Free Groceries!

One of the companies that I mystery shop for does shops for grocery stores and I SCORED this month with SIX scheduled shops! It took me a few months to get to the point where I could get to the point where I get all the shops I request, because as you can imagine these shops go quickly but now that I have done 5 shops for this company any shops hat I request are automatically given to me. woohoo!!

I can highly recommend Trendsource as a great Mystery Shop company. Sign up as a field agent and then see what they have available in your area. They even have request for agents in Canada so if you know anyone --pass this along!!

So, how do I maximize the mystery shop payment? Once again I try to go by the Price Is Right rules - close without going over [or not too far over] so that my groceries are free or almost free. Then take the payment + reimbursement amount from Trendsource in my area and I utilize coupons and The Grocery Game to maximize how much I can spend. Obviously, I follow the guidelines that the company requires and make sure I buy the items that they specify but other than that I can buy whatever I need.

This past shop I spent $18 which was a little over the amount that I'll get paid but I got:

• hot rotisserie chicken [for dinner]
• deli sliced cheese [for lunches]
• maple extract [to make more syrup]
• flour [to make more biscuit mix]
• apple juice [for the kidlets]
• box of ice cream sandwiches [as a treat]

And there you go. Free groceries and with five more shops coming up over the next few days I have the opportunity to stretch my grocery budget even further this month. Trendsource works with companies other than grocery stores but go ahead and sign up and see what they have in your area. It's definitely a Cool Idea!