Start with your room. That’s usually your responsibility, and not something that you’ll be able to get paid to do. But if your room is clean, you’ll be able to do other stuff and actually get paid for it. Cleaning the bathroom, living room, and the kitchen are always good choices that get dirty quickly. Think of other spaces, like the attic, garage, and sheds that might need to be cleaned. You might not need to clean these regularly, but once or twice a year you might do it for money.
Taking out the garbage Feeding pets Walking dogs Washing the dishes Doing the laundry Folding the laundry Changing and making up the beds
Try doing a car wash, or washing your parents cars. Try doing a lemonade stand when it’s hot out. Walking your neighbors’ dogs. Offer to babysit your neighbors’ kids while you’re on summer vacation. Mow the lawn, or your neighbors’ lawns. Care for the garden, pruning and planting vegetables.
Cleaning gutters Trimming bushes Raking leaves Picking up sticks, acorns, or other debris
Shoveling the driveway can be a great chore if you live in a very snowy area. It can be tough, so you can usually get a good price. Clean ice off the cars as well, or offer to scrape them each morning for a more regular chore. Offer to do your neighbors driveways, too, if you can, or scrape their cars for them in the mornings. Find out about delivering groceries to elderly neighbors, or checking in on them during long winter months.
Help elderly people learn to navigate a computer. Teach them to do the basics, like turning it on, using the keyboard and touchpad, and getting online. Help people set up email accounts and email their friends and relatives. Help people set up social networking accounts, like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Show them how to start accounts, make friends, and upload pictures and updates.
If they say no, ask what you could do that they would pay you for. It might be that you haven’t chosen enough chores, or hard enough chores to get paid to do them. They might ask you what you want money for, and what you plan to do with it. It’s important to have a good answer ready to go, and make sure that it’s something you’ll be allowed. A good answer is always, “I just want to learn to make money for myself. " They’ll love that.
Whoever you talk to about making money, make sure you trust them first. Always talk to your parents before offering to work for a stranger. Never go over to a strangers house without a parent or trusted adult accompanying you.
If you mow a lawn, it might take two hours. If you say you want to get paid a reasonable price, like 5 dollars an hour, you’ll get paid 10 bucks. The laundry might take several hours, but it’s mostly just waiting. That’s probably a better by-the-job choice. Say you’ll do all the laundry for 10 bucks. If you want your parents to pay you to do chores, it’s likely that they’ll pick the price point. That’s ok. Just be glad you’re getting paid.
When you get to certain amount or selected day of payment, add the total cost of all your extra chores and you have a bit of extra cash. You might consider taking pictures of the work you’ve done with a phone, for proof. If you say, “Here’s what the room looked like messy, and here it is after I cleaned,” you’ll be in a lot better shape.
