Mystery Shopping and High Gas Prices: How to Not Lose Money

Are you a mystery shopper who uses mystery shopping to make a little bit of extra money? Or, would you like to become a mystery shopper? If so, the current prices of gas may be a huge turn off for you. There are, however, ways that you can still enjoy mystery shopping and the money made, even with the high price of gasoline.

One of the best ways to enjoy mystery shopping, but save money on gas is to do multiple mystery shops in one day. This is ideal if you can schedule multiple shops in the same city or town, as your driving is reduced. Unfortunately, some mystery shopping companies have rules and restrictions on the number of shops completed in a day. Many only allow you to do one mystery shop a day. If you are given the option to do multiple jobs in one day, you are encouraged to do so. Remember, it is one less trip you have to make, resulting in saved gas and less money spent.

It is also important to note that there are multiple mystery shopping companies out there. You can sign up for these different companies and schedule your shops so that they coincide with each other, reducing your travel expenses. However, you must be careful with this approach. Complete the required mystery shopping paperwork right away, possibly in your car. This prevents you from accidentally mixing up the shops and making errors on the required paperwork. If you schedule multiple mystery shops a day, you will, at the very least, want to take notes in your car for each job.

Another approach involves scheduling your errands around your mystery shopping jobs. One again this eliminates extra and possibly unnecessary trips. For example, do you typically grocery shop on Thursdays, but have a mystery shopping job scheduled for Friday? If so, put off your grocery shopping until Friday, find a grocery store located nearby, and do it all in one trip.

To ensure that you make money, not lose money, when mystery shopping, you need to choose your mystery shopping assignments carefully. Mystery shopping jobs, as you likely already know, come in a number of different formats. As nice as a free sandwich was before, it may not be worth the cost of gas now. To ensure this fun hobby or moneymaking opportunity isn't costing you extra money, opt for jobs close to home, those that pay or ones that provide you with a valuable free product.

It is also advised that you take the time to track your earnings. This can help to make sure that you are making money with mystery shopping. Track your mileage and the cost of gasoline, as well as your time. Compare those totals to the amount you were paid or the equivalent of merchandise or services received. Are you making money? You should be. If not, it may be time to look at other moneymaking opportunities.