Do You Need to Earn More Money as a College Student?

The Importance of Earning Money as a College Student

For a young person like me to enjoy the opportunities New York City offers, money is a necessity. In addition to being a vibrant city riddled with culture and excitement, NYC is seriously expensive. The reality of just how expensive NYC is continues to hit me, as I watch the money I saved up for college slowly begin to fade away.

Tips and tricks for spending less and practicing a smart financial lifestyle can go a long way.

Higher Income Jobs

In my experience, others job fields with an incomparable income are babysitting and tutoring. One thing I’ve learned over the course of my nine years as a babysitter is that people will pay a lot for good child care. I have been able to charge more than $15 an hour since I was 15 years old. My current rate is $20 an hour, but in a city like New York where wealth is everywhere, babysitting gigs can yield up to $25 an hour. Some colleges even have their own babysitting services, providing a quick and stress-free way to secure clients if you’re interested. Just as lucrative, if not more, is getting a job as a tutor. Rates will vary, depending on age and difficulty of content, but I’ve made as much as $55 an hour for tutoring services.

A Little Research Can Yield Big Bucks

Campus-affiliated jobs are also known to offer plentiful and viable options for work. While there are always your “receptionist at the library” or “cashier at the cafeteria” positions, I urge anyone on the job hunt to seek more unique opportunities. Not only can this extended research yield jobs with fewer applicants, it also tends to unearth jobs that pay well. For example, my school has a bartending agency. While you have to pay for the licensing course and interview for the agency, Columbia University bartenders can make $200 or more a gig, an income almost unheard of for a college student. This particular opportunity might not apply to every college, especially considering that not all states allow people under 21 years to bartend, but it is definitely worth looking into. My current job, one I learned about from a friend, is actually available because of my university and pays significantly more than your average minimum wage job at $17/hour.

What Ideas Do You Have?

I hope these tips help inspire some of you to get creative with your job search and not settle for low-paying employment. I’m also curious…What unique jobs have you guys held? Anyone have any advice for busy students who are looking to make some money? How do you handle a busy school schedule and working? Let me know below.

Happy job hunting!

Nothing helps the bank account more than actually earning money. In today’s post, I’m going to reveal the strategies I’ve developed for finding work that pays more than your average minimum wage job.

Job Experience and Opportunity

I’ve been working in some way or another since I was 10 years old. From knife salesman to bartender, I’ve experimented with many different jobs in my effort to make money. For someone who doesn’t yet have a degree – a requisite for most higher-paying jobs – job opportunities can be limited. Teens often are expected to suck it up and secure a job scooping ice cream or doing dishes. While these options succeed in providing some income and offer valuable job experience, it doesn’t hurt to dig a little deeper and find work that pays more.

Unique Job Opportunities

Colleges actually offer a lot of unique job opportunities, I’ve found. My most recent discovery: psychological studies. If you are on a college campus with even a slight dedication to student and faculty research, the offer to participate in psychological studies is probably available. Often buried in emails or uncovered from scouring your university’s website, study participation can be hidden, but is usually there. Participating in psychological studies takes minimal time and can be quite profitable.

Just last week, I made $4 for five minutes of my time spent filling out a survey. While that might not appear very lucrative, if done often enough, can be an easy and substantial way to make extra money. Because they don’t take very long, scheduling one of these studies between classes is hassle-free and convenient. My university advertises that the hourly rate for study participation is $16, which in my opinion, is pretty good. Some studies will also pay you an additional amount depending on your performance during the actual study.