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There are plenty of places that will advertise to find a job for you; placement agencies, temp agencies, and others like that, but those places usually will spend the majority of their time working with people with skills and experience before they will even look at someone who is just beginning. 

There are also sites and blogs that will advocate the idea of doing work around the neighborhood; mowing lawns, cleaning houses, walking dogs, babysitting kids, etc.  There is nothing wrong with this kind of work if you can get it, but you also want to make sure you are doing an appropriate amount of work for the money you will be getting paid.  I don’t know how it is in other parts of the country, but in California, I would never recommend for a teen to try and compete in the lawn mowing game.  There are too many people who have their own equipment, trucks, and large numbers of unskilled workers who are willing to do the job for less than you could afford to.  Babysitting is fine, but again, you may wind up competing with people who have more skills or experience to do the job.

In the earlier instances, all of these jobs also share the entrepreneurial spirit of working for one’s self, and not for the other guy.  If you have that spirit, are willing to put in a lot of hard work, and have a plan, good luck!  If, you are like most of the rest of us, you need to work for someone else.  There is a reason teenagers have a reputation about being lazy and unwilling to work.  I don’t say that this is a true representation for all teenagers, but I think we all need to admit there is some truth.

 That leaves only a couple of other options for most  of us to get a job.  Either the local mall or shopping center, or, and I’m sure we all know who I’m talking about here, getting a McJob.

Our parents seem to have figured it out, our grandparents definitely did, and you will too.  It all depends on how much you want to learn, and how fast you want to do it.  I’m talking about becoming financially secure.  I know that secure is pretty boring and vague, but before a bird can fly, it must learn to walk, and that is the same for you.

Before you even need to worry about being rich, you need to worry about covering all your bills.  Before you even think of getting bills, you need to think of a way to pay for them.  And before you start thinking about methods of payment, you need some capital.

 Income can come in many forms.  It could be your allowance for doing chores, or just being the great kid you are, it could be in the form of birthday checks sent to you by Aunt Ruthie, or, like the rest of the world, it comes from holding a JOB.

Being young is tough enough without having to worry about the future and money.  Unfortunately, there is no way around it.  There is too much stuff that we all want and all of it costs money.  This site and blog will help young people learn the tools, tips, and tricks that the adults know already.  If there are questions, this is the place to get the answers.  Above all else, have fun and enjoy!

-W