house filled with stuff they no longer use. Work with your parents and see if they would be willing to help you organize a yard sale.

7. Run a Lemonade Stand In Your Neighborhood

This tried and true business model has stood the test of time! I’m pretty sure that even my grandparents had a lemonade stand when they were younger. No, seriously–I bet they did.

8. Walk the Neighbors’ Dogs

Some adults might rarely have time to regularly walk their dogs. As you may know, dogs need exercise and should be walked daily. If you know one of your neighbors who has a friendly dog, offer to walk their dog on specific days. You’ll have to invest in a leash and collar if the owner doesn’t have one already.

Tell them you’re saving up money for something special and ask if they would be willing to pay you for your time. If you ask nicely, they may pay you more than you thought they would.

9. Water the Plants at Home

If all the plants or gardens at your house are not on an automatic timer, your parents know how exhausting it can be to water the plants every week. If you offer to take over the watering schedule and are reliable, you may be able to make a few extra bucks each week!

How Teenagers Can Make Money–Jobs for Teenagers

The older you get, the more potential you have to make even more money. This is true in your adolescent years, as well as your adult years. Check out some of these great jobs for teens to make money!

10. Mow Lawns and General Yard Work

If your neighbors have grass in their front and back yard, it’s safe to say they might rather pay someone else to do it if the price was right. Many adults do their own yard work because hiring a landscaper is expensive.

11. Babysitting

If you’re in your teenage years, you may be a great candidate to babysit other people’s younger kids. Many of us wish we could go out with our spouse more often, but we often feel guilty asking family members to do it for free. For the right price, you may be the right person for the job!

Before you start asking around for babysitting jobs, look into attending a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification class.

12. Sell Your Skills and Art on Fiverr

Are you a teenager who loves computers and has a knack for designing things? If you’re 13 years old or older, you can take orders from people who need specific online tasks done or created for their business.

On Fiverr, you can set up your own Fiverr Gig and sell services to people who want you to design a logo, design a poster, edit a photograph, or write a short song or introduction jingle.

13. Host a Neighborhood Carwash

If you have a few buckets and old clothes/towels lying around, you could use them to wash cars for donations. Every weekend in my city, it seems I drive past at least a couple of car wash fundraisers.

14. House and Pet Sitting

Many of us as adults hate going on vacations because we know we will have to find someone to watch our animals. If you love animals, you could be the perfect solution for many of us who have difficulty finding people to watch our dogs and cats.

Pet care services are in high demand, and people are willing to pay someone else to watch their animals if they know their pets will be taken care of.

15. Social Media

While social media can be a dangerous place for a kid, it can be a great way to make money as a kid with the right direction and oversight. Have you ever heard of EvanTubeHD? He’s a kid who makes over $1.6 million each year with his YouTube channel.

If you’re entertaining and like to capture funny or informational incidents on camera, YouTube and social media can be an excellent way to make money.

USA Today recently announced that the top earner on YouTube is a seven-year-old who made 22 million dollars by unboxing and playing with toys on video!

16. Sell Flowers

If sitting in front of a screen doesn’t sound fun to you, maintaining and profiting from a flower garden can be an awesome way to make money as a kid. If you enjoy learning new things and working with your hands, you can start making money by growing flowers and arranging them for special events. This can be a cheap and easy way to make extra cash.

17. Come Up with a Business Idea

If you can find a way to fulfill a need or add value to someone’s life, these skills can develop a business idea. Thinking of the perfect business idea can be challenging, which is why it’s a good idea to talk with your friends, family, and neighbors about the common problems they have.

18. Graphic Design

If you love drawing and creating different graphics on a computer, graphic design can be an extremely profitable way to make money as a kid. Fiver, Upwork, Peopleperhour.com are all places where you can work as a freelancer and sell your services.

If you have special talents involving design, kids can make money by providing services related to:

• Photo Editing
• Copywriting
• Graphic Design
• Video Production
• Logo Design
• Sound Editing

19. Post Office and Other Errands

Busy households often require additional help with odd jobs and errands. Some small businesses need people who can run items to the post office to ship them to meet deadlines quickly.

20. Run a Hot Chocolate Stand

The tried and true lemonade stand is a great way to make money, but not many people are willing to buy lemonade in the winter. By learning to adapt your product and services to meet current needs, kids can learn to take advantage of winter weather by selling hot chocolate!

21. Start an Online Blog

Kids are never too young to work on their computer and typing skills. By learning how to manage a blog, kids can pick up valuable life skills to transition into a full-time career later in life. Did you know kids can make money blogging? It’s true; bloggers can make a decent income by providing relevant information and unique stories to people seeking answers.

22. Virtual Assistant / Personal Assistant

Similar to helping others with routine tasks such as grocery shopping or house sitting, people often need help with online tasks.

Virtual assistants help small businesses and people with data entry, scheduling meetings, answer customer calls, or manage social media accounts. Imagine all the things people do online and how you can help them with their routine tasks.

23. Sell Items on Etsy

If you’re particularly crafty and like creating things, Etsy is a great place to make money as a kid. Think of Etsy as an online yardsale or marketplace where you make money selling your personal creations.

Many successful business owners have made money on Etsy by starting a homemade jewelry business.

Kids 13 years old and older can set up an Etsy account with the help of their parents and sell crafts and items such as:

• Handmade Decorative Signs
• Art
• Toys
• Clothing
• Handmade Jewelry
• Bags
• Anything else artsy and crafty

24. Sell Old Toys and Items On Mercari

Mercari is a new and upcoming app that lets you buy and sell items online without meeting people in person. We recently went through our closets and pulled out the old toys and clothes we no longer use. Normally, we would donate these items to a local thrift shop, but we wanted to see how much money we could make by selling our old stuff online.

After spending some time taking pictures and listing our stuff for sale, we raked in $125 in just a week!

25. Sell Items on eBay

eBay is a competitor of Mercari but has a larger track record of success. You can download the eBay app to your phone or access the site on desktop to start putting items up for sale. To make the most money, be sure to accurately describe the items you are selling. If there’s a defect, be sure to mention it. 

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