Last updated on February 7th, 2025 at 08:38 pm
Wondering how to start making money at 18?
Today, we are going to share five legitimate ways to do that, look at the pros and cons of each, and provide a bunch of practical tips that you can implement to achieve your financial goals faster!
First Things First: Being Broke is a Mindset, and So is Being Wealthy!
Objective Wealth vs. Subjective Wealth
Objective wealth is your net worth: the value of all your assets minus the value of all your liabilities.
Subjective wealth is the ratio between your income and your living expenses — the more you make and spend less, the wealthier you are at a subjective level.
35% of households in the United States earn less than $50,000/year and live paycheck to paycheck. That probably isn’t particularly surprising. But did you know that around 20% of households that earn more than $150,000/year are in that same situation?
The primary reason for that is lifestyle inflation: the more money people make, the more money they tend to spend, so they continue to live paycheck to paycheck even as their incomes rise.
You will never be able to build objective wealth if you spend as much or more money than you earn. Moreover, on a subjective level, you will always be stressed about your finances regardless of what you make. But how can you avoid the trap of lifestyle inflation?
Drop the Entitlement
There are people out there who are struggling financially through no fault of their own. It’s undeniable that everyone deals with a different hand in life, and some have it much worse than others.
However, the harsh truth is that the older someone is, the more their financial situation reflects the decisions that they have made over the years.
And if you closely examine the decisions of people who don’t have their finances in order, you will often find that a sense of entitlement is at the core of their problems. What does that mean?
A sense of entitlement is the feeling that you “deserve” something that you haven’t earned — a certain lifestyle, a certain status, certain material possessions.
Not only is having this attitude counterproductive to building wealth, but it also makes people miserable because it fosters resentment. If you believe that you “deserve” all these amazing things just for existing, you’ll be perpetually angry at the world for not handing everything to you on a silver platter.
So do yourself a favor and drop your entitlement now before it wrecks your life: accept that you don’t “deserve” anything except for what you earn. This is the pragmatic attitude that you need to build wealth.
Live Way Below Your Means
Suppose you can continue living with your parents rent-free now that you are an adult. In that case, consider doing so because rent is the single largest expense for most people.
If that is not possible, consider renting a room in a flatshare or a houseshare instead of looking for an apartment. This can help you keep your rent relatively low.
Another big expense is food. The sooner you learn how to make healthy and affordable meals from scratch, the more money you’ll save on food in the long run. It’s best to stop eating out and ordering takeouts until you stabilize your finances.
Finally, if you need a car to get around, buy a used one, but make sure that it is safe to drive. Never compromise your safety just to save a few bucks.
Living way below your means may sound boring, but it’s a superpower that can enable you to reach your financial goals much faster!
Set Financial Goals for Yourself
If you are fresh out of high school, you are probably used to thinking about money solely in terms of spending it on fun stuff, like you would with pocket money.
Going from that to having to consider living expenses like rent, transport, and food can be quite an adjustment.
But there’s another step beyond that: you must start thinking about savings, investments, and retirement. So, educate yourself on these subjects and set concrete goals in each of these three categories.
Again, all that may sound boring, but if you get serious about your finances now, you will be able to progress much faster.
Be Willing to Sacrifice Status to Achieve Your Financial Goals
Once you have set concrete financial goals for yourself, accept that in order to achieve them as quickly as possible, you will need to sacrifice status.
After all, living with your parents, working an entry-level job, and saving money won’t make you look fabulous in the eyes of your peers. However, it will enable you to get ahead of them financially. So stay focused on your goals!
Consider Working More Than 40 Hours Per Week
If you are a healthy 18-year-old, you are at a time in your life when you probably have the most energy you ever will. You can use it to achieve your financial goals faster by working more than 40 hours a week.
You can do that either by working a full-time job and a part-time job or by working a full-time job and having a side hustle of your own. Of course, you don’t want to burn out, but that is unlikely to happen at your age.
Note that an additional benefit of working 50–60 hours a week is that not only will you make more money, but you will probably also end up spending less of it simply because you won’t have the time to!
You Probably Won’t Get Rich Overnight!
Finally, realize that as a young person, you are particularly vulnerable to get-rich-quick schemes.
There are all these self-proclaimed “millionaires” on social media who are only in their late teens and early 20s. It’s easy to feel like a failure if you start comparing yourself to them.
Reality check: the vast majority of these people are lying about their financial situation in order to sell you expensive online courses, which is how they really make their money. The luxurious lifestyles they are flaunting on Instagram are fake. You can safely ignore everything they say.
If you want to get rich, consider reading Scott Galloway’s book “The Algebra of Wealth,” which he has summarized in the video below:
This book can help you get some perspective on what it really takes to build lasting wealth. Yes, you can get rich, but it won’t happen overnight. It will almost certainly require at least a decade or two of consistent effort!
How to Start Making Money at 18
Okay, now that we’ve covered the mindset that you need to set yourself up for financial success, let’s get into the practical stuff.
Here are the five ways to start making money at 18:
#1: Waiting Tables at a Restaurant
Waiting tables is one of the easiest jobs to get because restaurants tend to have a high employee turnover. This is especially true in big cities.
While you can apply for these jobs online, you will probably have better luck if you make a CV, print out 100 copies, and deliver them to restaurant managers yourself.
If you live in a city, you can probably hand out 100 CVs over the weekend by systematically covering the restaurants downtown as well as the ones at the business districts and shopping centers.
All you need to do is walk into a restaurant, ask to speak to the manager, and tell them that you are looking for a job. Then give them your CV.
This approach may seem old-fashioned, but it works really well. Not only will showing up in person make you stand out from all the other applicants, but it will also demonstrate that you have the basic social skills needed for the job.
Waiting jobs typically pay minimum wage, but you also get tips, so your real income will probably be significantly higher than your official salary. Just make sure to check the tax law regarding tips because you might need to pay taxes on them.
Another benefit is that once you get some experience working as a waiter or a waitress, you will always have something to fall back on if you need to quickly find a job.
It’s also an occupation that is unlikely to get automated anytime soon, which is important in these uncertain times when people are becoming increasingly concerned about artificial intelligence eliminating their jobs.
As for the downsides, waiting jobs tend to be dead ends in terms of career progression so make sure that you don’t get stuck in one. Wait tables to pay the bills and build your savings, but always be on the lookout for better opportunities.
#2: Working as an Event Waiter or Waitress
Catering agencies provide staff for events at various venues.
It’s pretty easy to get hired as a temp waiter or waitress, mainly if you apply in October when the entire industry starts preparing for the winter holiday event marathon.
However, keep in mind that this will be a different job than working at a restaurant. As a waiter or waitress at an event, you won’t get assigned specific tables, take orders, or handle money. Why?
Because everything has already been paid for, the guests will be eating the exact same meals from a set menu, with some variations that accommodate dietary restrictions.
Your responsibilities will likely include setting the tables before the event, walking around with canapé and drink trays, bringing out each course, removing the plates, and polishing cutlery between courses.
All that is much less cognitively taxing than waiting tables at a restaurant, but there are also no tips, so you will only earn your hourly rate, which is likely the minimum wage.
Also, work availability will be highly variable, primarily depending on the time of the year. If you are looking for stability, catering agencies cannot provide that because the events industry is so seasonal
However, if you just want to make some extra cash, you can do that in the busy months (October to January and May to September). It can be pretty fun because you get to see different venues, work in a festive atmosphere, and socialize with your coworkers during downtime!
#3: Working at a Fast Food Restaurant
Fast food restaurants are always hiring and do not require any previous experience or relevant skills for entry-level, minimum-wage positions.
Big chains like McDonald’s and Burger King also offer solid career progression opportunities where it’s possible to start at the bottom and work up to a managerial position with a decent salary.
It’s relatively easy to rise through the ranks in fast food restaurants because you will primarily compete against people of similar age who aren’t taking their jobs seriously.
In fact, merely showing up on time, working hard, and being cheerful can be enough to make you stand out as an above-average employee.
Getting a job at a fast food restaurant can be a good option if you don’t know what to do with your life. You can just climb the ladder there until you figure it out.
Note that while managing a fast food restaurant is stressful, the compensation is decent. For example, the median total pay of a McDonald’s store manager in the United States is $61k per year. You can probably get there in less than five years. Not bad at all!
Also, once you get some experience working at a fast food restaurant, especially if it belongs to one of the big chains, you will always be able to fall back on it in the future!
#4: Starting a Manual Labor Business
Nick Huber from The Sweaty Startup argues that the ideas about entrepreneurship that are coming out of Silicon Valley are misleading young people due to the emphasis on innovation.
In his view, attempting to build the next “unicorn” startup worth a billion dollars is a terrible idea because the chances of success are extremely low. It’s not a reliable path to building wealth.
According to him, someone who wants to pursue entrepreneurship would be much better off choosing a proven business model, focusing on doing common things uncommonly well, and slowly growing their company over the years.
Huber also advises aspiring entrepreneurs to stay away from glamorous industries because they are difficult to compete in.
He has a list of businesses he loves that you can check out if you need a business idea and a list of businesses he hates that you can read so that you would know what to avoid.
Arguably, manual labor businesses with the lowest barrier to entry are lawn mowing, house cleaning, and helping people move. You will need a car for all three, but beyond that, they don’t require much capital to start. Willingness to do the work is what matters.
Of course, if you have a marketable skill that is more specialized, it probably makes more sense to go with that. Say, if you are a really good cook, you can start a catering business where you prepare food for events.
Also, you can go to a trade school, learn a trade, work for someone else for a few years, and then start your own business.
Whatever service you choose to provide, you can market it by distributing leaflets, cold calling, and running ads on Google and Facebook.
Once you start getting more work than you can handle, you can begin building a team by hiring your first employee.
Your ultimate goal should be to extricate yourself from the day-to-day operations so that your business can run without you, which will turn it into a sellable asset.
#5: Starting a Remote Freelancing Business
If you want to become location-independent so that you can travel the world, you will need to find a way to make money remotely.
Remote jobs are difficult to get if you don’t have any previous experience in that industry. However, freelancing doesn’t really have an entry barrier, and you can just start doing it.
First, learn a skill that will enable you to provide a service that can be delivered remotely. Ideally, it should be something that helps businesses make money.
Examples of such skills include copywriting, video editing, social media marketing, paid advertising, and funnel building. It’s possible to make six figures remotely with any of these.
Note that you don’t need to buy expensive online courses to learn these skills, so don’t waste your money. Instead, you can learn everything you need to know from:
- YouTube videos
- Udemy courses (wait for a sale!)
- Books
Next, read “The Cold Email Manifesto” by Alex Berman and Robert Indries and start sending cold emails to potential clients.
First, you should do the work, send it to potential clients, and tell them that they can use it for free if they want to. For example, if you offer a video editing service, create three shorts for their YouTube channel and send it to them.
If the potential client decides to use your free work, offer to do more free work for them, but make sure to clearly define your offer (e.g., you will create seven shorts per week for the next three months).
If they accept this offer, pitch them a paid service package once you complete the free work you promised. If you did a good job, they would probably want to hire you.
Regardless if they say yes or no, make sure to ask for a testimonial. Only start looking for paid clients once you acquire at least one piece of social proof by working for free.
Starting to learn your chosen skill and landing your first paying client will probably take 6–12 months, so it’s best to do this while you wait tables or work at a fast food restaurant to pay the bills.
After that, it will probably take another year for you to get to a point where you can go full-time and become location-independent.
Aim to reach $5,000/month in consistent income before you start traveling so that you can do it while also putting some money into savings and investments every month.
Also, if you don’t know what skill to choose, we recommend copywriting because it’s the easiest and most versatile and will serve you well in all your future projects!
Want to Learn How to Write Copy That CONVERTS?
Our friend Jim Edwards wrote a best-selling book, “Copywriting Secrets,” where he covers everything you need to know in order to start writing copy that CONVERTS.
“Copywriting Secrets” is available on Amazon, with over 1,800 global ratings and a 4.7-star overall rating.
But you can also get it directly from Jim for free.
All he asks is that you cover the shipping!
So what are you waiting for? 🧐