Ways Kids Make Money

There are many lists out there that give kids ideas on how to make money.   They mostly include “work for hire” or “jobs”, such as do more chores, mow the grass, wash cars, sell your toys, etc.  While these are good suggestions on how to work for money, I want you to think bigger!  I want you to think about how to make money work for you!  It is a lesson that most people never learn, but if you can learn it early in life it could be the greatest skill you acquire. 

I have listed some ideas that are outside of the typical lists.  Some of the ideas my not work for you but the goal is to get your creative juices flowing.  I want to help you recognize there are opportunities to make money all around you.  You just have to look for them. 

1.     Put gumball, toy, and candy vending machines in local businesses around town. The machines can range from about $100 for a simple gumball machine to several thousand for the toy crane machine.  Where do you get the first $100?  That is where you do more chores, wash cars, and use your birthday money.  Or even better, ask for it as a birthday gift!

2.     Being a country girl my mind often thinks that way. Buy some egg laying hens and ask if you can keep them in a friend or family member’s hen house then sell the eggs each week.

3.     Know someone with a garden? Ask if you can have their extra fruit and vegetables in exchange for helping pick them. Then sell the fruit and vegetables at the local farmers market each week.

4.     Buy small inexpensive fish, grow them into larger healthy fish and sell them to local businesses with fish aquariums in their store.

5.     Have a knack for coming up with funny sayings or slogans? Approach local schools, community organizations, or companies and ask if you can design and order the shirts for their next event.

6.     Love reading books? Ask the local bookstore owner if you can review books on his website for a small fee. Develop the best teen book review forum in town or heck, in the country.

7.     Great at computer graphic designs with a great imagination? Contact me. I need someone to help illustrate my blog, books and website!

8.     Love creating videos and posting them on the internet? Contact local business owners in town and offer to make videos about their business every week so they can have their own YouTube channel tied to their website. Tell them how this will help others find their business on the internet. Many kids know more about technology than most adults. Leverage that knowledge and your passion to make money.

9.     Have a lot of computer savvy with friends that are looking to make money too? Create a forum where your friends can post their products and services for sale. KEEP IT SAFE!  If the service being sold requires the kids to be present at the customer’s house or business, only sell to people they know and never go alone or without an adult.

10.  Create a local teen review forum and have all your buddies review restaurants, clothing stores, arcades, local hang outs and other businesses in town then approach businesses in town to advertise on your forum.

11.  Great at recognizing fashion and dressing? Become a personal shopper for friends and classmates.

12.  Love taking great pictures? Post them on istockphoto.com or similar sites for others to buy. This also works for illustrations and graphic designs.

If you came to this page it is probably safe to say, you are looking for ways to make money or you are a parent looking for ideas for your child. I love your initiative, passion and effort put forth just to locate this page. You came for the list so I gave it to you, but I want you to look past your desire or need to make money and challenge you to understand what money is and how it works.  I want you to stop chasing after money and let money chase after you! There are opportunities all around you to make money but if you do not educate yourself you will not recognize the opportunity much less act on it.

The most important thing to understand is that getting rich is NOT about how much money you make, but how you SPEND the money you have.   For example, if you get a job and make $20/day and each week you go to the store to buy a game or toy for $100 YOU WILL ALWAYS BE BROKE!

It will be up to you to be disciplined because your friends, family and society will innocently tell you to spend the money on things that make you happy. You have worked hard for it and owe it to yourself. Once you adopt this philosophy you are destine to spend your life working for money and living in the rat race just like the friends, family and society that taught you that.

So what should you spend your money on? Assets. Assets put money IN your pocket, even when you are not there. For example, let’s say you get $10 for your birthday. Even though you just got a load of toys you will still have an all-consuming desire to go buy another toy. You go to the store and buy your favorite action figure. You have your toy, but your $10 is gone forever. What if, instead you fought your all-consuming desire to buy a toy and instead ask your grandpa if you can buy 2 or 3 of his chickens and keep them in his chicken coup? Each week you sell the eggs to friends and family. Let’s say you get a dozen eggs each week from your 3 chickens and sell your homegrown organic eggs for $2/dozen. Sure it will take $5 weeks to get your $10 back. The good news is, in 5 weeks you will still want a toy! The even better news is in 5 more weeks you will have another $10 to buy another toy! You can take $10 and easily turn it into $100. That is the true opportunity! That is how money works for you!

I will continually add ideas for kids to make money as I think of them so check back in periodically.  And when you go out and make money, let us know what you did by sharing your story here.  We would love to hear from you!