Price suggestions for kids work

[True]

I don't know if that title is confusing or not lol. But here's the story.

My son is 12, he's been saving up for a computer of his own, I don't let him use mine, and his school laptop obviously has all games blocked. Saving money is pretty slow, VERY slow, but he is good at it. Once he puts money in his savings account, he doesn't touch it until he meets a goal. I told him he should try to save up at least $300 for a decent setup that will do the things he wants, he mainly just plays terraria, minecraft, and roblox, nothing super high speed. I'm not telling him this, but if he saves up the money by his birthday (december) I'm going in for part as a birthday present, so that he won't have to drain all of his savings, but he will still be responsible for the majority.

I suggested he try to find more ways to earn money, maybe think of a job he can offer people, together we came up with dog walking and car washing. Im wondering how much he should charge for these things?
He originally thought $5 for both. But you can get a professional carwash in town for $5, I was thinking maybe $3, and maybe stay at $5 for dog walks.

What do you guys think? How much would you pay a 12 year old to do these things? Also if you can think of other jobs he might be able to do, let me know? Mowing lawn is out of the question, We live in the woods and hardly anyone actually has "lawn" xD

Once we get all the details figured out, hes going to make flyers and print some business cards to hand out. lol

[Kitkumi]

If you are looking for lawn work ideas, weeding and watering comes to mind. Our neighbors are elderly, so they can't really tend to their landscape on their own, so they higher professionals to come in and take care of the bulk of it. But when their grandkids visit every few weeks, they let them pull weeds and water plants to earn a little spending money (I'm not sure how much, as I've never asked). And I would stick with $5 for both car washing and dog walking. Even if you have local, professional car washes at $5, people do seem willing to help kids out when they are doing things like that. Plus, you can always bring your prices down, but you can't easily raise them

[kaoskat]

I agree. People like kids who are willing to work for their money and would likely part with a $5 for him. Also it's a convenient amount and most people can scrounge up a $5 bill, finding 3 $1s is a bit less likely in this time. Also, are there any younger kids around? Babysitting can bring in quite a bit of money. He'll just need to be responsible and willing to put in the effort. It's also usually a nice inside job that involves airconditoning that might be a plus since summer is upon us.

[True]

Thanks for the advice, I can kinda see $5 being more convenient now.
As far as baby sitting, My son is old enough to stay home for a bit after school if I'm running late, and he knows and understands the rules attached to being "home alone." But I'm not sure he's ready to actually care for other children yet. The main reason I know he's fine to stay home alone without it causing a panic, is that he'll just go play video games and do homework until I get back, xD but that's also the same reason I don't trust him to watch other kids yet lol. The only time hes been left in charge of someone else, it was his 8 year old cousin, and again, they just played games, and I was only gone for 15 minutes tops xD

[melodys_angel]

Im not sure, I mean I can see $5 being a bit much but we have loonies and twonies over here so

Helping with gardening or watering may be something?

[Thunderwing]

True - how do you feel about him going up and down a ladder? I'd love someone to clean my gutters so I don't have to do it.   Weeding and general garden type work is good for kids. Picking up sticks after wind storms, raking leaves. Helping people harvest vegetables? What if he started a garden and sold the vegetables at the road side? Or sold flowers? It's a big longer term to set up, but I buy cheap perennials when they are on clearance in the autumn and sell them the following spring for double what I pay (I usually pay $1 each, sell for $2 each, if retail is about $4.)  How about selling baked goods, come up with a list of what he could sell, and go door to door taking orders.

If you are out in the country, does he have a bike? (No idea how far out you are). But he could do store runs for people, run errands and pick up and deliver stuff? (Good exercise, gets kids outdoors too!)

How about dog washing? Wash my dog, do a good job, that's worth $5 to me! I wouldn't mind someone to help on my farm with pest control - round up animals for me, then return them to their pens after I dose them with medication. (They are all small ones, like chickens and rabbits). But it'd be nice to have an extra pair of hands to do some carrying. Do you have neighbour farmers? Hauling hay, mucking stalls, cleaning cages. All jobs I'd have no problem paying a kid a bit of money to do.

To that end, why not have him offer to do housework for neighbours? He could babysit in your home, then you are there to help if something happens.

How about small animal sitting in your home? Babysitting hamsters, rabbits, etc while people are away on vacation?

When I was 12, my mom and her friend teamed me up with friend's daughter to babysit. It was two 12 year olds taking care of an 8 year old. But we were alone for 8 hours a day. Of course, there were frequent phone calls to make sure we were ok. I was paid $1 an hour to watch them both (I was in charge, then the other girl, then the 8 year old boy). That said, I was pretty capable by the time I was 12, and was babysitting other people's toddlers by 13, and employed properly by 14.

Ooooo. If you are in the country, why not get him a couple of laying hens and sell eggs? Those could be delivered door to door.

[True]

Those are good ideas Thunderwing. We live in a sorta complicated area, its very woodsy and though Traverse city is kinda known as a hot spot, we don't live anywhere near the actual "city" part lol, driving usually takes us about 15-20 minutes to get into town and that's on a good traffic day lol.

The only kids that live around here are directly to the left and right, and no small pets unfortunately. Besides I'm trying to keep these jobs out of the house if possible, and Id prefer he stay out of other peoples homes, aside from the few people who stay here year round, which is really just us and a small handful of people. Most of these people are only renting these homes for the summer so there's no way to really know them.

I actually do plan on getting laying hens again either this summer or next, whenever I get around to building a new coop, but I miss having them, not sure if ill be able to sell eggs though, anything unused, usually gets claimed by family and neighbors and I'm happy to share, as they help me out when I need it as well lol. But I think the baked goods and veggie thing might be good. In the past, I've always had a "free" stand out near our mailbox, I would just put leftover produce/herbs in from my garden, and it almost always got claimed, so maybe he could sell some for a reasonable price.

We will also be having a yard sale at some point, and my hope is that he will actually part with some of his stuff. Hes in a confusing time where he doesn't really play with toys often, but doesn't want to get rid of them, I don't want to force him because I remember how much it sucked for me at that age, but I would like him to thin out the toybox a bit. xD

[Leave a Whisper]

Maybe a little extra for all As
Extra for chores he doesnt normally do
3 bucks dog walking
Lemonade sales