Your years in high school can be very exciting. You could make a ton of friends, play sports, and discover amazing hobbies. Nevertheless, knowing how to make money in high school is certainly one of the best decisions you can ever make as a teenager.
It’s not uncommon to find high school students who work after-school jobs to support themselves and their folks. I did several summer jobs during my time in high school. For me, it was a remarkable experience. I got skills, gained work experience, and, most importantly, I made a decent amount of money at the time.
If you are trying to figure out how to make money in high school, you are on the right page. In this post, I will walk you through 20 relevant ways to legitimately make money before you complete high school. Most of the money-making strategies I will be sharing are currently used by millions of teenagers across the United States. Hence, you will likely find the piece of information here quite helpful.
Can A Teen Make Money In High School?
You can make money in high school as a teenager. Most times, you don’t even need to have an advanced skill set or work experience. Your willingness to learn on the job or side business could be the only thing you need to thrive.
How Can A High School Student Make Money?
High School students can make money by either finding an after-school job or starting a side business that still allows them to focus on their formal education. By working only a few hours daily, you will make yourself a nice amount of money.
Benefits Of Making Money In High School
If you think making money in high school will slow down your academic performance, you may be right. But if you are able to balance both high school and work, here are some key benefits you will enjoy:
1. Making Money In High School Provides A Source Of Income
The most obvious benefit of knowing how to make money in high school is that you will create a source of income for yourself.
Of course, your parents are working and paying your bills, but there are certain financial goals you want to personally achieve. When you have a source of income, your money goals will be achievable. You won’t have to bug your parents every time before you make a purchase. As a high school kid, I got used to purchasing things for myself since I made my own money.
2. Making Money In High School Helps You To Reach Your Savings Goals
Do you have any saving goals? If you do, these goals can only become meaningful when you start making money. By earning a certain amount of money weekly or monthly, you can confidently save some cash in a piggy bank or a proper savings account. You should know that the habit of saving money is very important. It’s a crucial financial skill you will need when you become a full-fledged adult.
3. Making Money In High School Helps Acquire New Skills
Many kids go through high school without acquiring any skills. This is because they probably didn’t do any summer jobs or tried to make money as teenagers. One of the perks of making money in high school is that you will have the opportunity to equip yourself with skills that could be useful in the future.
For instance, if you start running a side business during your sophomore year, you will naturally learn some entrepreneurial skills. By the time you get into college, you may have successfully built a stable business.
4. Making Money In High School Teaches Work Experience
During my first year in college, I got a part-time job (remote) as a content writer. I was eligible for this job because I had been doing small writing gigs while in high school. If I weren’t trying to make money at the time, I wouldn’t have had the work experience to get me that job in college.
Regardless of the kind of job or business you find yourself doing in high school, bear in mind that you are gaining some work experience. In the nearest future, that experience could be your ticket to a high-paying job.
5. Making Money In High School Teaches Independence
This is another reason you should learn to make money in high school. It’s important you start developing a sense of independence as a teenager. That is how you prepare yourself for adulthood.
For instance, when you start making your own money in high school, you will be solely responsible for reaching your financial goals, saving money, and ultimately managing your income. That is the context of “independence” right here; being responsible for how you earn, spend, and manage your money. It’s a life skill you need to possess if you want to survive as an adult.
20 Legit Ways To Make Money In High School
There are so many money making tips for high school students. However, some of these ideas are not very feasible. They may waste your time without making you a single dollar. This is why I have painstakingly compiled a list of 20 legit and profitable things you can do to earn money while in high school.
Best Ways To Make Money In High School
Traditionally, there are certain types of jobs that teenagers always focus on to make money. They are pretty common and reliable in the US. These are some of the best ways to make money in high school:
1. Sell Lemonade Or Bottled Water
Take advantage of the busy street corners or outside of public baseball parks to sell chilled cups of lemonade or bottled water. This business is usually very lucrative in the summer and during busy evenings. Due to the fact that it’s a very common business, you could stand out by not charging as much as other vendors. However, make sure you are making enough money to cover the cost of items you’re selling and to also turn in a profit.
2. Resell Golf Balls
Collecting and reselling golf balls is one of the easy ways to make money in high school. You’re lucky if you live close to a golf course. You can pick up stray golf balls, clean them up, and put them up for sale.
Local golfers often buy these old golf balls since it’s much cheaper. Sometimes, you may even be allowed by local club managers to search on the property.
3. Tutor Kids
Many parents are looking for ways to spend less money on extra tutorials for their kids. As a high school student who’s book-smart, you can tutor people’s kids at a reasonable price. Speak to your neighbors and find out if they need to hire a tutor for their kids. You could offer lessons during weekends or every day after school.
4. Boat And Camper Cleaning
This is one of the legit ways to make money in high school as a teenager. Cleaning boats and campers for older folks can be a reliable income stream for you.
For example, during large music festivals such as Coachella, thousands of people come with campers (tents or vehicles) to stay for a few days. If they can’t tidy up their space, do it on their behalf and get paid.
5. Rent Out Video Games Or Books
If you have a lot of video games and books lying around your room, there’s money to be made. You can rent them out to your friends or classmates for a small fee. Some may offer to have your stuff for a week or just a day.
Mind you, the amount you charge is based on how long you are renting out the video game or book. Besides, you can announce a late fee. If your item is brought later than the agreed time, it will attract charges. This is how to make money in high school without a job.
6. Weed Gardens
As a teenager, I didn’t mind getting my hands dirty. As long as I’m getting paid to do something legitimate, I’m game.
Examine your neighborhood and find out if there are people who need to weed their gardens. You can help your neighbors look after their flowers and vegetables by pulling out the weeds. Weeding is often done weekly, so this might be a weekend job for you.
7. Get Paid To Test Websites
If you are not interested in doing strenuous jobs to make money, this is another cool option to consider. Testing websites is one of the quick ways to make money in high school.
A lot of businesses, especially in the IT industry, are looking for smart minds to test their websites and web apps to see how functional and user-friendly they are. Platforms like Usertesting make it easier to get clients to pay you to test sites.
How To Make Money In High School Online
There are diverse ways to make a ton of money via the Internet. If you want to learn how to make money in high school online, here are some fantastic opportunities for you:
8. Start A Blog
Blogging is one of the top money-making strategies online. If you are good at writing engaging articles or blog posts, turn your skill into money by starting your own blog. Your blog can begin to fetch you money when you monetize it with Google Adsense. This is a monetization program that helps you earn when adverts are placed on your blog.
9. Complete Online Surveys
One of the easiest ways you can learn how to make money in high school is by taking online surveys. From time to time, both private and public organizations need to conduct research concerning new products or business models. One effective way to execute this research is through surveys.
Within minutes, you can answer some simple surveys to the best of your knowledge and get paid. I usually advise teenagers to get started with Survey Junkie if they want to start making money with online surveys. It’s one of the most credible sites.
By the way, if you need more options on the best survey sites that pay the most, here is a piece on the 15 best online surveys that pay cash instantly.
10. Affiliate Marketing
A few years ago, during the lockdown, I discovered how affiliate marketing can be used to make thousands of dollars online even if you are still a high school student.
Affiliate marketing is a simple online business model that entails recommending people’s products to potential customers and then earning commissions for every sale you make. Based on your agreement with the owner of the products, you can earn up to 50% in commission. Apparently, if you sell a $150 product, you will earn $75.
11. Freelance Writing
Freelance writing is one of the good ways to make money in high school online. You can get paid by writing simple articles, essays, website content, or even emails for people within and outside the United States. As of 2024, newbie freelance writers earn up to $20 for writing a 500-word article.
You can start your freelance journey by signing up on platforms like Fiverr and Upwork where you can find clients.
12. Launch A YouTube Channel
If you aren’t camera shy, YouTube creation can be one of the ways to learn how to make money in high school legitimately.
Find an interesting topic to talk about, shoot an attractive and engaging video of yourself, and publish it on your YouTube channel. Doing this consistently will help you grow your viewership and subscribers as a YouTube creator. When you hit 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours, you can apply for monetization to start making money.
13. Start Dropshipping
As one of the most lucrative ways to make money online, I had to include dropshipping on this list. It’s a profitable business model where you act as a middleman, selling products without having to worry about production, packaging, and shipping.
To get started, create an online store on a platform like Shopify. Import products virtually from AliExpress into your online store. Whenever someone purchases a product from your store, the owner or supplier of the product from AliExpress would handle the shipping. This has to be one of the best money making tips for high schoolers.
14. Amazon Mechanical Turk
If you want to make money online by doing micro-tasks, join Amazon Mechanical Turk. These small tasks may include checking search engine results, basic research, proofreading, and transcription. This is a part-time hustle you can easily combine with another job to make extra money every month. It’s not as tasking as some of the jobs mentioned above.
How To Make Money In High School Without A Job
You don’t have to be formally employed to make money. If you want to learn how to make money in high school legally without an actual job, here are several things you can do:
15. Organize A Garage Sale
One of the simple things you can do to get money in your pocket quickly is to host a garage sale.
If you scout your home and yard carefully, you may find some used or unwanted items that can be sold for small prices. If you have toys you no longer need since you are now grown, you can put them up for sale as well. Sometimes, you may also need to refurbish some of the items you intend to sell so they look appealing to potential buyers.
16. Write Or Edit Your Friends’ Essays
Not everyone knows how to properly write a good essay. Some students even find it boring. But if you happen to be a student who understands the rules of writing essays, you can use this to your own advantage by helping other high school students to edit their works.
This doesn’t necessarily need to happen in your school. Teenagers in other schools can hire you to edit or write their essays.
17. Clean People’s Homes
Another way to learn how to make money as a high school student without a job is by offering to clean people’s homes. You should know by now that people hire professional home cleaners to tidy up their living room, garage, bedrooms, and other parts of the house. As a hardworking teenager, you can decide to handle this job at a cheaper rate. Some folks would be happy to hire you.
18. Wash Cars
Washing cars is one of the most common things you can do if you don’t know how to make money in high school. This doesn’t mean you should apply for a job at a car wash. You don’t need to do that. You can actually set up your own side business by washing cars for people right in their homes.
Your clients don’t need to drive out to any car wash. Instead, you will go to their homes and wash their cars on the spot.
19. Walk People’s Dogs
Are you a fan of dogs? If you are, then you should walk people’s dogs for a fee.
Dog walking can earn you up to $12 per hour. If you find dog owners who are too busy to spend time with their pets, make them an offer. Walk their dogs for an agreed period of time and get paid immediately. Aside from walking a dog, you may also need to feed it or play catch with it. The owner would be the one to decide this.
20. House Sit
Have you heard of house-sitting? This is when you stay in people’s homes and look after the property while they are away. If you want to know how to make a lot of money in high school without a job, you might want to do this. It’s a stress-free job that requires little effort. You just have to stick around someone’s apartment, water their plants, and maybe receive a package from UPS before the owner gets back.
The Bottom Line: Making Money In High School
These ideas on how to make money in high school are feasible. You could be cashing out your first paycheck if you take any of the ideas seriously. Besides, some of the side businesses listed here can be developed into a full-time livelihood.
Blogging and Affiliate Marketing are some of the well-known money-making options that can make you a ton of cash consistently. You only have to take action to get started as soon as possible.
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