Getting out of debt

What does everyone use mystery shopping for? We are currently trying to pay off credit card and student loan debt. Mystery shopping is allowing us to do that, but it will be a long process. I am hoping to hear some success stories and motivate me to keep going

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

Mystery shopping is putting my dogs through school.

There are two types of people in this world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.

Getting credit card debt paid off here too. Plus keeping my dogs in the lifestyle they've become accustomed to.

Mystery shopping is my full time job. I do it to live.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.

I have always wondered about this. I have heard it is crazy hard to be able to do that. Do you just travel a ton to get everything done? I do this as my only income too, but it is just part time since I am going through my masters program.

BuffaloNY101 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mystery shopping is my full time job. I do it to
> live.

I just started in April, but my earnings this year should pay for Christmas, and I've dipped into my paypal a few times to fund one of my other hobbies. I'm starting to pick up the pace now, and hope that every year my shopping will pay for Christmas gifts, a night or two away, and maybe a nice trip every year.

I do it to subsidize my normal expenses like food, entertainment, etc. It gives me an excuse to try new foods, travel to places I normally wouldn't and spend money at places I normally wouldn't.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

I used it to pay off my student loan debt and am working on credit card debt. The money helped me come up with a good sized down payment for my first house too. It also helps assuage guilt when I want to splurge and get a facial or a mani/pedi.

It subsidizes my income and generally keeps money in my pockets for expenses such as groceries, entertainment and travel expenses. erica.worthey it may be a long process, but that time will pass regardless...don't give up!

I shop to minimize expenses and keep more money in my pocket, via reimbursements on places I eat/shop/buy anyway. My shop fees gets added to my kids' college funds, and I match it with my own money.

My husband shops to pay for tools and guns.

------------------------------------------------
Plan the work. Work the plan.

Mystery shopping allows me to be independent after my son was diagnosed with a developmental disability. I used to be a Social Worker but had to find a job with hours where I could provide for my family and also spend time with them too. Pretty much no job out there that has me working for someone else is flexible enough. I also have a photography business and do shops when I have free working time. Right now, most of my mystery shopping income is going towards a vacation, kid's RESPs and buying land.

Silver Certified ~ Shopping all of Toronto and beyond

I am a stay at home mom. My husband told me that in order to be able to stay at home, I needed to make enough money to pay for the kids preschool and pay some of the bills. I am fortunate to be able to do this and am thankful for the flexibility.

I shop to set money aside for vacations, Christmas and birthday gifts. I also do it as a way to try out new restaurants for "free" (yes, I realize some people on this forum don't consider it free, please let's not debate this LOL).

Phoebe70 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I shop to set money aside for vacations, Christmas
> and birthday gifts. I also do it as a way to try
> out new restaurants for "free" (yes, I realize
> some people on this forum don't consider it free,
> please let's not debate this LOL).

Free? What? No, it's not free! There's the cost of your time, your guest's time, your gas, wear and tear on your vehicle, etc, etc, etc.

I consider reimbursements free too, btw.

------------------------------------------------
Plan the work. Work the plan.

I love the food too! Eating out gets so expensive. My husband and I try to eat out as little as possible. But with mystery shopping we can eat out once a week. My kryptonite with this is Chipotle. I have been waiting for a training to come into my area. I contemplated driving 6 1/2 hours to attend a training...but decided against it. I LOVE CHIPOTLE!!!!

Wow. Many heartwarming reasons to shop! Erica, good for you attempting to lower student loan and credit card debt. Get rid of the high interest cc bills first!

Wise choice not driving 6 1/2 hours! Once you do shop for them for a while, your love for the food will likely diminish greatly :-)

*****************************************************
The harder I work, the luckier I get.

It is not free but the time I invest helps us to enjoy life and some perks. It's worth it but lately I have become a lot more selective of what I choose to do. Phone shops for $4 are not considered, PITA purchases that are way over and above what is reimbursed and thus requiring a return shop or keeping what you don't need/want/like just doesn't do it for me anymore. I work full time and many a time, regret taking PITA jobs, LOL!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/2014 05:46PM by Madetoshop.

My sister got my mom and I interested in Mystery Shopping a few years back....funny thing is my mom and I are still doing Mystery Shops but my sister isn't (but then she is also living her dream of owning her own business, a travel service/agency for the disabled!)

Why do I mystery shop? To pad my income a bit and also stretch that dollar more...I've not made the amounts some of you have made on here, but I do make a bit of $$ here and there...it also has enabled me to try places I've never been to and has also been an education (I've learned a lot about electronics from certain big box shops I've done) in a sense.

And believe it or not, mystery shopping in an indirect way has also shown me that I have a good sense of recall and that I can put together a good story/essay.

Silver certified (since 2009) and willing to do shops all around the greater Chicago, NW Indiana, and Southern Wisconsin areas (including airports!.

Luckily the credit card doesn't have any interest as long as we pay it by March! Loans on the other hand...have a too much interest!

bestofbothworlds Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow. Many heartwarming reasons to shop! Erica,
> good for you attempting to lower student loan and
> credit card debt. Get rid of the high interest cc
> bills first!

Vegas.

Keep eating away at the debt, Erica. It'll disappear sooner than you think. I've been there and it's stressful as heck. I paid the monthly payment and then paid $50 more with a note that the extra was to go to the principal. The bank didn't like it, but oh well!!!!

My mystery shopping money goes toward travelling to and from dog shows, entry fees, hotels, etc. I will be taking my male dog to St. Louis in October for a week long show - mystery shopping paid for plane tickets. I take my two show dogs to at least two shows a month. So far, I have done very well and I'm even thinking about purchasing another dog and enter him/her in agility and obedience competitions.

**********************************
What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. -Henry David Thoreau
**********************************
Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find out. -Frank Clark
**********************************

I started trying to make enough to feed my three horses, but they're fed and there is still $2000 in the account, and I've used some for other things.

So it's helping me stay out of debt. Oh, it's also making my car payment on the car I bought last December that I've been running the wheels off doing all the shops that make the payment.

For the car and horses, I need $450 a month; I usually run $500-600.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

LJ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mystery shopping is putting my dogs through
> school.

That's great! What grade are they in?

Kim

dmh426 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It also helps assuage guilt when
> I want to splurge and get a facial or a mani/pedi.
>

You can't find a shop for that? lol

I say that because I would be all over that one myself.

Kim

Erica,

That is so smart that you are using it to pay off debt. Like some have said, it can be "crushing."

I discovered mystery shopping, did a few shops, liked it but didn't do much with it until 2009 when my hours got cut at work and it was a great supplement. My hours at work did go back up, but it is still part-time work and my raises are not enough to cover inflation. So this is a second source of income with the ability to expand if I put more time into it. I commend those who do it full-time. I'm not near retirement, but I look forward to doing this more when I do retire. I also love the useful reimbursements like car washes and oil changes and tire rotations that I would have to pay for otherwise. And treating my mom to lunch or dinner with a shop allows us to go places we wouldn't normally go.

Now if I could just score a shop to replace windshield wiper blades....

Kim

Kimmie, Summit Scheduling has some seriously easy auto shops that pay well and reimburse $10.

------------------------------------------------
Plan the work. Work the plan.

BBird,

Thanks for the tips. I will look right now.

Kim

I do it for extra income (I only work part time, but I actually turned down more hours to stay flexible), I do it for the food, I do it because I enjoy a lot of it and I do it for the tax benefits. Ultimately, I love that my cell phone bill, home internet, ipad, laptop, cell phone, printer and ink, and most of my mileage are legitimate expenses. If you factor those things in as some of your income it makes it even sweeter. If you don't factor those in, you're doing something wrong.

And don't forget the $ spent on the tax accountant can be used on the next years return as an expense. For me it was $250 and well worth it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/2014 06:12AM by quiettime.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Getting out of debt

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine