$60/hr: How can it be done?

1. Thinking that somebody is lying is not a license for cruelty.
2. If you were to read (with understanding) the breadth of what @bgriffin has shared over time, you would see that it adds up. (He has said many times that he does not work 40hrs a week, 50 weeks a year; taxable income is very different than gross income: Think deductions., etc.)

He shared that his dad passed and that he moved in with his mom as a way to support her. You belittle him for it. WTF is wrong with you?

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

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@Irene_L.A. wrote:

You need to stop already, and BG, don't answer, you don't owe her/him a thing.....#troublemaker

Don't worry he can't answer! There is no answer that can explain how a guy making a bunch of money is still eligible for free health insurance. All he can do now is dig himself in deeper. Of course he could come clean but I don't predict that! LOL!

There are people that truly don't have Empathy, we have one, I commend BG for doing the right thing. I don't think sharing one's info. or life with her is good, it feeds the troll.....Mod's, please!!!!

Live consciously....

I have managed to stay out of the fray and I'm certain that I'll regret getting involved now, but I can't stand your constant use of the word *then* when you clearly mean *than*. It is easy enough to see why you don't make $60.00 per hour. Basic grammar and a decent attitude toward humanity are the very least expectations in this line of work.

I did a Sonic shop for lunch today for a lousy $10 bucks. My health insurance costs over $900 a month. My house payment is a $1000 a month. I'm a world class idiot by these peoples standards irregardless of my grammar and spelling! Lol!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2019 09:00PM by Sobrokeigot2dothis.

@Sobrokeigot2dothis wrote:

I did a Sonic shop for lunch today for a lousy $10 bucks. My health insurance costs over $900 a month. My house payment is a $1000 a month. I'm a world class idiot by these peoples standards irregardless of my grammar and spelling! Lol!

Ugh. "Irregardless" is not even a word. And fyi, I never EVER get less than (see, I used the correct word here) a $25.00 fee for Sonic shops, and depending upon how remote the location is, usually $40.00 and up. Sometimes it truly does pay to live in small towns where no one else wants to go.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2019 09:12PM by JeanneMarie.

Warning: The tone of this thread is deteriorating. Should the lack of positive contribution and/or personal insults continue, the thread will be closed.

Let's take a hypothetical mystery shopper making $40,000 a year. We will say $40,000 a year is how much was paid in shop fees minus the entire cost of business. Foremost mystery shoppers that will be a large discrepancy between the IRS mileage rate and their actual vehicle costs. let's say far mystery shopper who makes $40,000 a year that that number amounts to $6,000. That means this hypothetical shoppers Schedule c would show $34,000 in profit. A business owner can contribute 20% of their schedule c profit to a SEP. That contribution is pre-tax bringing that Schedule c income down to roughly $27,000 a year. Let's say that hypothetical person contributes another $5,000 to their traditional IRA. That brings their taxable income down to $22,000. these would be fairly reasonable numbers for a mystery shopper who makes $40,000 a year. Now let's say that's a mystery shopper had an additional deduction of $4,000. That would bring their taxable income down to $18,000.

At $18,000 a single persons insurance tax credit would almost entirely eliminate insurance costs.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

Excuse the typos in the previous post it was created entirely via voice to text.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

@bgriffin wrote:

I don't "want" to live for free at my mom's house. She asked me to when my dad passed away and refused any rent or help with the utilities. I finally negotiated paying for all of the groceries. That was difficult enough.

I don't "have" to use government funded health care.

I can identify with not bgriffin but bgriffin's mom. My husband died almost two years ago. So I was living alone. Both of my kids had moved away, No other family members. My daughter offered to move back home to be with me. I am forever grateful to her. I do not need her help with the "rent." It is nice to have family around and a taller person to trim the bushes. It does not cost more for my housing expense because there is another person here. She is the one sacrificing to move in with me so I have no problem with her living here rent free. As far as health insurance is concerned, I just found out that as an independent contractor we can deduct our health insurance costs. If I deduct mileage, health insurance and reimbursements my mystery shop income becomes very small. This is totally legal and I am not taking health insurance away from anyone if I do that. In fact I am providing health insurance to many a person who has not worked or earned and saved much for what ever reason, honest, lazy, a hard worker with a low income, dishonest, a big spender and small saver or the millions of reasons why good and bad people do not have money.

Soap box time warning
I do pay taxes but as most people would be happy to find legal ways to pay less taxes. .In the end though, I contribute a lot of my hard earned money to the tax bases...sales, income, unearned income, property, and all the other things that come up. I personally have heard of very few people in my long life that send a check to the government beyond their taxes.
So raise your hand if you fill in your taxes by entering your gross income from wages, investments, business income and all other sources and then figure how much tax you owe based on that not taking deductions for work related expense, health expense, student expense, alimony or any of the myriad of deductions allowed. Hmm, I don't see any hands raised. Oh I forgot everyone can cleverly figure out how to rationalize why they absolutely need to have something the way they want it.

"Loopholes" are not cheating, nor are they morally wrong. They are in the LAW precisely to give us a fighting chance at keeping some of our hard-earned money. Any accountant would advise you to do exactly the same.

<joins the others on the 'keep my money' soapbox>

I'm jealous, my daughter not only did not offer to live with me, she hardly comes to visit. haha...for us it wouldn't be best, she feels guilty cause she stands firm, I feel guilty cause I want her here more often, but we may have killed one another. You have to respect an adult child that offers to live with a parent. My Grandmother lived and raised me while my Mother worked, my Father had heart attacks and couldn't work, and died when I was 20, thank G__ for my Grandmother, she was the best. The decision to move home is always a difficult one, so there should not be a judgement call.

Live consciously....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2019 02:10AM by Irene_L.A..

I don’t know where everyone is at in their life but if you have time and energy I sincerely encourage you to take a few classes in college to get a good paying job. Doing mystery shopping full time is not realistic in the long run for many people.

I don’t want to be arrogant here but my hourly wage at work is a little less than $60/hour. I don’t have to run around all day and trying to lock in that next shop or wonder how much I’ll make in 3 months time. And I don’t have that high an education, just chose a lucrative field. I still do shops like lunch, dinners and the occasional apartments, but since I can wait it out, I often get a high fee for them, too. If not in my current position, I would still take a part time job at minimum wage and supplement shopping for additional income, instead of doing it full time.

I suppose if you don’t have to take care of a family it’s ok for a little while.

@LindaM wrote:

I don’t know where everyone is at in their life but if you have time and energy I sincerely encourage you to take a few classes in college to get a good paying job. Doing mystery shopping full time is not realistic in the long run for many people.

I think that's way too individualized to make that recommendation and also makes quite a few assumptions. A good portion of my work is on a project that has 6 shoppers. I'm not very familiar with 1, but I'm fairly certain I am the only one of the other 5 that does not have a degree, and I attended college, just did not finish. One of them has an MBA.

Most full time shoppers I know have little interest in "good paying jobs." In my instance, I could easily find a "good paying job." I would work more hours, I would have less take home pay, and I would have less control. I worked in the IT industry for 10 years, so I have skills there. I have run 2 separate businesses. And I could get a job on the client side of the project I mentioned above in about 3 minutes. I could probably get a job paying a bit more than I make now. The problem is that I would have the same or less money in the bank at the end of the year. And that's the number that's really important. On top of that I wouldn't get to travel to every state on my terms. I wouldn't take off from Nov 1 to sometime in Jan every year. I wouldn't be able to hop off to 3-4 music festivals a year and I probably wouldn't travel to Europe every year (and hopefully Australia this year!).

Most full time shoppers I know are full time because they like the flexibility of mystery shopping and they are not fans of structure. I know only 1 full time mystery shopper who would trade this for an 8-5 Monday - Friday job.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

I would trade in a minute.

However, where are the employers for a 73 year old 100% disabled adult?

They are surely not within driving distance of me.

I am thankful to be able to work at all.

And I'm not full time.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2019 09:18AM by ceasesmith.

@LindaM wrote:

I don’t know where everyone is at in their life but if you have time and energy I sincerely encourage you to take a few classes in college to get a good paying job. Doing mystery shopping full time is not realistic in the long run for many people....
I suppose if you don’t have to take care of a family it’s ok for a little while.

I have several disparate college degrees, other work experience, and a hubby who might need a little more care as time passes. Fortunately, some of my experience involves the care of other persons. I say, degrees, schmegrees! I do what I love to do. Some money follows. I am not wealthy, and I am not seeking wealth. I have enough. Long ago, I had enough of the dogma about getting the degrees and how to use them. BS and MoreBS and PiledHigherandDeeperBS mean money! They are prestige! They will make you seem like someone! They will make you a contenda'! Pfft. I am not brave enough to tell anyone what they can do with them. I am only brave enough to follow my heart, my interests, and my family's needs. These factors led into a part-time non-career involving mystery shops, audits, and merchandising assignments. We have other, daily work which is better than anything I ever did before in my life! (I regret that I was snobby many years ago. At that time, I sneered at this job and at the people who performed it. Now, I love this humble work that I do.)

This is more than okay with me, for as long as it is in my and my hubby's best interests to work in ways that please us and suit us. For as long as we can, we are going to continue to work as we do. We work. This is a good thing. How we work is up to us. What other people think of how we work is not an influencing factor in our choices. Mind you, this does not stop people from sneering because we do this... but they have not learned yet, as I have...

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

I’m not looking down on those who do this full time, more power to them. I’m saying it won’t work for the majority of people.

The majority of Americans don’t have enough for retirement. I’m just bringing up my experience for consideration.

How can I sneer at mystery shoppers? I’m one myself

I've been at this a looong time, and respect those that can make money, my offers for bonus 90% of the time is refused. I'm a good shopper, but we have many shoppers doing it for less, so location is one reason and getting job done for less is a good business plan, can't find fault. I've gotten a few good paying jobs especially in Vegas years ago, things have gone way down, even there. I do it part-time (always) because I'm retired and enjoy the fun aspect of eating out on their dollar. When one says he was offered 6.00 and got 100.00....have to say, really, and how did that happen? Some won't admit they supplement their income and have full time jobs, and actually add their casino winnings in, how often does this happen? I think of 60.00 as an hourly income, not a now and then, so I guess it's our perception of the hourly rate. I also add in my traveling time, and gas and wear and tear on my car....hence, I rarely go over 20 miles and no freeway's taking over an hour for a 15.00 job......even a 20.00 bonus doesn't get me on the 405 freeway.

Live consciously....

@walesmaven wrote:

By playing a "nearly perfect" basic strategy I managed to play blackjack on a 14 day Atlantic crossing, playing every day for one hour. Net loss: $32. People around me were leaving the table in disgust after losing $50 to $250 per hand, in 1-4 hands. Slower pace, knowing the odds, watching the dealer's cards, and the basic strategy will provide a LOT of cheap entertainment. Since "the odds" bet is sometimes be a loser, and may be a loser for several hands in a row, lower expectations may mean lower losses and better odds of an overall win.

Hopefully you'll get the casino rate on the next cruise. On our last one, many of the people were cruising *free* due to previous casino play. We generally play slots on the first night as they tend to be looser -- in order to draw in people when you tell them about your winnings.

"Let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you - and why?” ~Walter Williams

Only for males in my area :-(

@kessdarln wrote:

One of the companies has a really good paying online AARP shop for males or females :-)

@Mum wrote:

Same here JAS, I made a whopping $35 doing phone shops today. I will do any shop that can be done sitting on my couch. Meanwhile, watched Friends, did my workout and breakfast. Not bad!

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

@KathyG wrote:

Only for males in my area :-(

@kessdarln wrote:

One of the companies has a really good paying online AARP shop for males or females :-)

@Mum wrote:

Same here JAS, I made a whopping $35 doing phone shops today. I will do any shop that can be done sitting on my couch. Meanwhile, watched Friends, did my workout and breakfast. Not bad!

Same here. Only males. I made my husband do one. He said it was super easy. Good money too.

I have a college education. I also live in a house that is paid for and drive a car that is paid for. I have 0 debt. I make good money with mystery shopping and merchandising. I take a lot of lengthy vacations so getting a regular job wouldn't work for me. Oh, and I've been mystery shopping for over 18 years, which IS working out just fine.

@LindaM wrote:

I don’t know where everyone is at in their life but if you have time and energy I sincerely encourage you to take a few classes in college to get a good paying job. Doing mystery shopping full time is not realistic in the long run for many people.

As I said, it will not work for many people. All kudos to you.

Most Americans don’t have anything in the bank or anything for retirement.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I have a college education. I also live in a house that is paid for and drive a car that is paid for. I have 0 debt. I make good money with mystery shopping and merchandising. I take a lot of lengthy vacations so getting a regular job wouldn't work for me. Oh, and I've been mystery shopping for over 18 years, which IS working out just fine.

@LindaM wrote:

I don’t know where everyone is at in their life but if you have time and energy I sincerely encourage you to take a few classes in college to get a good paying job. Doing mystery shopping full time is not realistic in the long run for many people.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2019 01:13PM by LindaM.

@LindaM: As far as I can determine it, this is not supposed to be the same for everyone. Each shopper is unique. Some people prefer to work in the mystery shopping world and obtain most if not all of their earnings this way. They have figured out how to do this and they do a wonderful job of coaching others in how to increase their earnings in this industry. Other people want or need a smaller role in this industry. They might have large careers, other jobs, family responsibilities, health concerns, or other reasons for being part-timers (in hours and/or earnings). I love that people who know how to get the big bucks also know how to teach others a few tricks. I also love that you and others have pointed out that making the big bucks is not the only worthy or reasonable goal for mystery shoppers. People who earn less should be as appreciated as those who earn more.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

There would be a lot of people better off both mentally and financially if they did this. Unfortunately, too many prefer to put their parents in retirement facilities and then have to pay those fees, all for a few years of the be me generation. What happened to the days where people respected their elders and everyone in the family lived in one house or at least on the same plot of the property so they could help each other instead of strangers?

@bgriffin wrote:

ROFLMAO.

I'm typing on my phone. It's actually 15.3%.

When my dad passed away a couple of years ago I moved in with my mom. Say what you want, she wouldn't have survived if I hadn't. Unfortunately she refuses to take any rent or or help with utilities. So my only bills are cell phone, insurance, and food. Not that any of this is any of your @#$%& business.

@Msaddict wrote:

What happened to the days where people respected their elders and everyone in the family lived in one house or at least on the same plot of the property so they could help each other instead of strangers?

The same thing that happened to the present generation of Millennials that is robbing their parents of grandchildren - narcissism. The concept of "family first" has been replaced by "me first." (Not with most of mine.)

What about cases where one can't get pregnant, do you consider that "robbing", or is it just life. Distance is a real problem for many grandparents today, we don't all live in the same area's as we did years ago....let's acknowledge the times and changes that brings. Career woman have a choice (the pill is here), if one can't, or makes another choice, no their not "robbing", let the parents of these intelligent kids get their own life.
it is not always about being selfish, circumstances play into this....but it is a loss on both parts, the kids and the
wannabe grandparents, no question there.

Live consciously....

I don't have kids. I'm robbing my mom of grandkids?!? That is not a fair definition. I would be at high risk for complications, hence, no kids. Maybe don't be so fast to judge people.

I speak from experience, couldn't get pregnant for five years of marriage, then I did at age 35 after years of Dr's and finally surgery, which was risky in that day, no tests like today, I was lucky. My Mother never said I was selfish. I wish my daughter has a productive healthy happy life which she does. I'll never call her selfish,
and do encourage her, whatever life brings. Move to Alabama where abortion has been banned, they'll have so many kids, (unwanted), maybe you could adopt...lol...had to.

Live consciously....

@Niner wrote:

I don't have kids. I'm robbing my mom of grandkids?!? That is not a fair definition. I would be at high risk for complications, hence, no kids. Maybe don't be so fast to judge people.

I'm sure your Mom understand and is not selfish which is why you turned out so well, your an Attorney....

Live consciously....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2019 10:49PM by Irene_L.A..

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