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!