Thanksgiving dinner can be an expensive time for families. And with the holidays coming up right behind the big turkey day feast, you are likely already pinching pennies to save up for gifts for your loved ones. Regardless of if you are hosting the full dinner or just volunteered to bake the pies for a dinner at someone else’s house, you likely will be buying at least a few extra things from the grocery store this month. These extra things can add up quickly on your final grocery bill, especially if you are in charge of several items on the turkey day table. Luckily, mystery shopping gives you an edge on your Thanksgiving dinner bill.
A Wide Variety Of Shops Assignments. First, make use of the wide variety of mystery shop assignments available. The most obvious assignment to help you cover your Thanksgiving day grocery bill is the grocery store assignment. The good thing about grocery store assignments is that there are so many grocery stores out there that it’s not hard to pick up one of these assignments quickly. They may not pay terribly well in most cases, but the pay will definitely cover a few extra items you may need to buy. Consider covering a rural grocery store assignment to make some extra money (and enjoy the beautiful fall foliage on your drive into the country!)
The next best thing to a grocery store shop is an assignment at a Super Target, Super Walmart, or even a dollar, bulk, or discount store. You can pick up necessary food and even decorative items at these locations – and get reimbursed for your time and efforts.
If you need to buy quite a few items for Thanksgiving, you can also consider buying your required five or ten items with one assignment, and then turning around buying another five or ten required items with another assignment. It’s a little more driving, but if you plan your assignments strategically, you can likely get both assignments relatively close to each other, possibly even on the same day. This will help you make up the difference with the typical lower pay on these types of assignments.
Killing Two Turkey Birds. You have to be at the grocery store, or other related stores, to buy Thanksgiving items. Maybe it’s festive holiday plates, a bag of chips and dip, or more expensive items likes the floral centerpiece for the table, beer or wine, or possibly even a 20- pound turkey. With grocery store assignments, and even some of the assignments at the related stores, you have to visit at least several departments in the store – if not all of them. You are already going to be walking through the whole store and fighting the crowds to get all of the items you need, so it’s not an inconvenience to make the required checks as you visit each department.
It absolutely makes sense to pick up a grocery store assignment this month to cover some of your grocery tab and pay for your time spent at the store. So make your grocery list and check your job boards for a grocery store assignment or two this Thanksgiving season!
That’s a great idea. Since I have been doing grocery and restaurant shops, I have cut my food budget by more than half and I only do 2-3 shops a week.
Here’s another idea. Donate the “free” food that you get to your local food bank. Better yet, keep the food but give them the amount that you saved in cash. They can buy much more food with your dollars than you can. In this time of economic uncertainty, those of us who are still have a job, home and food on our table need to extend our hand. If you can’t give, at least volunteer somewhere.
any supermarkets available in south new jersey?
I had the same thought as you Maggiemay! I have only received one grocery store assignment since I began mystery shopping the beginning of October. (Maybe I am not listed with the right companies…any specific companies would be appreciated.) Anyways, I thought it would be a great idea to give the food to our local food bank. I know they are hard up right now as this is a fairly “poor” town anyways. (That’s what happens when you decide to be a dry territory, no big business or restaurants want to come here!) I think it would make me feel great and although I’m hurting a little for cash myself, $5 worth of groceries to donate certainly will not break me. I hope more people take this advice! Happy holidays everyone – let’s all hope for a brighter future! 🙂
They have food banks here, I think this a good way to save money for the holiday, by doing shopping at grocery stores and going out to resturants. I never got the chance to go do any shopping, but I would to start now.
There are only 4 chains here, I shop for 2 of them, one is similar to the shop you describe, the other limits reimbursement to 1/4 lb of meat and not especially great pay either. I’ve not been able to find which company shops the other 2. Ideas for shop companys is always much appreciated.
It would be a great idea. I’m just as lost as some other shoppers at finding companies who concentrate on food stores.
Here’s a good idea that I just tried to see if it would actually work. If you want to find out where the grocery store shops are or which companies schedule for them Google “grocery store mystery shops” and you will get a list. This would probably work for other types of shops as well. Any time anyone wants information on any subject the place to start is with a search engine. As you get more used to using them you will be able to refine your search and get some valuable intel.
I see several grocery shops for a company named Trendsource. When you go on their sight, a well known store is listed. I mystery shop for a grocery store in our area in Nebraska. However, the company is a local Mystery shopping company. The problem with Trendsource is, when you sign up to be an agent, you will be e-mailed when they need an agent in your area. I signed with them several months ago. I have yet to become a “real” agent for them. Hope this gives everyone some ideas! Happy Holidays!