The idea of getting rich and making easy money has always been the American dream. Many adults and teens alike have spent hours daydreaming about becoming one of those big millionaires or billionaires, or even trillionaires.

The problem is, we spend way too much time daydreaming. We spend so little time on actually thinking about how to accomplish our goals and working for it. We wish to have things a certain way. We are not willing to sacrifice time and effort. I know it sounds so illogical, we say we want something then we just continue with life just as we always did. Then we wonder why we are so unhappy, and blame things on others.

If you want to avoid your life being so illogical and miserable, then read the next sentence for the trick. The trick is to “Just Do It!” like it states on the Nike shirts. And if you don’t know how, then ask the adults around you. But first, to get started with the basics of making money, you need to start small and work your way up to the top. We all know of the simple and often not very desirable jobs that are out there available for high schoolers, such as babysitting, sales associate in a store, fast food restaurants, or a waiter/waitress. Below is a list of more desirable, enjoyable, as well as fun and higher-paying opportunities that a person can take advantage of while still in high school.

“You should rule the money, money shouldn’t rule you.”- Jaime Tardy

Tutor

Choose a subject that you are good at, or a subject you understand the most, then make fliers and post them on online websites such as Craigslist, Wizant, or a community website. Another option is, to print papers out and ask for permission to put them up on walls in your school. You could also just print the flyers out and post them around your neighborhood.  Don’t forget to name a price per hour, like $10-$15 per hour, write the location for the lessons, and specify what age group you are interested in tutoring.

Website

You could also create your own website, or a blog. On the blog, you could research popular topics and discuss those, or put tutorials for DIY. The website could be used to sell your products, or stocks, which you can get from different companies. Alternatively, you could come up with some educational website, or even a social/media website. It’s all up to you as to how you will use the website, but remember to do some research about what’s popular, and on website creation and success, as it will greatly help you on the way to building the site.

Web Design

There are many small business who are eagerly searching for those who could help them make their website better looking, so it will attract more people. So if you are one of those people who know how to do website design, then this is your chance to earn some money, and actually quite amount of money. Some companies are willing to pay from $100-$300 per task. It varies, of course, from one company to the other. Also, if you don’t know anything about website design, but you are still interested in pursuing this pathway, then you are welcome to search for free tutorials online that will teach you just enough to get you started in such an industry.

Freelance Writer

If you have the passion for writing, which includes creative writing, profiles, interviews, essays or opinions, humor, and satire, then this might just be the option for you. Many different companies or news companies need freelancers who will write the articles they need. There are internships for this where you don’t get paid at first, and there are others where they pay you after you complete your work. These jobs, or more precisely, tasks, are not permanent. But if you are looking for more permanent things, then many popular news magazines offer internships where they pay you, so this is just another option to go with.

Dog Walker

Do you enjoy animals. If you have a lot of free time when you come home from school or on weekends, and even during the summer, then you could offer dog walking services in your neighborhood. You could also name the price per hour. This is a good way to earn some cash fast. You could also sign up on websites which show you the locations and families that need a dog walker or dog sitter. One of those websites is called DogSitter.

Lifeguard

If you don’t have any plans at all for this summer, I suggest this option for you, but only if you know how to swim of course. As a lifeguard, you will need to make sure that no one in the pool drowns, and that’s about it. Most often no one will drawn, so you get to sit there for hours and do whatever you want to do. But of course don’t forget to look out for the kids: you never know what could happen. Plus summer is almost here, which means a lot of customers.

Etsy / eBay

If you are a person who loves arts and crafts, or just want to get rid of your old items that are still in a good condition, then you could sign up on Etsy and sell the handmade items for the price that satisfies you and is also reasonable. If you want to make even more money, then you could start collecting clothes of popular brands that are in good shape, from your friends or from stores like Goodwill or Salvation Army that sell them at discount prices. And you could resell them on eBay, but you would have to have hundreds of pieces of clothing if you want to make big loads of money.

Stocks

Do you love math do you love business and do you love money. If your answer to all of these questions was yes, then proceed. If you want to make a lot of money, you could buy stocks from different companies and then sell them for a higher price. You would be keeping most of the money while the rest goes to the company, but the company would pay you too if you sell, and promote them a lot of times. If you want to learn more about how stocks work, and how teens can become involved in the stock market, search today’s millionaire Warren Buffet and his story.