It's Been a While

It's been a while since I posted. I started grad school again at the end of August and I am now teaching in the classroom again. I have been working as an itinerant (traveling) teacher and seeing three students a week and attending IEP (ARD) meetings for up to 50-70 kids a year. Plus supervising other teachers. Being back in the classroom has been rewarding, but it has kept me very busy.


I continue to mystery shop, but slowed down a GREAT deal in September. I worked a bit more in October and am now picking up more shops again. I don't really shop during the week because I just don't have time. I finished my grad school classes four weeks early, so now I do have time to do some SHOPS! I have been doing gas shops and lots of restaurants. I won't sign up for too many gas shops when it gets cold though!


I will still only work on weekends, but I have picked up SEVERAL shops this week while I am off for Thanksgiving. There have been quite a few incentives offered because the companies want to get the shops completed. It gives me a chance to make some extra money!


I'll try to post more often, but there hasn't been much to post about!

Mystery Shopping at the Grocery Store

Mystery shopping at the grocery store is a good way to buy groceries. I won't say which grocery store chains I mystery shops, but they are some of the larger known chains. Right now I have two chains that I have shopped quite a deal. The payment is usually $5.00 but the reimbursement for the groceries ranges from $5-$10.

 

You may be wondering why I get so excited about these shops. Well, I completed five of these shops this week and my partner has done three.  This makes for $72 of paid groceries. This helps with our grocery budget and we get paid to go shopping. I have two more shops this weekend which will give us $10 more in groceries and my partner is out doing one now for another $9 in reimbursement. We always have food or other items from the store we need and sometimes we splurge and buy something we normally wouldn't buy. The amount we are reimbursed is not reported to the IRS as income and that helps out too. I like getting "paid" this way! The fee that I am paid is reported to the IRS, but I also get to write off the mileage.

 

There are restrictions on the dates you can shop and also on the times, but those are manageable. The input is not too bad and I come home with groceries! Oh and last night I got an incentive to complete a mystery shop....$26 extra in fees to go to the grocery store....oh yea, I'll do that!

Summer 2014

I have really slowed down on the number of shops I am doing each week. I am taking one grad school class and both boys are home for the summer. Jacob will be heading off to college in the Fall and Elijah is going into the 8th grade. I am ready to slow down and spend some time with them. Financially, I am doing better and don't absolutely need the money from mystery shopping. I am taking some food shops for restaurants that I really like. I am also taking some high dollar shops that have nice incentives! I am also saying NO to a lot of shops when the companies call and ask me to do them. I am enjoying not being so busy and have the luxury of being picky when it comes to doing shops! NOW, when the gas shops come back, I will be jumping on those, but still not doing as many as I used too!

What to Buy?

For the majority of the mystery shops I do at gas stations and office supply stores, I have to make a small purchase to provide to the mystery shopping company that I was actually there. This reimbursement is usually right around $1.00 and can go up to $2.00. I don't like to spend much more than what I am reimbursed for, because then I "lose" money. The average fee/pay I receive for a gas station is $10 and for an office supply shop $7.  My partner also mystery shops, so she is always buy things too.

 

So, what do we buy......we buy lots of soft drinks! I can usually find can drinks at gas stations for 75-95 cents. Other times I buy some candy or chocolate milk for the boys. I can usually find some cheap pens or pencils at an office supply shop, but then I end up with too many of those. I usually look in the $1.00 area and stock up on some teacher gifts.

 

We stock pile the soft drinks in the garage so the boys don't just guzzle them. For the last month, we have saved them for Elijah's birthday party this weekend and then we will save them for Jacob's graduation party. My mom also mystery shops and bought a LOT of candy to give us to give to our kids (my boys and nieces and nephews) for Easter. Once we are done with the parties, we will keep the drinks in the garage to drink through then summer. I guess we will stock pile them for Jacob when he goes off to college next year!

Top 10 Things I Do Because I am a Mystery Shopper

I have been mystery shopping for four years now, and I can't help but do things when I am out just shopping and NOT mystery shopping. These things have become habits, because I have done SO many shops.....so here is my list starting with number 10 and working to the one thing I do the most.

 

 

 

10. Pulling up to the pump and checking to see if the squeegee and paper towels are available.

 9. Feeling the need to TIME everything--how long to pump gas, how long to get my food, etc...

 8. Checking menus and menu boards to see if they are clean or damaged

 7. Taking a picture of my food. I will think "I need to take a picture before I can eat this" and then

      realize that this is not a REAL shop and I don't need a picture!

 6. Making a mental note of employees and if they make eye contact, smile, and if they are in uniform

 5. Noticing that gas station fuel signs are missing numbers or have damage to the numbers

 4. Keeping notes of an employees appearance--male/female, hair color, approximate age and height,

     length of hair, ethnicity, and if applicable facial hair

 3. Noticing if the employee is wearing glasses(this is almost always asked, the ones in number four

     vary from shop to shop, but not this one.

 2. Noticing if there is a manager on duty in a restaurant and making note of what he or she is doing

 

AND THE NUMBER ONE habit that I do ALL the time is.......

 

 1. Check to see if an employee has his or her name badge on!!!!! I will make note of it and then say  

      to myself...."this isn't a SHOP, you don't have to notice the name badge OR the name!"

Update!

It has been a few months since I posted. Graduate school kept me busy up until around Thanksgiving, because I am an over achiever and had all of my assignments done! I then started doing more shops since the next semester would be starting in January.

I am currently doing fast food and gas shops. I did a LOT of shops during December, because we were off for two weeks for the Christmas Break. I will be slowing down again since my classes start back up on Wednesday.

We had an ice storm back on Dec. 6th and all of my shops had to be reschedules. I think most North Texas was iced in for four days. You could really tell by looking at shops online, because dates started getting extended way past the usual dates. One company even sent out an email stating that we should NOT cancel shops but rather reschedule and if we had problems to contact them directly. It was the first time I had to reschedule so many shops at once!

Getting an Extenstion

I had three shops that I was supposed to do today that are an hour away. There was supposed to be ice this morning, and thankfully that did not happen, however it was bitterly cold. There was a possibility of ice on bridges and overpasses too, so I decided I was not going to chance it. Thankfully, the company called me and extended my shops to Wednesday. I can't do them tomorrow, because Jacob is having his Senior pictures taken in the morning.

Just wanted to let y'all know, that most companies will let you extend out your shop due to the weather. I was able to get my shop done last night!

Be Safe!

Here in the Dallas area, we are expecting ice tonight. I have three shops out in East Texas tomorrow that are $20 each plus some free gas. I have already emailed the company to inform them that I may not be able to do them tomorrow. It isn't worth the money to risk my life! The companies I deal with have always been good about giving extensions during bad weather. I have a shop tonight that is only about 10 minutes away. My partner and I will get a free dinner tonight, UNLESS the weather gets bad. I emailed that company yesterday and asked them what happens if I can't do the shop due to the weather. They emailed me back and said to contact them and they will be happy to reschedule the shops for me.

Another company even sent out an email informing shoppers NOT to cancel shops, but to contact the shopper needs to reschedule due to the weather! It's nice to know that there is commons sense with these companies when it comes to the weather.

Out of Practice

As I posted earlier, I have slowed down on the shops a great deal. However, I am now a month ahead in both classes and working on projects that aren't due for another few weeks, so I have been taking a few more shops. It doesn't hurt that many of the gas stations shops are back! I had six shops yesterday, and I feel SO out of practice. It took 2 1/2 hours to complete the shops(drive time included) and then another 2 hours to complete all of the input. I haven't done that many shops since August, and I was mentally tired at the end of it all! It's not that the shops are hard to do, but all of the driving and then input takes a lot of time!

I plan on continuing to do shops. Child support may stop for a few weeks due to ex being between jobs, so I feel like I have to keep it up on the weekends so I have the money to pay the bills!

Slowing Down!

I just went back to work this past week as a teacher! I am also starting graduate school online on Monday! With all of this going on, I have decided to SLOW down on mystery shopping. I have signed up for some gas stations for September and October, but I generally about 60 of these and this time I am only doing 28. These just pay too well and I get free gas!

I am going to ONLY sign up for shops that pay really well OR are in town. Once graduate school gets going, I will have a better idea of how much I can handle. I am hoping to put this money away for Christmas!

It hasn't been easy to give up mystery shopping. The "hunt" for shops can almost become an addiction. However, I think I will have plenty to do with my partner,  kids, grad school, my full time job and LIFE!

Keep That Paperwork

It is very important that you keep your mystery shopping paperwork for several months after you have finished a shop. You need to keep the questionnaire and the receipt! Just yesterday, I had two inquiries on two different shops I had completed. One had been done over this past weekend. I found the paperwork and answered the follow up questions they sent me. The other one had been done back in early July, and again, I found the paperwork and answered the questions. This doesn't happen to often, but when it does, you want to have that paperwork. I do way too many shops, to keep all of that information in my head!

It's Hot!

As I said in my previous post, summer is one of the busiest times for me. Unfortunately, it is also HOT here in Texas. I had four shops yesterday and they should have all been quick shops. However, one of the shops that usually takes twenty minutes, took an hour instead. I won't go into the details, but the restaurant was shorthanded and busy. Another restaurant had computers that were down and this made for a longer ordering process. It also took longer to get my food. All of this put me out in the heat longer than I intended to be. My car also heated up nicely while I was in the restaurant. It turned into a four hour outing instead of a two hour outing. Traffic didn't help either.

I had three shops today and they were all five minutes shops, however I couldn't start them until 4:00 pm. This is a HOT part of the day. Even with my AC on HIGH it was still hot in the car. I always make sure I pack water to have in the car and I try not to be out in the hottest part of the day, but that isn't always easy. At least the gas stations are done and I won't be walking around stations trying to take pictures.

I only have two shops tomorrow and they are both fast food shops. One of them is paying over triple the regular fee! I have no shops on Saturday and only one on Sunday. Maybe I can take the boys swimming, if the water in the pool is cool enough!

Summer is a Busy Time!

The summer is one of the busiest times for me as a mystery shopper. I am a school teacher, so during the school year I usually only shop on the weekends. I get the occasional dinner shop during the week, but other than that it is all weekend shopping. I also keep busy during the holidays during the school year, but summer is my busiest time.

I spent the first week that I had off doing two gas shops a night for five nights in a row. I also spent two days in East Texas doing gas stations. Right now, I am getting phone calls offering me incentives to do fast food shops. Jacob has finally grown tired of fast food! I did go out of town for six days, so no shops during that time period, but I came home to more night time shops. I still have two more night time gas stations to do in the next few days.

I have printed me a calendar for this month and next month, and actually blocked out several days that I WON'T work. I would actually like to spend some time with the boys and maybe get in a few movies. I also think my honey would like me to spend some time with her!

I am hoping to try a few new companies if possible. One company I work for has had a huge decrease in shops. I am not sure why, but there just aren't that many shops with them. Hopefully things will pick up and before you know it, I'll be back in school!

Hot Spots

A few months ago I signed up for a Hot Spot on my iPhone. I figured if it was avaiable, why not get it and use it. We could then connect our iPads to the internet using the hot spot. I have used it with my iPad a lot, when we are out and about, but it is never really been NEEDED. Well, yesterday our electricity went out and when it came back on, our FIOS TV and internet would not connect. I called Verizon and talked to a really nice guy who walked me through some trouble shooting ideas. Nothing worked and a technician is coming some time today.

Meanwhile, I had one shop to input and three more shops to do. I rescheduled one of them but still had two more to do. Before leaving, I turned on that hot spot and made sure it would connect my comoputer to the internet. I could not get it to connect to my desk top computer, but it would connect to my laptop. I went and did my two shops and then came home and was able to do the input. It is a bit of a hassle, because I scanned my receipts on my desk top computer and then saved the scans to a USB thumb drive and then moved them to the laptop. I can deal with that hassle as long as I can input my shops.

I am now sitting at home waiting for a technician who will come some time today before 9PM! Elijah is watching CARS 2 on the DVD player and maybe I will get some housekeeping done! I am keeping my phone handy though so I don't miss that technician's phone call!

Sometimes Companies Call Too Many Times

I wrote a blog a while back about answering the phone even if you don't know who is calling, because it might just be a mystery shopping company offering an incentive. I still believe in this, BUT sometimes these companies call a little too much. There is one company that I really like, but they have called me four times in the last two days about a specific kind of shop. It would require me to be out late at night and I won't do them during the work week. I remind them that I have signed up for several of these shops over the next few weeks, but will only do them on a Friday or Saturday night. Once school is out, I can do more, but these shops end the week after I get out of school.

This company doesn't even offer an incentive to do these late night shops. Well they do, they are $2.00 more than the day time shops, but if they are that desperate then offer a bit more! Another company I work for starts offering incentives within two weeks of the shop being posted. I do have this company on my caller ID and I sometimes don't answer and see what kind of message they leave me. I also can't believe that they can't put something in the notes of my shopper page stating they have already called me and DON'T need to call me again for at LEAST a few days or even a few weeks!

Right now, I have more work than I need. I am working it hard on the weekends and don't need ANY more shops at this point!

It Really is a Job!

A family member in another city just started mystery shopping. I had helped her choose a printer and suggested a few companies to start with. She finally signed up with two companies and got started. My partner and I had suggested she start slowly and sign up for only one shop!

I had talked to her the night before her first shop and she said, "this really is a job." She had to pass a quiz before she could do the shop and that took two tries. She then had to print the shop and study how to do it. She called me and I gave her several tips and answered her questions. She then called during the shop and clarified a few things and I gave her some hints on completing the shop. Later, she called me to help with the input, uploading the receipt and electronically signing off on the shop. She then signed up for her second shop!

I am glad she has gotten started. Helping her reminded me of how nervous I was doing my first Shop! Now, after two and a half years I can do most of my shops easily. New scenarios are a small challenge, but they don't make me nervous.  I am sure I'll get a few phone calls today on her new shop, but as she does each one it will get easier.

You Don't Have to Take Every Shop!

I have been mystery shopping for a bit over two years now. I work for seven different mystery shopping companies. When I first started, I took just about any shop I could get. Since the, I have learned to pick and choose. I don't do bank shops any more. They are boring and tedious. They can also take up a lot of my time on a weekend, and that keeps me from doing other shops.

I like doing the food shops, especially at the restaurants that I really like. In fact, I am getting three times the pay to go to one of my favorite places to eat tomorrow night, plus my meal is paid for. I have learned to read the fine print before taking a shop. Sometimes the pay just isn't very good or there is no reimbursement. Sometimes the shop is just too far away.

We are going out of town in a few weeks, so I just blocked off my calendar for no shops on that weekend. That is the best thing about mystery shopping....I can work as much or as little as I want. The second best thing is I get to pick and choose the shops I want.

Answer the Phone

I have learned that sometimes I just have to answer my cell phone, even if I don't know who is calling. It just may be a scheduler at the other end of the phone ready to offer you an incentive to do a shop! Just this morning, I was getting out of the shower when my cell phone rang. I didn't know the number, and I figured it was a mystery shopping company! I almost didn't answer it, because I wasn't sure I wanted more shops, but I thought "YOU can always say no!" I am glad I answered it, because it was from one of the new companies I signed up for. The scheduler offered me three retail shops that are $10 each, with no purchase requirements. I had signed up for them about a week ago, but hadn't been assigned them. I gladly took them and she put them on my schedule board!

I got another phone call today from another company I work for, and got another gas station for next week and was cleared to try some other shops that they have. Sometimes, you just have to take a chance and answer the phone! You never know who might be on the other end!

Searching for Shops

There are a few times a year when it seems that shops just SLOW down. By slow down, I mean, there just aren't that many shops. I have been pretty busy for the first part of this month, but have just a handful of shops after the 15th. It seems to be this way with all of the mystery shopping companies I work for. I am hoping that the gas station shops show up again at the end of this month, but you just never know. I have been off of work this week because of Spring Break, and wanted to work a bit less, but a few more shops would have been nice! Just remember, with mystery shopping, you can only get shops when they are there. There are times when the shops just aren't there!

Incentives!

An incentive in mystery shopping, is when extra money is offered to complete a shop. One company I work for, offers these on a regular basis and it can be as little as $2.00 extra to do a shop to $40 to do the shop.

Several things can impact the size of the incentive:

• The distance the shop is from your home.
• The time frame of the shop. If the company has a deadline, they want to get it done!
• The size of the city where the shop is located--if it a small town in the middle of no where, odds are that there are not too many shoppers in the area.

There is one large company that I work for that RARELY offers incentives and if they do, it is just a dollar or two. However, they sent an email out recently stating they NEEDED shops done and to give them a call. They were even offering incentives. Well, I looked and there were five shops within an hours drive from me, in an area that I know well. I called and asked about doing them and asked about the incentive. The associate asked me how much I wanted for each shop and I said $5.00 extra. She put me on hold and came back that they would give me $5.00 extra for each shop. This meant a total of $25 in incentive. The actual shop pays $10 plus around $9 in reimbursement. Just the incentive and fee alone are $75! Needless to say, I took the shops!

I once got $35 in incentive to do ONE fast food shop that was 45 minutes away. I took it and found a few more shops to do along the way! Once you sign up with a company, start looking to see if they offer incentives. They can really add to your paycheck.