Thought it might be fun for seniors to give advice and tell how msing has helped your lifestyle not only in terms of $$, but keeping busy, keeping the brain working and such. My experience has been quite positive, I feel I have my own life, living alone, this gives me purpose, a chance to participate, feel useful, explore and keep correcting my spelling...how bout you?

Jeese Irene. You scared me for a moment. I thought your topic was for Seniors 70+!

I share my life with my wife of 40+ years. I am retired and picked up this hobby to get out and about, take my wife on paid shops/dinners and to supplement my income.

I enjoy knowing that my feedback has made some positive changes in the stores I visit as a customer...

I'm glad my wife and I have good pensions, because I couldn't make it on what MSC pays. I picked up this hobby to keep my brain active since i like role playing and quick thinking and a little poker money is OK too.

I'm more interested in being reimbursed than being paid. I like the restaurant shops ....I hardly ever cook anymore ......

Am just starting again after not doing 'shops' for about 10 years. I do like to shop and get out and about, since I live alone, and am going to give this a try. Won't get rich, but a little extra $$ will be a good thing. Am looking forward to role playing, like Irene, and maybe will buy a winning lottery ticket with some of the 'income'!

The best thing about shopping is getting off the main roads and seeing the rural areas. Stopping in small towns and meeting local people creates wonderful experiences. I especially love driving in the spring and fall. I would never make these long trips without some shopping destinations along the way.

I'm a confirmed junker and I love to stop at resale shops, antique stores, and roadside junk piles. Working in the boonies gets me to places I would not otherwise see. I accumulate a few things for myself, some for family, and some I set aside to sell.

The added money from auditing/shopping is nice and lets me continue to save in retirement. I'm hoping to leave enough behind to let young ones buy hair ribbons, jellybeans, and other desires of their hearts.

There are lots of other possibilities to get added money, but none are as much fun as this.

I've loved mystery shopping since I started 3 years ago. My grandkids go with me during some, especially during school breaks. I plan shopping routes to include them in. They got to stay in a motel with me this summer and thought that was so cool. They described sheets an curtains to thei mom on the phone. lol

Watching my granddaughter get someones name by learning to spell using their nametag was priceless. She'd spell the names right into my digital voice recorder. lol How could they resist a red-headed 5 year old? lol

For me, I'm only 53 now but have been disabled for 19 years. Mystery shopping brought me back from a very dark place. I'm still sick but I've learned that I can do just about anything 15-30 minutes at a time! I make more mystery shopping than most other members of my family who work. In fact, when they are laid off or sick, I'm still working. So, this new "career" is serving me well. This time last year I wasn't expected to live to see 53 years old. Now I tell people, "God isn't finished with me yet!"

Blessyah, with all due respect to your faith...I think your not through with life, and I know you have many years to go....I hear how important msing is to you, glad we both found it.

iblessyah Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've loved mystery shopping since I started 3
> years ago. My grandkids go with me during some,
> especially during school breaks. I plan shopping
> routes to include them in. They got to stay in a
> motel with me this summer and thought that was so
> cool. They described sheets an curtains to thei
> mom on the phone. lol
>
> Watching my granddaughter get someones name by
> learning to spell using their nametag was
> priceless. She'd spell the names right into my
> digital voice recorder. lol How could they
> resist a red-headed 5 year old? lol
>
> For me, I'm only 53 now but have been disabled for
> 19 years. Mystery shopping brought me back from a
> very dark place. I'm still sick but I've learned
> that I can do just about anything 15-30 minutes at
> a time! I make more mystery shopping than most
> other members of my family who work. In fact,
> when they are laid off or sick, I'm still working.
> So, this new "career" is serving me well. This
> time last year I wasn't expected to live to see 53
> years old. Now I tell people, "God isn't finished
> with me yet!"


Thank you for sharing and keep writing to us.Don't you just love getting those deposits to pay pal or the checks in the mailbox. It is like a birthday present. Sometimes it is cool if it is one that you forgot about!! Whoo hoo.

Let's definitely keep this thread going. I will do my part.

I am 66 been retired 3 years my wife bless her soul has 5/12 years to work before she can retire. This i why I too up being a mystery shopper to make a little money and get out of the house.

I'm now 74 in excellent health and msing my little head off, doing jobs I like and still enjoyng it. Started after retiring 6 years ago, and doing this for 6 years. Enjoy hearing how many seniors are doing this, and still being productive...good for us, not about the #, about the spirit.

Irene_L.A. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm now 74 in excellent health and msing my little
> head off, doing jobs I like and still enjoyng it.
> Started after retiring 6 years ago, and doing this
> for 6 years. Enjoy hearing how many seniors are
> doing this, and still being productive...good for
> us, not about the #, about the spirit.


Thanks for this , But it is about the money to a great degree. For me. Would not do it for free, Makes a significant difference in my income. I really hope other seniors are looking at this.
Hoping to hear back from you.
cyn
PS I have a funfun funny recent article from the New Yorker entitled
Baby Boomer texting. If any one wants to receive it I will scan and e-mail to you.

Working is about getting money, having money, and accumulating money. All added benefits are gravy on the steak. Yum!

My dear old stepdad (who did a great job with us kids and kept us out of jail even though he didn't have a lot to work with) told me he didn't recommend retiring. He said if he had it to do over, he would never do it. Of course, I listened but I didn't learn. Not right then.

After he quit working, Pa was bored and eventually went into the lawnmower business. He would drive around over the county keeping his eye peeled for lawnmowers that might be dead, which he would buy up at bargain rates. He repaired lawnmowers to tip top condition, and he always kept "ready to sell" lawnmowers in the back of his pickup. He was the Parker County lawnmower man. You could buy a dependable, guaranteed lawn mower out of the back of his truck any day at his favorite cafe. My late husband always said that when he retired, he wanted to be a lawnmower man. I aspired to be the Parker County pie lady, and I'm still thinking about that.

I quit working unsuccessfully four times. I had nothing to do, and I had all day long to do it, so I was never motivated to do anything. Now, that was a pit of uselessness. I prefer to work some, but not much, and not regularly, and not for anybody who tells me what to do and when to do it every day. A regular job does not fit into my plans. This works like the lawnmower business. I run a bunch of the same roads, I guarantee my work, and I pick up cash along the way. I stop in for coffee and and get real news, which is never in the paper. Slick.

I know it is about the money, I meant as seniors it's not about the number (age), but about our spirit. Being our own bosses is a plus factor in this, and feeling productive. Imagine, I got my PI License to shop in Nevada at age 70.....retirement home...NOT!

MDavisnowell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Working is about getting money, having money, and
> accumulating money. All added benefits are gravy
> on the steak. Yum!
>
> My dear old stepdad (who did a great job with us
> kids and kept us out of jail even though he didn't
> have a lot to work with) told me he didn't
> recommend retiring. He said if he had it to do
> over, he would never do it. Of course, I listened
> but I didn't learn. Not right then.
>
> After he quit working, Pa was bored and eventually
> went into the lawnmower business. He would drive
> around over the county keeping his eye peeled for
> lawnmowers that might be dead, which he would buy
> up at bargain rates. He repaired lawnmowers to
> tip top condition, and he always kept "ready to
> sell" lawnmowers in the back of his pickup. He
> was the Parker County lawnmower man. You could
> buy a dependable, guaranteed lawn mower out of the
> back of his truck any day at his favorite cafe.
> My late husband always said that when he retired,
> he wanted to be a lawnmower man. I aspired to be
> the Parker County pie lady, and I'm still thinking
> about that.
>
> I quit working unsuccessfully four times. I had
> nothing to do, and I had all day long to do it, so
> I was never motivated to do anything. Now, that
> was a pit of uselessness. I prefer to work some,
> but not much, and not regularly, and not for
> anybody who tells me what to do and when to do it
> every day. A regular job does not fit into my
> plans. This works like the lawnmower business.
> I run a bunch of the same roads, I guarantee my
> work, and I pick up cash along the way. I stop
> in for coffee and and get real news, which is
> never in the paper. Slick.

Hi ILOVE this story, it should be published elsewhere also.I am going to start a new thread - Benefits of taking retirement out of our vocabulary. Tell me your stories. I have some good ones.

Thanks for starting this thread Irene. I thinkit will be very popular.
cyn

Your quite welcome...I wanted to know how many seniors shop, having a voice of our own is important.

cynb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for starting this thread Irene. I thinkit
> will be very popular.
> cyn

Just turned 67 and will shop 'til I drop. Great thing about senior and assisted living shops...no stairs to climb. Same with "active over 55" new home communities. These are fast growing sectors of the housing market, and the younger shoppers cannot compete with me for them, lol. That makes up for all of the "skinny jeans" shops that I am locked out of.

Don't for get the good old MediCare shops will start back soon the enrollmenmt period is different this year it is from 10/15/2011 to 12/07/2011. Hope the sales people don't remember me so I can get my share of the shops.

Just got off the phone w/some old hippie friends. Great time. Got any stories to share?

Yea, but we still can't do Barnes and Noble! Isn't that discrimination?

Age in MSing is ridiculous, I do a dz. upscale retail monthly, yet one msc (Beyond Hello) put a 45yr. requirement on one of their shops. The client sets the age, so not the MSC's fault, but it is stupid, however, there are enough for us so the few that allow this don't matter. Their loss, we have experience, I was born shopping (literally).

I'll hit 60 in 3 weeks & still think like someone half my age. I'm a born bargain hunter, so even the small reimbursements are a + for me. I just won't drive any long distances unless it's for a really good bonus. I never could fit into the skinny jeans, anyway, even when I was young enough to qualify.

I'll know when it's time to retire, but I haven't got there yet and don't want to stop learning new things. These forums are such great teachers. I'd love for all of us to get into one big room so we could make many more BFF's.

PJB851 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yea, but we still can't do Barnes and Noble! Isn't
> that discrimination?


Agreed stupid but the younger folks cannot do the medicare and other insurance stuff so I think it works out. What do you think? I am thinking of ammending my profile agewise to do the B-N shops. Maybe not.

Irene, did you get the Nevada PI license in Nevada itself, or did you get one in CA which you can use in Nevada? How does that work? Is it expensive or time consuming to get? I'm curious.

When I was a child, I thought elderly was 65+ and middle aged was 45-64. "Old" keeps getting younger all the time. I dye my hair and get facials when I can afford them but I'm not fooling anyone.

Sometimes when I am mystery shopping a target and need to have time to think of a new approach or another question, I say I had a reaction with my medicine or thought I had a stroke a few weeks ago (I don't say I had one because I probably don't look like it.), so it seems I can't think as fast any more. They wait for me to "recover" and say what was on my mind.

When the shop is really, really over and the target won't let me leave, I say my back is killing me. For a few minutes before that, I hold my back and groan a time or two.

I don't usually have to do these things, but being older than the target helps me get away with them.

cynb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
>
> Agreed stupid but the younger folks cannot do the
> medicare and other insurance stuff so I think it
> works out. What do you think? I am thinking of
> ammending my profile agewise to do the B-N shops.
> Maybe not.


True but Medicare is age specific like age compliance shops. Nothing can be done about that. B&N shops are a choice by someone.

Right. The decision is up to the client. I think it is stupid too, but the schedulers have no control over this. I have done University dining hall shops for some years and then they lowered the age to 30 and under. When they apparently could not find anyone in this age range my scheduler went to the client and got permission to let me do them. I made $150 including bonus-in one wk with this MSC.

I just noticed that the BN shops in MI are up to $30? So try contacting the scheduler and let me know what happens.
Cyn