High school is a time of growing in your education. But let’s be real. High school is also a time to have some fun and really start experiencing life as a young adult. But those aspirations come with a cost: sacrificing grandma’s Christmas money just to go for a movie and dinner.

Saving money — or just getting money, period — is a huge problem for the average teenagers. You can only ask your parents for so much before even you feel like it’s too much. However, chances are you aren’t 18 yet and it’s very hard to find a job while still in school. Luckily there are other ways high schoolers can save some extra dough for those special days.

1. Paid volunteer work

The age-old question people usually ask a paid volunteer is, “Is it really volunteer if I get paid?” The answer may surprise you.

On unrequired pay, it certainly does.

Take your church’s yearly fish fry as an example. Lent is a fasting season and finding foods to eat can be challenging for people. Finding waiters to serve those people? Any parish would be happy for volunteers and while you might not get paid upfront for your services, you might be left a tip.

2. Odd jobs on Craigslist

The Internet is the lawless foreground for finding favors and performing them for others. Going on Craigslist to find an odd job is a great way to earn some extra bucks. A job can be from the traditional mowing of the lawn to the caring for parakeets while a family goes on vacation.

3. Collecting cans

A clean way to make some dirty dough is by recycling. Chances are you have a mom who collects plastic and aluminum bottles. Well, now you can start too. Collecting bottles, cans and even bottle caps over a period of time can pay off, even if it’s in small bits. Bring a garbage bag full of only plastic jugs, and bottles to a recycling center and get $5-7 dollars as a result. It’s a small amount of money but it’s easy to do, good for society, and if you spent a day just going around town collecting recyclables, you could find yourself with 40 bucks by the end of the day.

4. Programming

Technology is the fastest growing constant in today’s social world. But with these new tech leaps forward, many older folks get left behind. Being young has its benefits when it comes to technology because chances are some people need help learning how to use it. Put an ad up or just tell your mom to spread the word that you can give people lessons on how to use PowerPoint, Word, Facebook and — if you’re really good — how to program and navigate a computer beyond the Internet.

5. Tutoring

You don’t need to be a genius to tutor. As long as you passed basic elementary school math, English or history, you could very well be hired. A common trope among tutors is that you need to be an A+ student. But at the end of the day, some parent will be looking for a cheap high school tutor to teach their little second or third grader multiplication. Tutoring can get you paid by the hour or by session. But if you do have more confidence in your knowledge, the closer you teach to your age, the higher you typically get paid.

6. Babysitting

The cash giant for teenagers looking for work is babysitting. And this job isn’t just a gig for girls either. Certain parent go to great lengths to give their sons a guy to babysit them. Join a babysitting site like Sittercity and make a profile. Parents looking for a babysitter are closer than you think and if you don’t have a neighborhood full of little kids, these sites can be extremely helpful at finding a client to hire you.

• Sittercity

7. Thrifting your junk

Another quick way to earn cash and simultaneously avoid cultivating a hoarding habit is by selling your old clothes, tech, jewelry, watches, et cetera. Sites like Ebay and Amazon or stores like Buffalo Exchange and Savers can be a great way to get rid of your junk and pull in some profit.

• Online:
  • Amazon
  • Ebay

• In-store:
  • Buffalo Exchange
  • Savers
  • Uptown Cheapskate

8. Participating in online surveys

Science sites and online survey distributers are always looking for people to give their opinion. Finding a site, such as ipoll or Mysurvey, that pays you to do it is a good way to earn easy cash. Going to college campuses with a booming science department also helps since they are always looking for test subjects to study.

• iPoll
• MySurvey

9. Keeping a coin case

It’s not just a thing a 5 year old does — it’s something every good money saver does. Spare change can be annoying, clinging around in your pockets and taking up space, so start putting it in a piggybank! A jar full of coins can easy range between $80-100 worth of coins once cashed in.

10. Investing in stocks

Now investing can easily be seen as the most profitable, albeit the most confusing way for a high schooler to make some extra cash on the side. The whole process of buying and selling stocks makes some people in the world among the richest, but for now you’d be starting out smaller. Find a good stock broker or ask your parents about some buying and selling advice. Then go ahead and open your own account on a stock website such as Etrade or Tradeking and start learning the tricks of the trade. Making a thousand bucks in a year to making a thousand bucks in a month can be an obtainable goal once investing is practiced well.

• E-Trade
• TradeKing