@MickeyB wrote:
A couple of years ago Steve wrote an article about how he MSed his way all the way around the world for $6 (or some small dollar amount) of outlay. Do you still have that Steve? I think it is pretty relevant to this discussion here... and it’s a super fun and aspirational read.
This was the original thread: [
www.mysteryshopforum.com]
I was trying to make $5 off the assignment that took me on a round-the-world itinerary, and then followed it up with a longer article for MSM 3 years later, where I documented all I went through to budget another round-the-world itinerary:
[
www.mysteryshoppermagazine.com]
I can't believe that article was 4 years ago!...and how much my attitude on how travel MSing fits in my life has changed since then. I am no longer trying to make a profit from travel shopping. I just don't have the energy for it.
My next goal had been to achieve $50k in travel and dining reimbursements annually. I fell short in 2016 and clocked in at $49,218...and then my career got too busy to accommodate all of the MSing. I'm still spending $50k on travel annually, but happy to simply have a large chunk of that reimbursed and cover the rest from other income streams.
For 2018; My travel and dining expenditures were $53,795, but my reimbursements were only $38,717. I managed to cover all of the expense with MS income + a variety of other passive income sources, and was able to profit $239.21 on top of my regular paycheck...but I could have done whatever I wanted with that additional $15k! I simply chose to spend it on travel.
Part of that comes from finding myself in an amazing location on a paid trip, and then realizing it's a good value to buy myself more time there for a 'real' vacation. We added some extra nights in Tahiti after the Bora Bora assignment last year, cashed in a bunch of air miles and hotel points, and that whole trip only cost me $585 in the end. In December, I had 10 days in Japan that cost me less than $2k all-in after the reimbursements and fees had been applied, and I was only MSIng for 6 nights of it.
That said, if you have a full-time 50-week a year job, you cannot realistically take that many assignments. I spent over 90 nights in hotel in 2018, with only a small fraction of those being near Los Angeles. I estimate that I dedicate 25-30% of my time resources to MSIng annually, while it only accounts for 10% of my income.