How to Save Money as a Teenage Boy without a Job?

“How to save money as a teenage boy without a job?” – This question surely pops up in the mind of most teen boy while they’re growing up. Now this is a good thing because these young men are putting their minds to saving.

Keeping money for the rainy day is always good. In fact, there can be times when your savings can be a boon for the entire family. Do not worry if you don’t have a job because you’re very young as a teenager. Just learn some tactics to save money early. That’s all.

My male friends were teenage boys once. Actually seems like yesterday. Along their life’s journey, some of them stumbled upon some inspiring people who taught them the value of frugality. In my current blog, I would like to share their knowledge with you.

How to save money as a teenage boy without a job?

The idea of saving money without actually having a real income can seem a bit non-doable. In fact as a teenage boy you might feel that you will end up spending more money than saving. But this is not true – at least not for the most sensible amongst you.

So, then how to save money as a teenage boy without a job ? Well, I’m listing down some rock solid ways to begin your frugal journey. Once you put your heart and mind to it, saving money – one day at a time can be done.

Save money each time you get pocket money as a teenage boy

From now on, each time your mum dad offer you pocket money, keep some amount of it aside. Make a promise to yourself to dedicate yourself to early savings. The sooner you start, the more freeing your life will be as an adult. Remember this pocket money won’t last forever. Very soon you will have to start paying your bills.

Consider this scenario – You get $30 per month from your parents and you save exactly half i.e $15 every month. By the end of the year, you will have $180. If you’ve just entered teenage right now i.e. at 13 years, your yearly savings are $180. If you save the same amount till the entire course of your teenage, you will have exactly $1080 by the time you reach adulthood.

If you’re one of those people who saves even more i.e $20 per month. Then by adulthood, you’ll have exactly $1440. Best case scenario where you save full $30 per month, you will end up having $2160 by adulthood. Now if this same money was put in a bank early on, you’ll have even bigger savings and you’ve just entered adulthood.

Start noting down your spending and expenditure as a teenage boy

I’ve seen a lot of teenage boys not noting down their expenditure. I highly suggest you start making notes of it. In fact, create an excel sheet and keep a tab. Check this sheet out daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. This will take just 5 minutes of your time daily. However, the results will surely shock you.

You will realize how much you’ve been spending on things that you don’t even use anymore or on things that just don’t matter. So don’t be that teen who indulges in wasteful spending. Be the teen who knows how to save first and spend later.

10 superb ways that tell you how to save money as a teenage boy without a job?

Here are the ten pointers from my side that helped me along my journey. Try them and see the change in your life, your resources and money for yourself. They genuinely are life-transforming.

These ten points will make more and more sense to you as you start following them. They might look minuscule at the moment but trust me, they will not only help you save money but will also go a long way in gradually making you more and more independent. During my early teenage, I was adding money to my piggy bank whenever I was getting pocket money from my parents.

Let me now try to help you understand each of these above points more deeply. Also, I will be giving examples for your absolute clarity. If as a teenage boy you come across more tips to help your tribe thrive, let me know in the comments section below.

1. Utilize your time on social media making money from groups

I am yet to come across a teen who isn’t active on social media. Be it Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook, teens are buzzing online. So how about making use of all that time to earn a buck and then save later ? Sounds difficult ? Let me explain more. To answer the initial question of how to save money as a teenage boy without a job, allow social media to be your paying friend.

On platforms like Facebook, you can create groups free of cost. Let’s assume you’re good at gardening and start a group. Over time, people will start engaging with you on this group. If you keep up the pace, you will easily end up having more than 10k members in the group who could end up being customers for your gardening service, manual or even buyers of the whole group.

2. Sell old but usable stuff more often – locally or online

You might not realize this but there are tons of people around the globe that don’t mind buying used stuff. Sure, the stuff should be useful and in good condition but there is an audience for it. These people are on the lookout for old books, accessories, working electronics and even apparels. 

Therefore, inculcate a habit of de-cluttering your closet every once in a while. Sell your old stuff online or at a local store (if that facility is available in your city). Dedicate your life to frugal living and start saving some bucks. This one habit will allow you to never end up being a clutter hoarder.

3. Contribute stories to the local newspaper or newsletter

As a teenager if you feel strongly about your town or city, write to the local newspaper. They will not just publish you but pay for it. If your stories make a connect with the audience, the newspaper staff may even hire you part time or on a freelancing basis.

One way or the other you will learn. A lot of times, newspapers also hire people to do things like proofing and copyrighting. Now you can be the kind of teen who goes to the newspaper office after school/college and earns a buck or two.

4. Do your own hair cuts and shaves more often

Although this sounds hard but cutting your own hair every once in a while is good for you. In case you struggle with it, try asking for help from your folks or friends but do it anyway. In fact, along with haircuts, try doing other related things at home too – colouring your hair, shaves, doing your nails so on and so forth.

Do you know that the average teen spends about $48 per haircut/colouring/spa facilities. So if you visit the salon every three months, you’re spending $144 on an average in a year. This is in addition to the travel cost to the saloon and the bite you’ll grab later with pals. So just do it at home – if not always, at least more often. 

5. Become a voracious reader at a local library

When was the last time you visited a public library or even knew that it existed ? Well, places around the world have libraries that are next to free for young teens like yourselves. In fact, in my home country – India, almost every capital city has a public library. 

So instead of buying a new book each time, purchase a one time membership card and keep borrowing good books from there. This will not only help you save money but also allow you to develop a habit that will pay you than most others in life – reading. This is a decent way of how to save money as a teenage boy without a job.

6. Don’t overspend on merchandise that will clutter your room

This is going to sound shocking but do you know how much money an average teen around the world is spending shopping only clothes per year ? Well, it’s a little more than $1500. This doesn’t even include shoes and accessories. This amount is just for clothes. Teenagers also spend more money on eating outside. You should learn to save money on food. So if you want to address the issue of how to start saving money as a teenage boy without a job, I say stop wasting it.

Can you begin to imagine how much will you be able to save if you keep all that pocket money aside ? You can actually come up with an emergency fund or go travel solo to an exotic place. I highly suggest that instead of wasting money on things you don’t need, prioritize only those things that you will use a lot more often. This is the key to living frugally as a teenager.

7. Teach neighborhood kids a subject, skill or sport

If you’re somebody who is good in academics or a foreign language or even a sport, offer your personal mentorship services to kids around the neighborhood. This will help you pick up new skills that by the way will stay with you for life. Additionally, you will earn money from your service and save it easily.

Let’s assume 5 kids are interested in your tuition. You teach them a subject and charge as less as $10 per month. You still end up making $50 a month and $600 a year. As time passes by and you have more students, increase this fee from $10 to $15 because your service is enhancing somebody’s performance.

8. Find part time income online by freelancing

In the modern world of digitalization, there are numerous websites and platforms that allow for teens to set up their free accounts and offer any skill based service. Right from online tutoring to making logos to capturing pictures to even painting, there are endless opportunities for making money.

Once you establish yourself there, not only will you start earning a side income from home but will also understand how the professional world actually works. You will be ready for taking your first real job much sooner than most other people.

9. Pursue a paying internship where you learn and earn

I cannot begin to explain that how much important is taking an internship for every single teenager out there. When your holidays arrive, start applying for internships where you actually get to visit a real office. Additionally, based on your interest you can also take up an online internship anywhere around the planet.

Companies like AngelList offer some of the most useful internships for teenagers where you can learn and earn. By the end of your vacation, not only will you have a better skill set than most others but a few bucks in your pocket as well. This will be the best kind of earning because this time you’ve been paid in the real world for doing a real task.

10. Instead of buying gifts, make them at home

When was the last time you made gifts for someone? Sounds cheap? Well, it isn’t in actuality. In fact, the kind of love and connect a handmade gift generates can never be the outcome of a commercial product. Not only can you save a lot of money creating the gift yourself but your bond with the person being gifted will also grow by leaps and bounds.

You can create many hand made gifts with less money. Such as creating a scrapbook, creating greeting cards by using craft paper and by using a simple craft kit you can create many handmade gifts.

By the way, hand made gifts sell really expensive online these days. After all, there is a manual effort, thinking and time behind it. So, if you’re keep practising making handmade items, you can start selling them online as well. Amazon allows for setting up such virtual stores. Try it, earn money and save as much you like. 

Make savings a habit. It’ll empower you for the rest of your life. Don’t make an excuse for addressing the issue of how to save money as a teenage boy without a job. Just start implementing ways. I say – start saving now.