How to make money if you’re under 18
Reading Time: 16 mins
Although making a few quid here and there can be easy if you’re under 18, making proper money can be difficult without the advantages of work experience or other factors like a driving licence.
To help out those who want to make extra cash – whether it’s saving for a big purchase or holiday, or simply to earn some extra spending money – we’ve thought up some great ways for under 18s to earn.
- Do some transcribing
- Rent out almost anything!
- Do online surveys
- Revamp your old clothes and jewellery
- Make money from your fashion sense
- Busking
- Be a film/TV extra
- Start a cinema club
- Put on a concert
- Become a football referee
- Get a job
- Wash cars
- Get paid to iron
- Create your own phone app
Do some transcribing
Transcribing is listening to recorded conversations (usually interviews and market research sessions), and typing out what’s said.
It can be trickier than it sounds, as you’ll occasionally have to deal with people talking over each other or recordings made in noisy environments. That said, the barriers to entry are low and you can often do transcribing on a flexible basis.
The market for transcribing is huge, as journalists, marketing professionals and others need the written data from recordings for their own jobs. With the internet, it’s easier than ever to get started and there are many agencies to choose from based in the UK and beyond.
You’ll need to be a fast typist, and you can test your speed before you apply. As a guideline, you’ll probably want a speed of at least 70 words per minute to make typing worth your while.
It generally takes transcribers three to four times the length of the audio to complete a file (meaning an hour of audio should take three or four hours to complete, plus breaks for your tired fingers!)
This will be slower at first as you get the hang of it, but most people soon speed up.
Though it can be challenging, the flexibility and range of topics you’ll cover makes transcribing an attractive option for under 18s. Some agencies allow you to pick and choose the topics that interest you. Subjects may include business, politics, science and medicine, entertainment, sport, and more.
With some experience under your belt, you may even be able to set yourself up as an independent transcriber.
Although it’s usually against the rules to approach clients of the agencies you work for, you could advertise your services to the world on sites like Gumtree, and charge more than these companies pay you.
Transcribing can be tough work, and you should look for agencies which allow you to preview files before you start. Otherwise, you may be given transcribing jobs at random and find yourself slogging through very tough jobs.
That said, when you identify good audio and become a fast typist, the work can be very rewarding.
Rent out almost anything!
There are some really useful websites that allow you to rent out almost anything you own – and you needn’t pay a penny in advertising!
RentNotBuy allows you to list whatever you want to rent out for money (from games consoles to trampolines) to people who’ll pay to borrow such items.
For example, one individual was earning £120 a week by renting out both his bicycle and his garden trampoline.
You set the price and away you go! If you’re worried about lending your stuff to strangers, you can arrange a cash deposit through the site. And like eBay, you can see a person’s history and how other people have rated them – so you can see whether someone will take good care of your stuff or not.
There are alternatives to RentNotBuy, such as Zilok (which is again fee free) or Fat Llama, which also offers reputation reviews. You can search by area and find items for rent in your area, making pick up and drop off much easier.
Do online surveys
Online surveys can be a great way to earn a bit of extra cash from the comfort of your computer.
It’s possible to earn around £50 a month if you sign up to a few survey sites and have the time to regularly complete a few surveys (most take between 10-40 minutes to finish).
The longer surveys typically pay more money.
Your first port of call should be OpinionPanel – this is aimed at people specifically between the ages of 16-30.
Unlike some survey companies, who reward you in points, Opinion Panel guarantee at least £1 per survey.
Some other good online survey sites to join are:
Also, for freebies – which can be just as good as making cash – get free goodies to test out by signing up to our freebies newsletter.
Revamp your old clothes and jewellery
If you don’t fancy renting your clothes and jewellery out, then you could try revamping them to make new and saleable items. If you’re a bit creative, try chopping up old clothes and re-piecing them together.
You can also buy cheap offcuts of material, either at your local haberdashers or often at the market and combine these with your old items of clothing to create something new, funky and most of all, unique. You can get tips internet forums and sites. Take a look at these:
The same goes for strands of beads that you might have lying around. If the beads don’t go well together or the colours are boring, then just chop up the thread and pool all the beads you’ve got to try and find nicer combinations.
You can also buy beads quite cheaply online and then make them up into necklaces yourself, to sell either at a craft fair or a car-boot sale, or just to sell to your friends. . Sites like Etsy are also great for selling crafted goods online.
If you’ve really got a flair for it you can easily make a necklace for less than £2 and then sell it for £4, making 100% profit. Have a look at these sites to get started:
Make money from your fashion sense
Have you got an eye for fashion? Are you always picking up bargains from charity shops and the like? You can use your fashion sense to make some cash on the side by selling vintage clothes online.
It’s really easy to get started – have a look at our guide on how to make money from vintage clothes.
Have a go at busking
Busking is a great way for under 18s to make money and have some fun. You’ve got to be gutsy and get out in front of lots of people and entertain – but if you give a good show, you can make a lot of money in a few hours.
You can busk all over the place, but it’s important to check out if you need a license or a permit before you do it. If you’re caught busking where you shouldn’t be, you can get moved on (or if you’re really unlucky, you can even get fined or arrested).
But once the location is sorted, all you’ve got to do is put out a hat or case to collect money, start playing, and you’re good to go.
We’ve got all the information and tips to make more in our guide to busking.
Become a film or TV extra
You can make between £80-£120 a day as a film or TV extra. If you fancy seeing yourself on the silver screen (or maybe just in the background of Corrie) see our article on how to make money as an extra – it shows you how to get started and the best ways of finding work.
Start a cinema club
A way to make use of all those (legal) DVDs you’ve got is to start a film club at school with your friends, or anywhere else where you can host a good number of people and project a movie. To start a film club you’ll need three main things:
- A projector
Most schools have projectors so having the film club at school is probably the most convenient place. However, the school is certainly going to be more willing to lend the use of the projector to those who are raising money for charitable purposes, rather than for personal gain. If you’re trying to run a film club just for pocket money, you’ll probably need to get a projector from somewhere else.
- A film
Think about your audience, who you’re aiming your marketing at and what films they would like to see. Pick something that’s appropriate for the age group and that boys and girls will enjoy watching to maximise your chances of getting a good audience. Picking a new release will probably draw a bigger crowd.
- A venue
Of course, you’ll need a venue that can hold the amount of people you expect to come. It should also have a nice relaxed environment and lots of chairs for everyone to sit on.
This will obviously depend on the availability of the venue, but if your audience is other school students, it’s probably best not to hold them late on a school night.
Once you’ve sorted these three things out you can then think about making popcorn and other snacks and drinks to sell, to make a bit more money.
Finally, you need to decide how to charge people. You can either opt for a monthly membership payment, which then allows people to go to screenings at a discounted price, or just charge everyone the same on the door.
Ultimately, you’ll probably make more from charging everyone on the door, but charging a membership fee would give you some initial funds to invest in a popcorn maker and any other refreshments, as well as the films themselves.
This will also help with the cost of any marketing materials like posters and flyers, which in the long run will help you make more money.
If you’re interested in running a film club for personal profit, be aware that you must comply with copyright regulations. You need a licence to charge for public viewings of movies.
You can arrange a licence through the Motion Picture Licensing Company; however, rates for commercial events are charged at the minimum guaranteed rate per title, or 35% of the box office, whichever is greater. For further information about prices, check out their website.
You may wonder whether people will pay to see films in a small venue in the age of Netflix and 3D cinemas. But by promoting the idea of community and a fun night out with friends, your new cinema club could soon be turning a tidy profit!
Put on a concert
If you’ve got lots of friends who are in bands or who are budding solo artists, you can make money from organising a concert for them to play in (and give them a chance to get some gig experience). All you’ll need is a venue, an electricity supply and a computer to make some flyers and tickets.
Get started by asking around to see if your friends and other young people that you know would be interested in coming to a concert to see their friends play. Ask people how many bands they’d like to see, what kind of venue they’d like to see them at and how much they’d be willing to pay for a ticket.
Once you’ve got a rough idea of what people want, start going about providing it.
The venue will be the most difficult thing to get. Most halls of any kind will charge you a lot to rent them and you’ll probably need an adult present to act as a guarantor. Ideally you’ll want to get a free venue for maximum profit.
- If you’ve got a garden you can host a concert there – this would limit the capacity, but only 25 people paying £2 each is still £50 in a night. Remember to inform your neighbours that you’ll be hosting a concert ahead of time, and state clearly the start and finish times so that you don’t get angry neighbours banging on your door (or even worse, the police!)
- For charitable causes, your school, religious centre or local social club might be willing to let you use a hall for free. It’s always worth asking, and don’t forget to really sell yourself and your passion for putting on a good show.
- If you think you can get a lot of people to come then you can consider paying for a venue. Make sure that you sell tickets far in advance to maximise your sales. Set a target number of tickets to sell and then divide the cost of the venue across this number. This will show you how much you need to charge for each ticket in order to cover your costs and make a profit. If this figure is unreasonable then you’ll have to find another venue.
Then, you’ve got to persuade your friends to play for free. If you’re holding the concert for a charitable cause then they’ll hopefully do it out of the goodness of their hearts! But if you’re trying to make money for yourself then you can offer them a share in the profits. This way, they’ll help you sell the tickets and find other acts, so you all get the most out of it.
Become a referee
There’s a national shortage of qualified football referees. You have to be over 14 to do the training and you have to be fit and have good eyesight.
The cost for training is £145. This is quite steep, although perhaps you can ask your parents if they’d be willing to pay it, given that you’ll be learning a valuable skill.
The training process will take a few weeks, during which time you’ll learn all the skills needed to be a referee, including the knowledge of the rules of football and how to put them into practice.
The training includes both written and practical exams, but once you’ve passed you can make a surprising amount a week refereeing for your local teams.
For more information on training and pricing look at the Referees’ Association. You can find a course and register your interest by Googling your local county’s refereeing website.
Get a job when you’re under 18
You may think that because you’re under 18 you cannot get a job. Well think again – there are loads of jobs that younger people can do to make a tidy amount of money.
Deliver newspapers
Anyone can follow a list and deliver papers. You have to get up at around 5:45 am in the week and a bit later at weekends, plus it’s cold in the winter. However, with the bonus of Christmas tips and lovely summer mornings when no one else is awake it’s a good job that shouldn’t get in the way of your social or school life.
You can earn between £15 and £40 a week delivering every morning. Ask at your local newsagents if there’s a route near where you live.
Work in a Cafe/Restaurant
Another opportunity for under 18’s is to work in a cafe or a restaurant. Waiter or waitress roles are the norm for younger workers, but you could also get a job as a kitchen assistant.
Ask around at local eateries to see if they’re hiring and keep an eye on job boards online as well.
There are plenty of part-time and Saturday jobs available on Gumtree, or you can use other search engines such as Trovit or Indeed.
Babysitting
Babysitting is a very lucrative business if you look at it in terms of effort. Babysitting can be a lucrative, rewarding business if you’re good with kids. You’ve got to play with the children, possibly make dinner and can then relax in someone else’s house while the children snore away in bed.
With some patience and creativity, you’ll keep the kids happy. This can be a great first step into a career in childcare later in life.
Advertise your skills in the local area and by word of mouth. Stress the fact that you’re responsible and trustworthy, and while the children are awake, make an effort to have a really good time so they’ll ask to have you back.
For more information see our article on how to make money by babysitting.
Fruit picking
If you live in a rural area you can probably get some part-time work on a farm as a picker. The work is hard and you’ll probably be paid according to the weight of how much you pick, so you’ll really have to work for your cash. That said, if you love the great outdoors it can be a fun way to make money.
To apply for picking jobs you often won’t need a CV, but if you have prior experience it’s a good idea to supply the name of a referee. You’ll need to tell your prospective employer a bit about yourself, like your age and availability.
To do the job you’ll need old clothes, a hat and lots of sun cream so you don’t get burnt. Don’t be surprised if it takes you a few days to get up to a profitable speed of picking, you’ll get the hang of it eventually. Check out these sites for jobs:
Be a pool attendant
If you’re 16 or over you can make money being a lifeguard at your local swimming pool or beach.
To work at a pool you’ll need a National Pool Lifeguard Qualification (NPLQ), and for the beach it’s the RLSS National Vocational Beach Lifeguard Qualification (NVBLQ).
You can get these qualifications by joining an RLSS lifeguard club as a volunteer, and learning with them or with a commercial training organisation. Some pools will train their own staff while they work. You can get details on lifeguard training courses on the Swimming.org website.
Once you’ve trained, all you’ve got to do is get a job. Have a look on:
- Leisurejobs
- Gapyear.com
- Gumtree
Or, stop by your local swimming pool to see if there are any job vacancies. For more information see our article on becoming a lifeguard.
Walk people’s dogs
Lots of people have dogs that they don’t have time to walk. Take advantage of this and offer your services.
Full-time workers are often out all day, and need someone to check in on their dogs and walk them before they get home in the evening. It’s an excellent way to make money if you love dogs!
You’ll be expected to play with them, pick up after them and check they’ve got enough water and food when you drop them off.
What you charge depends on the area. In London you can charge up to £15 per dog per hour, but don’t overcharge as you won’t be recommended to anyone else and probably won’t be asked back.
This is a great thing to do after school, as you’ll be back before anyone who has a full-time job and it should only take you around an hour a day.
You could also offer your services to feed people’s pets while they’re away on holiday. This can include cats, birds, fish and many other animals.
For more details on how to become a dog walker, check out our guide.
Work as a chambermaid
If there’s a hotel near to where you live, you could make money cleaning rooms at the weekends. A chambermaid is responsible for changing sheets, picking up and delivering laundry to the linen room, cleaning the rooms and bathrooms and sometimes preparing and serving in-room breakfast.
It’s not great money and the work can be hard, but it’s usually just a morning job leaving you the rest of the day free to make more money.
You can look for jobs on these sites:
Work in a supermarket
Once you’re 16 you can work in a supermarket. You will probably only earn minimum wage at first (£4.35 per hour), but you can do overtime and work on bank holidays to earn more.
If you stick with one supermarket from when you’re 16 to when you turn 18, and you’re a good worker, you can expect to advance up the employment ladder and not remain a shelf stacker forever.
Waitrose is one of the best supermarkets to work for as it’s a partnership. This means that all the employees hold shares in the company, and this can motivate them to work to help the company develop and help their shares increase in value.
Whether it motivates you or not, you will get shares in the company which will then be yours to do with as you please. If you’re lucky, you could sell them for a nice profit. You know who the big players are, have a look on their careers websites for jobs and get applying:
Wash people’s cars
If jobs are hard to come by, this is a great way of making some money on the side. Anyone can do it, and you can tout for business by knocking on doors and offering your services, or print your own flyers and post them through doors. You could even leave flyers on windshields and local noticeboards.
You can get some business cards printed cheaply (and sometimes free with promo codes) with Vistaprint.
You might find it helps to put together a price list, so customers know exactly what they’re getting for their money (e.g. are you going to clean the car interior as well, and if so, how much more will that add to the price?)
If you do a good job and a customer is pleased with your work, ask if you can include a recommendation from them on your flyers/adverts.
Run an ironing service
Know your way round an ironing board? You can make good money with a home ironing service. Plenty of people set up business on their own, or you can sign up with an agency.
To get the full lowdown, check out our article on how to make money ironing.
Create your own phone app
Smartphones have changed the way we work and play, and tech-savvy teenagers have already created many successful apps.
An app can be anything from a fun game – see the hugely popular Angry Birds – to a more practical app – see Citymapper – and people of all ages are now learning how to create apps.
For anyone under 18 doubting this, read the story of Nick D’Aloisio. He was a 16-year-old schoolboy when he ditched gaming to study app design in his spare time, and is now working with multi-billionaires in the United States to develop his Summly app.
Nick started teaching himself computer programming and began with more simple apps to test the waters – but if you think this might be too tricky, programmes like GameSalad for iPhone and MIT App Inventor for Android exist to show you how to make an app.
If you like, you can have a few friends working on the idea, with some geared towards design and others towards programming.
It’s not only interesting, it can be fun and rewarding too – with you turning your very own idea into a reality. Perhaps you want to create an app for you and your friends to store your school timetable, or maybe you want to create a fun game app centred on your school day?
This is great for those with a burning idea, and if your app is particularly great you can start to make money from it.
If you want to sell an iPhone app you can apply for approval to be put into the App Store, where, if your app is very good, you may even be featured on their front page. Meanwhile, Android apps go to the Google Play store.
Apps do take a lot of hard work and planning – but with shopping apps and other useful phone add-ons taking the world by storm, you could be at the forefront of a new generation of app designers.
Will you follow any of these steps to make money under 18? Got any other great ideas for making a few extra quid while you’re still at school? Drop us a comment below and let us know your thoughts!
The post How to make money if you’re under 18 appeared first on MoneyMagpie.
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