How to Make Money as a Teenager

My friends are always surprised at how much cash I have to spare - "your parents must be loaded" // "you're so spoilt" // "how much pocket money do you get!?" are regular comments on a shopping day out. However, none of them are true - I get less pocket money than my friends (as my parents pay my phone bill, so I feel like I should contribute something) and I am not spoilt in my opinion, and my parents are not billionaires. I am just a very good saver, and have some tactics in making money (and keeping it!).

 

1 - advantage cards - my Boots Advantage Card is my baby, and I use it all the time: I even ask my friends and family to use mine when we're out as they don't have them. It's a great scheme for getting free things and points rack up pretty quickly, especially with the number of airport sandwich lunch meals I've bought for people in the past couple of years! The Superdrug Beautycard and Waterstones cards are also good.

2 - use cash - my biggest and best tip is to never pay by card but to take out cash, as you are more aware of what you are spending and the money you have left. If you pay by card, I often feel like I am unaware of my initial budget, whereas if I take out £100 cash and spend it, I am totally aware that I have spend £100, no more, no less. It's also quite a good feeling when you don't spend all the money you take out.

3 - savings jar - as mentioned, when I don't spend all the cash I take out of the bank, I put it in a savings jar. Yes, it doesn't gain interest like it would if it was in a bank, but I know that if I want to splurge on an item, I already have some money saved, or it's there as a safe kitty just in case of emergencies.

4 - odd jobs - oh am I good at making my parents pay up! I set out specific guidelines when I first received pocket money that are agreed every few months (e.g. for my £X per month I will do a, b and c) therefore if I am asked by my parents to do something extra I will either do it as a favour or charge - for example, if my mother sends me to run errands for a day, I know that if I were doing my job that day I would earn a certain amount of money, so I'd charge her a small fee for each task, just a couple of pounds which she doesn't mind spareing as she can get some work done.

5 - babysitting - I've been babysitting for about a year now, and although I babysit about an hour away from where I live and it doesn't leave me with many free nights during the week, I enjoy it and I make a good salary from doing it too - if you have the opportunity, I would definitely suggest taking it up. I'm paid per night I babysit, or a larger amount if I have the little girl for a longer period of time.

What are your tips for saving/making money?

Love, E X