This article originally began as ‘ways for teens to make money’, but as I have updated and added to it over the years, I have found that many of the items listed actually work for many adults looking to make some extra income as well. 

I can remember my teenage days well. I didn’t want to work, but I needed to make money to support my social life. So I umpired, cut grass, and bagged groceries.

I didn’t particularly love any of the jobs, but in order to offset my spending, I needed to work.

The good news for us today is there are a wide range of ways to make money- that weren’t around when I was a teenager.

Most of them require a good work ethic, but there are a lot of new opportunities available.

Luckily for many teens, they may already be very skilled in certain areas that could easily translate into a nice side income for them. For example, I remember hearing about a teenage girl who designed Myspace backgrounds and was making more money than her parents.

So potentially, a teenager who is willing to work hard could make considerably more than working traditional “jobs” like at McDonalds, cutting grass, bussing tables, etc. For even more, check out these 5legit work-from-home job opportunities.

What Type Of Teen Are We Talking About?

The 7-year period defined as the “teenage years” sees a wide range of maturity levels. I remember moments where I showed high levels of maturity and moments that are better left unspoken. Interestingly, my immaturity didn’t necessarily decrease as I grew closer to 20 years old. My point is that some of these jobs are going to require a teenager who is “on the ball” in terms of maturity. But if you have (or are) one, these could be much better alternatives to “would you like to supersize that?”

The 35 Ways To Earn Money

1. Make Money Online With Swagbucks

Basically this is a free site that offers you a bunch of ways to earn cash, gift cards, or other rewards.

You can earn by answering polls, taking surveys, doing simple tasks (like giving feedback about a website), trading in old video games or books, and even playing games on their site.

I have tried it out and have received multiple payments from them, so I can attest that it is legit.

The screenshot to the right was an Amazon gift card that I got from them, but I have also redeemed my “bucks” for Paypal gift cards as well when I wanted the cash.

While you won’t get rich doing this, to me it seems like a great way for internet-lovers to make some money.  Find out more in our Swagbucks review or get started here.

2. Sell Stuff On EBay

I just recently made $2145 in one month selling stuff from around the house on Ebay and Craigslist.

You can even sell stuff for friends or family members and split the profits with them.

3. Freebie Trading

A couple years ago I did an interview with a guy who made $28,000 in one year doing this part time. It is work and requires organization skills to do it well, but it is legit.

I tried my hand at it using Project Payday and their training materials to see that it was legit.

Basically companies are willing to pay you to do trial offers for their products. They know that many people who do the trial offer will like their product and continue to be customers, so they are willing to pay people to sign up for trial offers.

So one of the main ways of making money freebie trading is signing up for offers like a Free Netflix trial, emusic.com, applying for a Discover Card, etc. The key to success seems to be having a calendar where you can keep track of when the trial periods end and make sure to cancel before they end.

If you are interested in learning more I definitely recommend Project Payday as they have a ton of training guides (free if you complete a couple offers) that will greatly simplify the process. Oh and they have a A+ rating with the BBB as well.

4. Take Online Surveys

I am not particularly fond of the whole online survey thing since I had a bad experience using CashCrate.

But there are lots of online survey sites and people who do it successfully. Here are a few if you want to investigate it further:

• Swagbucks
• Global Test Market
• MySurvey
• Vindale Research
• Survey Downline

I recommend proceeding with caution and definitely not paying anything to join.

5. Raise Money Online

If you are raising money for a community service project or missions, you might want to check out a site like GoFundMe.com. They make it easy for teens to raise money for any type of project. People have used it to raise the money for everything from mission trips to medical bills, weddings and honeymoons, business ventures, and even college tuition.

6. Build Websites For Others

I can’t tell you how many people have asked me to build them a website since I started this one a couple years ago. I am not seeking the work and people are requesting it, so if you do a little legwork and pursue small business owners, there is a lot of work available. Teens might be great for this, because they would be able to work for less than some higher end website developers, which would put them in the price range that it seems many small businesses are looking to spend. Here is a great course to help you get started.