I need a suggestion about earning money for a teenager?

First of all, whether you need it or not, I think it’s great that you are working and making your own money. You seem very capable and flexible, based on the variety of jobs you’ve already done. I don’t really understand the question, though, as it really depends on what’s available in your area. However, I am sure you’ll find something soon if you look, as you are already skilled at various tasks and seem to be a multi-talented multi-tasker.

Go around and bottle some of the volcano ash and sell it on line. Seriously. I could work out if I can put it in soap and make a scrubby soap from it!

I pay a teenager to garden and do heavy lifting for me and have had one since 1986. They stay for two years, but there are always more.

They are always male because I need brute strength, and they work for 2 hrs./week. I pay them $20/hr since they drive.

Find an older person who needs help. There is always someone.

@Zen_Again , thank you for the answer, and yeah…I was thinking of walking in people’s houses and ask them if they want to give me bottles to sell and I am trying to go for exchange student? do you think it’ll work?

You’re good at drawing? Illustrations of the volcano might sell nicely. With your baking experience, maybe you could move up to doing baking work for a restaurant. I love baking just as a hobby, especially the fancy breads. Good luck!

@gailcalled , how old is that person supposed to be?

@stranger_in_a_strange_land , Well I am not very good at drawing, but I don’t think I could work in a restaurant baking, I don’t know any recipes from my heart:(

@Thesexier: MY guys have started in 11th grade (16) and ended at graduation (c.18). But they can lift rocks, dig holes with a pick, etc. Occasionally I picked them up and dropped them off before they were able to drive legally; I paid slightly less, but still a living wage.

However, there are less weighty chores..like cleaning out someone’s refrigerator, washing windows, sweeping garage floors, brushing screens,etc.

How about working in a cafe or restaurant?

@gailcalled , well I don’t know. I am kinda shy too:(

@Thesexier : You can clean a refrigerator without talking.

@partyparty , I have been looking but, there’s crisis you know? :) so they aren’t emploting as much…any other suggestions? :)

@gailcalled , hahahah yea:), but how do I ask those people? ” CAN I CLEAN YOUR REFRIGERATOR? Xd

Put up an announcement that you are willing to do odd chores for people in your neighborhood. Use your imagination. Spread the word via your dad, etc.

How about knocking on doors and asking if there is any work you can do for them, or perhaps work in a hotel, as a chambermaid or in the kitchens.

Actually, @gailcalled is really onto something. When you post the announcement (with tear-off phone numbers at the bottom), you can suggest some of the jobs you’re willing to do:
– cleaning refrigerators
– floors
– windows
– light painting
– vacuuming
– caring for small children in the children’s own home (babysitting)

Make your own list of jobs that you’d like to do and feel capable of handling, and then consider what you should charge: so much per hour or a flat fee to do a set amount of work. (You can make more money the second way, but you have to be very careful to specify exactly what will be done in that case. For example, you can agree to vacuum a rug for $x, but anyone can run a vacuum over a “clean” rug… and get more dirt. So be careful about how much you promise in that case.)

@partyparty Hotels in Iceland aren’t that busy at the moment…. am I right, @thesexier?

Buy a book on making balloon animals and hats. It’s really easy.

Find a place where street buskers go or to festivals and such. Start by making a tall balloon hat for yourself and you’ll have a line full of parents and kids ready to put money in your hands to make one for them.

At a dollar or two for each one, you’d be surprised at how much you can make in several hours. Easy and fun.

@cazzie , you are kind of right:), But I am too young to work in a hotel or restaurant, they mostly want people who are older than 20’s. But if you know someone at the hotel or restaurant they could give you a job…

@Buttonstc , good idea but its really cold out here:(

Are there any indoor shopping malls around?

Sometimes, if approached the right way, the management may like the idea of some colorful free entertainment for their customers.

Well, if I were you, I’d be looking to earn in a foreign currency… no offence.

Learn to caddie at a local muni course or private club in your area… or learn life-saving and be a pool lifeguard…. or a mascot character at one of the local fastfood places or party places.

@cazzie , what does that mean?

@njnyjobs , I am actually going for a first AID couse on the 26th….for children:)

@Thesexier well, the Icelandic currency isn’t worth much.. 1 US dollar is worth 126 Icelandic Krona. 1 euro is worth 170 Krona. 1 Danish Kroner is worth 23 Krona.

I would be looking to plump up a pay pal account in something stable, like Danish Kroner (a very solid currency) or Euros. Just something to consider.

I saw a young man earning a lot of money by buying fruit in large flats, and then he goes over to some construction on a major street with lots of traffic, (and no one to chase him away), and sells the fruit one piece at a time for about three times what it cost him.

The point about the construction is that if you try to sell in a shopping center or by other shops, the owners will chase you away, but where there are only workers, you aren’t competing with them, and they buy a lot during their breaks.

My brother and I used to fill up a 10 gallon drink cooler with lemonade and pull it in our wagon to sell to the builders who were putting up new houses at the end of our street. We made a lot of money that summer.

@Thesexier I’d be glad to share some of my recipes, or get a copy of James Beards “The Bread Book”

Omg!!! everyone, I think I’ll be babysitting a 2 year old girl. How much should I let the parents pay me?? its my first job.

Hold the kid for ransom and demand $100,000 in unmarked bills. Maybe $500,000, since that would be the only job you would ever hold, in that case.

But seriously, this varies all over the map. Since this is your first job, and most two-year-olds just require ‘watching’ (and naps or bedtime, depending on how long you’ll be doing this, and time of day), a couple of dollars per hour is normal.

@Cyanotic

Most two year olds just require watching?

JUST? JUST? Yeah, more like every single second of every single minute they’re awake. You can’t take your eyes off them for one second.

There is no relaxing around a two year old :D

But seriously, since she’s a teen, that’s a good match. They have the energy for it.

@Buttonstc , how much do you think I should charge them?

That question is difficult to answer because it’s very influenced by location.

Where I am the going rate for teenage babysitters is in the $ 5–10 per hour range.

You should try to find local sources to ask for your area. Have they offered you a rate. Generally, in any negotiation, it’s best to ask the other person what they are offering and negotiate from there.

Also ask your parents for advice or your neighbors. Iceland rates are likely to be vastly different from American ones :)

Also keep in mind that watching a child during the day is a WHOLE LOT more work and responsibility than babysitting at night when they’re mostly asleep.

@Buttonstc , well yesterday the woman thought of paying me 390 ISK. I thought it was pretty low but I didn’t tell her. If u want to see the currency just go to xe.com:)
But what do you think I should get payed at day time and night time?

@CyanoticWasp: Spent much time with two-year olds, have we? People who do deserved combat pay.

@Thesexier: It really depends on the buying power of ISK, what the minimum wage is, if there is such a thing, and what other young people in your neighborhood are earning to do the same work. My son, as a two-year old, never napped and still had potty accidents, although he was adorable.

@gailcalled I’ve served my time, thanks. I raised two of my own, baby sat plenty as a teen, and I’m the oldest of five. I know 2-year-olds. (And I’m about to know them again: I’ll be a grandfather for the first time—that I know of—in July.)

@CyanoticWasp: I should have guessed. Congratulations, you lucky Wasp, on the impending arrival of baby Hornet.

I would ask other babysitters what they get…. or other parents who get baby sitters, what they pay. Stop people at the park or shopping centre with kids and ask.

@cazzie , hahahah, thanks for that. *stop people at the park or shopping centre with kids and ask.+