Two ways teens can get money

Written By: Teen Money Expert Stuart Fleming on July 2, 2009

Money can wind up in a teen’s pocket in a number of ways…

Hiya! Ashley here, going first (thank goodness) because I get to share the two most obvious ways money flows in to my bank account:

#1: an allowance / pocket money

I like this one. As I’ve shared before this is ‘money for nothing’ for me - my parents don’t make me do any chores for my weekly allowance. How sweet is that?

But the control your folks have over a) whether they even give you pocket money, b) how much they hand over and c) whether they want chores done in return, can be quite frustrating. Especially when there’s a new movie out you simply have to see but you don’t have the cash and your brother won’t lend you any! Grrr…!

A lot of my friends at school have given up pestering their parents for more allowance and gone straight to Plan B:

#2: get a job

Options aplenty… after school, weekends, during the holidays. Too hard to choose? Nah, so long as the job doesn’t crimp your study, fitness or hanging-with-friends-time too much!

If you can, pick something you enjoy doing. If I had to get a job I’d go for one with animals, like at a pet store or dog walking or maybe even farm work or a petting zoo. I love animals so minimum wage would be more bearable if I was getting paid to hang around animals.

Oh, talking about minimum wage, remember that the amount of pay you take home will be less than you realise - the boss takes out tax before you get your mitts on it. So don’t go buying stuff, thinking you’ll be rolling in the dough before you work out how much pay you actually get per hour.

One thing my Dad always harps on about is “employees are there to add value to a business”. I guess he means if you don’t add value - like do something the boss hasn’t time for, or make the customers happy, or have a skill that brings the business money - then your job security might be a bit iffy. Seems the happiest of my friends are those who do more than the boss expects - they generally get well looked after.

There’s two of the six sources of money. I wonder what Mike will come up with next?

Later!