How to Make Money as a Kid

How Can I Make Money at 5, 6, or 7?

At this age, what you have to trade is your time and your energy — and that’s plenty. Collecting recycling is a favorite first job: cans and bottles are everywhere, and a walk with your parents through a park, a ballfield, or near a construction site usually fills a bag fast. A lemonade stand is the other classic, and the trick is where you set it up. Ask your parents to help you sell near a park during a game or a busy event, and you will sell out much faster than you would in a quiet driveway.

How Can I Make Money at 8, 9, or 10?

At this age, your customers are your own family. Ask a parent: “Are there extra jobs I could do to earn money?” Not your normal chores — everyone helps with those for free — but the jobs a grown-up would rather not do: washing the car, weeding the garden, organizing the garage shelves, washing trash cans, stacking wood, raking leaves. Set a price together before you start (a dollar or a few dollars per job is normal). Do the job well, and finish it. Kids who finish jobs get asked again. And don’t forget your grandparents, aunts, and uncles — if you’re already going along to visit, why not turn the trip into a chance to earn something?

This is also a great age to make something and sell it. Lemonade, brownies baked with a parent, handmade bracelets or necklaces, painted rocks, friendship keychains — sell them to friends at school, at a family yard sale, or at any event your family already attends. Some kids this age even build games or make digital art on the computer. Pick something you actually like doing; you’ll stick with it longer and get better at it faster. Whatever you choose, the most important part is that a parent knows about it and is helping in some way. They’ll make sure you do it safely, price it fairly, and actually get paid what you earned.

How Can I Make Money at 11 or 12?

Now you can work for people outside your house — only for close neighbors and family friends your parents know and have said yes to. The classics have worked for a hundred years because they always need doing: watering plants and getting mail when neighbors travel, dog walking, raking leaves, shoveling snow, washing cars, helping with yard work. A fair price for kid jobs is often $5–$15 depending on the job and how long it takes — agree on the price before you start.

What About Ages 13 and Up?

Babysitting and pet-sitting become options (a babysitting class, like the Red Cross one, makes parents way more likely to hire you[2]), and at 14 the law lets you take certain real jobs with a paycheck — there are rules about hours and what kind of work.[1] That first paycheck unlocks grown-up-level money moves; when you get there, the Teen & Student Years pages are written for you.

What Should I Do With the Money?

The kids who end up with the most money aren’t the ones who earn the most — they’re the ones who keep some of every dollar. A simple split that works: some to spend, some to save for a goal, a little to give. A rule a lot of families use is even simpler — save half of everything, including birthday and holiday money. Ask your parents to help you open a real account to keep it in; they can read our guide to kids’ savings and investment accounts to see what’s out there and how to set one up.

Got a goal in mind? Learn how to save for something you want and check the Can I Afford It? calculator to see how fast your earnings add up.

Here is the awesome part: money you save can earn its own money while you sleep.

Quick Ideas List

• At home: car washing, weeding, garage organizing, trash can cleaning, helping with a yard project
• For approved neighbors: plant watering, mail pickup, dog walking, leaf raking, snow shoveling
• Things you’re good at: helping younger kids with reading or math, making things to sell at a family yard sale, washing bikes
• 13+: babysitting, pet-sitting, mother’s helper, referee/scorekeeper for little-kid sports

Back to Money Questions for Kids.