I haven't been on here much lately. I've been working for a caregiving company and took on another client. Working with the client is great, he's 90 and a veteran. The daughter treats the caregiver badly. One caregiver refuses to go back to the house. I finally had it today. It was nice to think things over and know I'll always have mystery shopping to turn to for part time income. I'm still doing the caregiving for another client and have been told by the company they will find me more work. It's nice to know, you don't have to put up with some people, on a part time job. You have the option to turn to mystery shopping and work for yourself.

Yeah, me too! My day job is pretty stable, but I like having mystery shopping as a way to earn extra money as needed, rather than having to pull regular shifts somewhere for a part time job.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2016 07:24AM by CeciliaM.

That's what this is for me, too. I am a semi-retired marketing communications professional (writer, editor, project manager, etc.), and I also am a vintage-fashion dealer. When both of those are slow, as they are at the moment, I do as much mystery shopping as I can. When I'm busy at those, then I mostly shop things like the fast-casual restaurants or entertainment venues. Right now I'm doing a little bit of everything!

My MS money has paid for hotels, sporting event tickets, and a good chunk of our Christmas presents now that many online retailers take Paypal. We're going to see the Globetrotters next month and wouldn't have been able to swing it if I didn't have that money. It's definitely not my main income but it's nice to have.

I had to leave my career in order to take my son back and forth to school. My husband makes enough to pay the bills, but I like working. I really enjoy mystery shopping. It gives me the opportunity to have fun and be productive outside of caring for my son. This is the best thing to happen to me since ditching my briefcase!

I am retired from nursing and I owned a wholesale, retail business for 25 years. I love Mystery shopping, only shop Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I am fortunate that I have so many shops available to me. I like being on my own. Sometimes my husband drives me. I shop two or three locations and go out to eat in different locations. I plan the restaurant before the shops. These are usually bonused shops. I use my money for pedicures, manicures, massage, facials, and lunches. Nice!

With my goal being to transition out of the MS over the next couple of years, whether it will remain a part of my life remains to be seen. Since retail and food are not part of my business, if I end up working for someone else most video and higher paying shops would no longer be an option. If I start a new business the MS income could help support it for a while. I don't see myself gravitating toward the lifestyle shops.

Right now things are slow around here. I'm going on a Florida route shop starting on Sunday for about 10 days. I'll net from the trip what I made at my day job in January.

I enjoy shopping too, and eating out and such, and I have to really watch myself or I overspend, and I really don't have the savings or assets I should for my age and income. I have a decent professional job that I get paid salary for and you kind of get used to the money coming into your account and going out in bills to where you forget the value of the dollar. So mystery shopping kind of fills that craving, and it also reminds me of the value of my dollars when they are coming in small spurts that mystery shopping paydays provide. Oh yeah- I got $18 but I had to do XYZ for it, maybe I shouldn't blow it right away. That type of thing.

The extra money is nice. One benefit I realized after taking on caregiving and doing less mystery shops.... is being able to tell someone at another part time job, "I don't need this, I'm not your servant, I'm going back to mystery shopping". You have another option.

Gosh, John. If she's treating caregivers badly I hope she's not abusing the client. Mean people are just that--mean.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Gosh, John. If she's treating caregivers badly I hope she's not abusing the client. Mean people are just that--mean.

She's nice to her father. Her father gets V.A. benefits and the care is ONLY for him. She wants the care givers to clean her house and her family dishes. The cleaning is for his room and his dishes ONLY. She's mad about this and taking it out on the care givers. I can walk away from this assignment, I have mystery shopping I can do. I'm glad I'm doing mystery shopping.

Well I am glad to hear she is not mean to her father, but it's ridiculous for her to expect caregivers to clean up after her and the rest of the family.

Years ago now I had a bad boss, guy wouldn't pay people, and one day while he had a tantrum. I could legally intrepid what he said as firing me. I walked out the door, broke out my cellphone and within 2 hours was MS and making money again.

I'll never give up having MS as a back up job so if I have a bad boss, I know I am not screwed.

I love it! I've been absent as I have been travelling for photo work (got to shop as well where I went woooo). Now I'm working on an accelerated BBM as well so the extra income from MS pays off the school loan. I kind of laugh now when I think how I used to work for employers.. really hard to go back to a non-freelance life when you see all the freedom it brings you.

The good news today. The care giving company I work for, is now setting me up with another client. This person lives next to a shopping center where I do a lot of mystery shopping.

Mystery Shopping is my ONLY job, but I figure it will be a nice backup job after retirement.

My relationship with MSing is different from many other shoppers, as I don't consider it a job or rely on the income, but am very happy to have it in my life. My main career is on a project by project basis and I often have months at a time off, so I shop to "fill in the gaps". It's more of a hobby and/or lifestyle.

When I'm working it's usually very long hours and my employer covers meals and travel, and I've adjusted to that lifestyle. Once a project is over I get bored waiting for the next one to come around, and that's when I used to spend a lot of my money in the past. MSing keeps me busy dining and traveling, so I'm happy to break even on MSing adventures and not be spending my hard-earned money.

I guess I'm practicing for retirement in a way

I think you read my mind, dixiewhiskey! I work for an employer for my 9 to 5 job and I look forward so much to my weekends when I schedule the majority of my jobs. There's something about working for yourself that brings so much freedom. It's not just being able to work when you want to, but it's also that your success depends entirely on you. I'm so much more motivated about my mystery shopping than I am my regular job. Just don't tell my boss!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2016 02:42PM by Harriet12.

I guess I am different in that I don't even consider it a backup job. I don't even consider it a job. It is a fun hobby for me. I choose to only work for one MSC whose assignments I like best. I take 1 job a month or so (I haven't in a long time, but plan to get back in the swing of things), purely to experience some fun , new things.

Yes, I'm glad I have this. It's perfect for me. I'm not as happy as I was earlier on as I've had a recent disappointing experience with my main company but I'll live over it. I have to quote a dear old friend, "It'll be all right. It'll never be the same, but it'll be all right." Absolutely.

This job has allowed me to stay in my home alone (my preference) without sharing it during my last years without downsizing and to maintain it in tip top shape without going into my modest savings. Knowing that if I want something that's XXXhundred dollars it won't be a problem because I can book the work and go get it is priceless to me. I don't have to hold down a steady job to have a steady income anytime I want it. I haven't touched a nickel of my savings and I don't expect I ever will until I have final care expenses.

I've never had work that didn't come with heartburn so I can handle this minor snafu. This is great because it's the first job I've had that allows me to quit and go back when I get ready. I'm sure that now that I've had the corners knocked off my amiability I won't be working with exactly the same set of personal guidelines. I'm sure you all understand exactly what I mean, and in case you're a new shopper it won't be long before you'll understand.

I believe it's probably at the point we realize how truly independent we are in this that we can appreciate it the most. It's so totally great, so personally satisfying, to be able to say, "No, thanks, I don't believe I want to do that particular job now at any price, at any time. No, I guess not. But hey, I know it's not you. Thanks anyway."

Those of you who are doing this temporarily might want to consider keeping this on the back burner on a permanent basis, at least as we understand this work now. We never know what tomorrow's changes may bring and this may become completely unattractive to many of us as time goes by. Or maybe not. Let me assure you that retirement for the average person is not the heavenly experience you may be expecting.

You'll have more than you can do to maintain yourself but none of those duties are interesting, challenging, or entertaining. I believe it was Lily Tomlin who said something like "Life is not just one thing after another. It's the same damn thing over and over." Or some such thought. You get the idea. It's even more crushing to keep up if there are financial issues. There's no such thing as certainty. It's always good to have something cooking on the side you can dish up when needed.

I currently need a part time job but I am hoping that I will not be doing this for more than another year or two. I do like the flexibility of the jobs and I can schedule when I want to. I do get tired of driving around and I also get tired of entering reports. However, as far as part time jobs go, it pays me well and is easy. I do look forward to when I only have to work one job.

I've been a shopper for nearly a decade and took a hiatus after I had my daughter. I just recently got back into it again and I work full time and have a small child, so I only do a handful of shops a month. While I enjoy ms and earning a little extra cash and/or free food or a free product, I have to say that I feel that the industry has changed so much its less enjoyable than when I used to do it. Shop fees are definitely lower, and it seems like the requirements for shops have changed to make shops really hard to successfully complete. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when clients and MSC's are designing and developing a shop, but that's another conversation all together. I will probably continue to casually MS but I don't think I will do it at the volume I used to do unless the pendulum swings to make it attractive to shoppers again.

Just keep in mind "free food or a free product" are not free at all. Our time and the report have value so we earn everything we get.

@LisaSTL wrote:

Just keep in mind "free food or a free product" are not free at all. Our time and the report have value so we earn everything we get.

agreed - I won't do anything that is reimbursement only - I need a fee in addition to the reimbursement.

That is what's so great about mystery shopping--different strokes for different folks. I'll take a reimbursement only hotel shop if it's where I need to be for other shops. I can still do 500 + mile trips in one day, but I prefer not to anymore. Finding a reimbursed hotel along the way let's me split the trip into two days. Granted, I'm not making money on the hotel shop, but it makes the trip more relaxing by removing the "I must get it completed today" urgency and I am receiving a value for the work.

Mystery shopping was the best thing coming out of a miserable period of unemployment 8 years ago and I am happy to continue shopping on a flexible basis to supplement my full time position. I am happy read about retired folks who engage in ms and I plan to do the same someday.

We're a single-income family due to my wife's illness, and we have 3 kids in college. Mystery shopping helps me stretch my paycheck a bit more. Plus it's nice to be able to take more or fewer shops depending on what's going on with family or my day job.

I know this doesn't have anything to do with your post.

It does have to do how I respect and am thankful for people in your profession. I know for a fact, my Mom was a huge PITA., when she was in a facility that needed professionals.

I know how difficult it is to deal with older people. I can't imagine taking that job on as a career. I can't even tell you how much I admire and respect anyone in your profession.

I'm definitely pleased to have this as a back burner gig, but I hope to turn MSing into full time income at some point. I know that's a lofty goal for some, but my expenses are modest and I don't require a whole lot. I don't make a lot of money at my current job, so I think I could replace my income doing this. Being able to do this full time would help me tremendously on the home front. I live with my disabled mother (paraplegic) and am her primary caregiver. Having a more flexible work schedule would allow me to help more with her physical therapy, as well as cooking, cleaning, running errands, etc.