here are some other income suggestions for young people:
+ get a newspaper route
+ start up a grocery delivery service for older people (of course this might require a car and you driving) but perhaps you could do it with a bike and a trailer on your bike if grocery store is nearby.
+ tutoring service for students. if you are good at something, maybe you can charge some $$$ to tutor people that are having difficulty in a subject.
+ charge $$$ to move things - especially those older people. things that old people don't want anymore, you could try to sell on e-bay or at the salvation army. you might work a deal out with someone you know that has a car if you cut them in to the profits.
+ apprentice at a HVAC/fuel oil delivery shop. i did this to help get some $$$. they usually need a gopher (go for this, go for that), so you just get hammers, wrenches all day and get $$$. This goes for painting, carpenters, plumbers, etc. again, here due to your age, this might be a problem but you can try using family connections.
+ recycled goods. everywhere you see empty cans and bottles and newspaper, you can (with a trailer on your bike even) transport this to a recycler and get some $$$.
+ if you are good with computers, offer your services out like a 'geek-squad' kind of thing that they have at best buy. people are always having problems with viruses and spyware and don't know what to do. what you can do is either try to fix it or at worst case, simply duplicate their photos, music, etc onto a separate hard drive (that the customer pays for) and get them up and running with a fresh windows install and reinstall their pictures and what not. most people don't know how to do this or don't want to do this. they just want it fixed.
+ if you know web stuff, offer your services for a reasonable fee to a house of worship, community center, etc.
+ flea markets/yard sale. work with your parents to get together all your stuff you don't want and sell it. if you organize the event, you can probably get a good cut of the profits and your parents get rid of junk they don't want. velvet elvis painting? gone!
+ computer recycler. put add in paper that you'll pick up and dispose of old computer and electronics equipment. for a fee you can take these items to the dump or recycler for people. again, alot of people don't know how to get rid of these things responsibly. alot of the equipment contains toxins, etc that you don't want in the regular dump or landfill.
+ create a website and beg for it (some guy did this and it payed his way through college)
some of the things i listed above might sound like you need a car to be practical but perhaps you can get by with a bike or even a scooter. where there's a will there's a way.
for 1-2k you can indeed get a car. it won't be the best car but you can have a car. the problem is of course what it costs to run it (maintenance, gas, etc). these cars typically break down and require the shop to fix it as parts wear out.
Also, insurance as a young man < 25 will kill you. i remember when i was 17 or 18 i was paying about 1300 per 6 months on a four cylinder crap car.
i say save for the car. once you get a car, then it will open up the doors for more $$$.
you can always beg for a new computer or graphics card for holiday/birthday present. make a deal with your parents to get your grades up or some other goal.
