by Jennifer Searle

Created on: May 31, 2007   Last Updated: March 05, 2010

At the ages of 11-15 I remember wanting all sorts of things my parents couldn't afford. I started baby sitting and did pretty well, but only had a few jobs a week. I earned some where around $50 a week babysitting, but that wasn't quite enough for me.

One thing my friend and I did at 13 for the summer was offering those who lived around us car cleaning service. We invested in cloth, sponges, a bucket, a hose, inside detailing stuff, and car soap and wax. I also had access to my mothers carpet shampoo cleaner. We would clean the inside and outside of the cars once every two weeks for $25. We ended up having a car to clean everyday towards the end of the summer, and made over $1500.

When I was fourteen, I decided to take the cleaning service a little further, and offer in home cleaning. There were many elderly people where we lived, so they were all more than happy to have me come in and clean things like ovens, stoves, and closets. I charged $7 an hour (of course this was back 14 years ago) and made quite a bit of money during the day and had babysitting at night.

I also did dog walking and grooming when I was 14 and 15. I generally charged $5 per dog to walk them, and $10 to wash and/or dry them. If you are adventurous, you can try grooming cats too, but they do scratch a lot when wet...I wore rubber gloves over leather gloves for that job.

When I was 15 I started sewing and selling throw pillows to my friends, neighbors, and relatives. The fancier the pillow the more you can charge. It does take a little initial investment to by a few yards of material, accessories like tassels, buttons, and trim, and the stuffing. But once you have a few made, you can use them to show people, then they can order which they would prefer and give you a color idea. They pay up front, (I charged anywhere from $10- $35 depending on size) you buy the fabric and trim, and produce in just one day. Pillows are the easiest things to sew, all straight lines, unless you want to get fancy and do a round pillow, or the long cylinders pillows...you can buy patterns for those for under $5. I made over $3000 that summer and only spent three hours a day sewing.

My brother is now 14 and is very computer savvy. He and his 15 year old friend have started a computer service business. They mainly advertise word of mouth around the neighborhood and have been getting a lot of business already. They install programs, they clean off viruses, they install simple hardware like memory sticks and video cards, and they help with digital cameras and the programs on the computers. They charge $25 an hour for this service and people are willing to pay it, since adult computer service techs will charge over $75 an hour for the exact same services.

There are other things you can do like lawn care, but that isn't always for everyone. Find a fun hobby and see where it might be a service others would like, and then start marketing yourself and your service to those you know.

Don't go into people's houses alone. Bring a friend and let your parents know where you will be at all times. Crazy people aren't just strangers; they can be people you have known for years. Just be careful.

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