It’s hard to be responsible with money if you have none to spend. But just because you have no money right now doesn’t mean this isn’t the time to learn how to manage it.
There is no time like the present to develop your financial literacy. And how do you do that with no money in your pocket? Well, make some, of course! With just a little creativity and effort, you can take advantage of the numerous opportunities around you (if you know where to look).
You’re young, so you’re not looking to live off what you earn. You don’t need to pay bills or rent, and you’re not supporting yourself.
So, the first reason to make money at your age is to earn a few bucks to add to the allowance you get from your parents.
The second reason is to learn how to handle and manage money right now (when you don’t have much to lose). If you wait too long and face the pressure of adult responsibilities with a lack of financial literacy, you might not learn how to handle money until it is too late.
So, how can you earn a bit of extra money?
Discover Your Skills
What does it mean to discover your skills? What kind of skills are these exactly? They can be anything, really. They should be something you excel at and enjoy doing.
You will discover — and develop — many skills you will perform well. Some might even be things you don’t often do but seem to have an unnatural knack for.
That’s all well and good, but if you don’t enjoy doing it — you won’t be able to stick to them long enough to make a substantial amount of money off them.
You won’t last very long making money by cleaning the house for your parents if you (like me) detest cleaning. You must discover what you love to do and decide if you would be willing to do it for others (for money, of course).
Are you good enough at doing that thing (whatever it is) that other people would be willing to pay you to do it?
While you’re pondering that question, here’s another one to consider: How do you even figure out what skills you have? Some of you may already have a well-polished skill set you’re ready to sell.
But many of you may be very unsure of where to begin. Let me guide you here as someone who has developed and polished a few skills (cleaning not being one of them).
Begin by asking yourself a few questions. They should help you work out who you are and what you could be good at. These questions include:
What Am I Interested In?
Let’s start with the things that you’re already interested in. Don’t bother categorizing them into money-makers just yet. At this stage, you can grab a piece of paper and your favorite drink or snack and have a seat.
Think of the things you enjoy doing — anything at all. It could be painting, sketching, skating, baking, gardening — anything at all — even if it’s just that you like snacking (spoiler alert — we all do).
You might want to rate your interests based on how much you’re interested in them. Is it a casual interest or something you could see yourself doing full-time? Is it a private interest (i.e., something you only want to do for yourself — many artists feel that way about their art), or would you be willing to do it for others, too? Is it even the kind of thing that people will pay you to do?
These are all questions you can ask for each of your interests. It might be helpful to list them in front of each interest and rate each interest on all these factors.
You can then pinpoint a single interest that might work out for you in terms of developing a skill and then making money through it.
What’s My Personality?
Why is your personality type relevant? We’ll get to that in a minute. Let me clarify what I mean here when I refer to personality.
It’s really about what kind of person you are, especially in terms of the way you work. Many people hate being told what to do (especially at your age).
However, that is an important aspect of working. People will tell you what to do (even indirectly sometimes). Of course, that is a discipline you need to cultivate now to prepare for working life later.
But if it’s not something you can handle, you’ll need to work on that first.
Another factor can be how accepting you can be of differing opinions. Let’s say that you decide to paint on commission.
You enjoy painting and are good at it, after all. But doing it for other people leaves you with zero creative freedom — now you have to do it for other people based on their vision.
That can be hard to swallow for some people and may not be the right way to make money. Your personality can dictate what kind of skill would work best for you to earn money.
For example, if you’re exceedingly patient, you might make a few dollars just mowing lawns.
How Much Do I Want to Work?
This is the real question here. How many hours of your day are you willing to dedicate to work? If you work during the school year, you must organize any work you do around your class timetable.
This will impact how much money you can make. However, it is crucial to remember it’s not all about making money. Your goal shouldn’t be making as much money as possible, even if that means you’ll only get three hours of sleep between work and school.
Set a monetary goal and work toward it, but only with a healthy school-work balance. Even if school is out for the summer, you don’t need to sacrifice every minute of it to work. It’s summer break, after all.
With that in mind, you need to sort through your skillset, what kind of work that would entail, and how many hours you might need to work to reach your goal.
If it takes you up to 12 hours to paint the types of paintings you want to sell, you would be working most of the time and earning much less. It may not be a worthwhile endeavor.
Am I Willing to Work Outdoors?
You have to consider this question before you pick a line of work. It’s more of a two-part question: Will this require working outdoors, and am I okay with doing that?
Don’t think of mowing lawns to make some extra money if you don’t even like being outdoors, have allergies, or sunburn quickly. For obvious reasons, that’s not a wise choice.
To be more precise, you need to consider the conditions you would be working under and if you’re comfortable with them. You might think babysitting is a skill you want to explore, but if you dislike being left alone with children in a stranger’s house, that won’t work out.
Consider each interest you identify carefully. Where would it be taking place? Would you dislike it if you had to do it all the time — and for other people? If you’re willing to try new things — that’s great!
But keep in mind that those things may not always work out, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Just keep trying until you find your calling.
Discovering your skills (or what you’re good at) isn’t just a great exercise just to help you find a job. It’s also an excellent way to find all those hidden things within you that can make you feel proud of yourself, no matter how small or insignificant you think they are. And it’s easier to do work you already love and enjoy.
But this doesn’t mean you can’t experiment with things you haven’t tried before. Consider this training for your adult life. You might even learn a new skill or two along the way!
Look for a Job Now
You’ve identified your interests and isolated your skill sets. So, what now? Start looking for a job. How do you do that? You can’t advertise or look for jobs on LinkedIn.
So, where do you go? Well, there are plenty of other platforms you can use now. Social media is a great tool: many neighborhoods have their own Facebook or WhatsApp groups now.
Even if you’re not a part of these groups, your parents most likely are — ask them to put in a good word for you!
An even simpler tool is to just spread the word around the neighborhood. You want to maintain a radius so that it’s easier for you to get to work if you don’t have a car or can’t drive yet, and someone won’t always be available to drop you off or pick you up.
You can put up fliers and tell your neighbors (and even your friends) to let their parents know. Your parents can also spread the word among other parents.
Why do you need this job right now? For the money, of course, but that’s not the only reason. You have much more to gain from working right now.
Developing a Sense of Responsibility
As a teenager, you don’t have many responsibilities. Sure, you might have to take out the trash every Friday and do the dishes every other day, but that’s hardly the same thing as being an adult with adult responsibilities.
Household tasks (while important) can’t teach you the complete responsibility you have to shoulder as an adult. It’s not just about working — you have to work on a schedule and follow specific requirements. And if you’re working for someone else (like at a store or restaurant), you have many rules to follow.
These situations will teach you how to follow instructions and schedules, reach a compromise, and understand other people’s points of view and help them understand yours.
These are all vital skills you will need as an adult — and what better time to work on developing and perfecting them than now?
When you’ve mastered the idea of being responsible, you can begin tackling larger tasks much more easily — tasks that feel impossible right now. Being an adult is exciting!
Understanding How Jobs Work
You can do as much research and Googling as you want right now, but it won’t give you insight into the job market the way that working would.
The work you do now will be slightly different from the full-time job you may have as an adult, but they all run on the same basic principles. When you first enter the job market as an adult, you might find it a little daunting if you have no previous experience to back it up with.
Working is hardly ever just about what you do. In workplaces, you will, more often than not, be working with other people as part of a team.
You want to ensure you can do that without wanting to gouge your eyes out (something I may not have truly mastered even now).
Work settings are very different from classroom settings, and this experience can help you develop better discipline and responsibility for your school behavior, too — something your teachers are likely to notice and appreciate when writing your references.
Developing New Skills and Experiences
Above, we talked about how you can move out of things you already know and try your hand at new experiences. When identifying your interests and skills, you might also have the opportunity to find something you’ve been wanting to work on improving.
Now you get the chance not only to do that but to get paid while you’re at it! When has developing a new, useful skill ever gone wrong?
Even if it’s not something that could bring you side cash as an adult, it’s a skill you’ve learned, nevertheless. And that’s an investment in yourself that will always repay.
Now this doesn’t mean that you have to be perfect at it. You might try your hand at a few things before you find one that sticks and that you can do for money.
That doesn’t mean that, along the way, you might not find one or two things that interest you. You might not be good at them. And you might never be able to do it well enough that someone would pay you for them.
But if you enjoy doing them, you’ve found a new hobby and a brand-new experience you might never have been exposed to otherwise.
Money Management
This is the important and most crucial aspect of a job. You have to understand that having a job doesn’t mean you can get your hands on money any time you want.
Even if you’re freelancing, such as cutting grass for your neighbors, you won’t get paid anytime you want. That will only happen when you cut grass; nobody needs their lawn mowed daily.
When you start making money, everything we’ve discussed so far comes into play: how to budget based on what you’re earning, how to make sure you stay within your limits, and how to use services like banks, debit, and credit cards to help you manage and save money.
You can’t learn that just from the allowance you get from your parents. With a job, the money you make is contingent on the work you do. You have to earn it.
This principle teaches you the value of money; it’s how you learn that money is not guaranteed — the fact that you have it today doesn’t mean you’ll get it tomorrow. And that’s an important lesson to learn as early on as possible.
Great for College Applications and Future Jobs
If you work now, you earn experience that will be great for future job applications. Even when recruiting people with zero experience, companies appreciate people who have work experience (even if your work was performed as a teenager to make extra income).
This early work experience gives you the skillset to understand how jobs work, helping you adjust better and faster to new work environments.
Part-time jobs also look impressive on your college applications. They show you have a real-world sense of understanding and responsibility and have done something to give back to the community.
These are all the kinds of things that colleges look for in their students. Talk about an application boost!
Job Ideas for You to Try
Let’s move on to the real stuff. What kind of jobs can you do? Of course, they depend on your interests, but here are a few ideas to get you started:
Household Chores
This is a simpler way to start if you’re up for it. You can negotiate what household chores you might regularly do for your parents — for a price.
These can include laundry, doing the dishes, cleaning the house, mowing, and watering the lawn — the works. Just be careful to define what duties are included and how much you should be getting paid for them — parents can be sly.
Babysitting
If you already love babies and have experience caring for younger siblings or cousins, this is for you. Start babysitting around your neighborhood.
Some kids can be tricky, but many kids are also pretty easy to deal with. It helps if this is something you enjoy doing anyway. And who doesn’t love a cute baby?
Gardening Duties
This will probably mainly include mowing and watering the lawn unless you have other gardening skills to sell. Still, it’s a pretty easy way to make some money.
If you tackle it in the less brutal hours of the morning, you can even avoid the sun and its harmful rays while you’re at it.
Summer Jobs
You can also look into summer job options if you don’t want to deal with school and work simultaneously. Many kids choose to be lifeguards (What’s not to like about that?), but if that’s not for you, you can look into other things, such as tutoring.
Helping someone else learn a subject you already enjoy and excel at — what could be easier?
Internships
Look for businesses around you that offer paid internships for people your age. It would be even better if you could find something in your field (a law firm if you’re planning on going into law, for example).
The internship gives you valuable real-world experience, is great for college applications, and even offers great references for future jobs.
And there are many other things you can do to earn a couple of bucks. Think about it: you could be a dog walker or a pet sitter. You could start a lemonade stand.
You could wash cars, mow lawns, or clear the snow. The possibilities are endless. All you have to do is be a bit creative and think outside the box.
Now we’ve covered how to make money and spend it. Again, just because you have money doesn’t mean you must spend it.
There are many other (much smarter) things you can do with it, such as saving it. If you think it’s hard to just let your money sit in a bank account (or a shoebox), consider investing it.
That means putting your money into something that will allow it to increase in value.
That’s just a way of making more money — without needing to work for it.
