A Week in the Life of a Mystery Shopper

May 9th - May 15th...

Last week was slow. When I sat down to write this entry, I kept trying to remember why, for example, I only earned $13.92 on Sunday the 9th. I don't exactly remember having a fun time doing something, nor do I remember having a lazy day at the house. Last week I earned $511 in fees and $381 in reimbursements.

Sunday
I bought a pizza and cut it into pieces.

Monday
A decent day. I shopped 2 banks, 5 gas stations, a buffet, and did a 2.5 hour merchandising job at a discount store.

Tuesday
Another okay day. I had to reshop a mutilated pizza shop because there was a shadow in one of my pictures. That wasn't fun. I also shopped a home improvement store, 10 gas stations and did a business verification where I verified a company actually exists.

Wednesday
This was a slower day, and I managed to squeeze in a $1 movie at the theatre at lunch. I shopped a shoe store, 4 gas stations and two sub shops.

Thursday
Road trip. I decided to go to traffic court on the ticket I received last month while I was out shopping. Good thing I went to court because they are letting me take traffic school and dismissing the ticket. Since I was traveling for that, I found a free hotel room (a mystery shop, of course), did 4 gas stations along the way to pay for my gas, and shopped a home improvement store that was down the street from my hotel.

Friday
With every road trip comes the inevitable drive home. Fortunately, I found four highly bonused shops to do along the way home, earning me $105.

Saturday
I shopped 11 gas stations. Notice any trends here? I buy a lot of gas. I smell gas in my sleep. I have to watch myself or the little nuances (such as knowing which buttons I'll have to push on the credit card machine without actually looking at the machine) will give me away.

I won't make my May goal of earning $2,500 in mystery shopping fees. This is disappointing as I usually can step it up a notch if I'm close. Unfortunately, unless I earn nearly $1,500 this week - which has NEVER happened - I won't make it to my goal.