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Take a Free Lunch and Get Paid for It!

Posted by admin on Oct 17, 2009

According to conventional wisdom “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”. That’s generally true BUT…

There is a way to really have a free lunch and also to get paid for it! This is so awesome that people hardly can believe it! They are skeptical at first – as you may be – but they are so glad after they give it a try.

It isn’t known by most of us but we can earn money for many activities we do everyday: eating in restaurants, shopping in stores, enjoying a movie at your local theater or playing golf!

In the US only over 700,000 people are paid every day for such “jobs”. It is called Mystery Shopping.

Secret shopper jobs give us the opportunity to earn an extra income just for shopping and filling out a questionnaire. You can work part time or full time and decide on what assignments you want to take. Shoppers are paid $10-$50 per hour just for having fun!

The Wall Street Journal has recently featured an article on earning huge money with mystery shopping assignments. It explains how Jennifer Voitle, a mystery shopper living in Baldwin – N.Y., makes about $7000 per months from her various assignments. We bring here an excerpt of this article:

“Jennifer Voitle has mastered the Freebie Economy. A former investment-bank employee who was laid off two years ago, Ms. Voitle has found a new career in the arcane world of dining deals, gift certificates and “mystery shopping,” where companies pay her to test their products and services. She gets paid to shop, eat at restaurants, drink at bars, travel and even play golf. Last month, she made nearly $7,000 from her various freebie adventures. By the end of the year, she could be making more than she did in investment banking, not counting her steady supply of handouts.

She gets free gas, free groceries and free clothes. When her car breaks down, she gets paid to have it repaired. She can make $75 for test-driving a Land Rover, $20 for drinking at a bar and $25 for playing arcade games (she keeps any winnings). Golfing is her latest passion, and in addition to playing on courses around the country free of charge, she gets free food and drinks and gifts from the pro shop.

Weekend trips to Hawaii and Mexico? “I don’t pay for anything except occasional meals,” she says. She does much of her work on a free hand-held computer.

“My friends tell me I should just get a job,” says Ms. Voitle, who is slim and blond and gives her age as “somewhere over 30.” But, she says, “most full-time jobs out there don’t make economic sense.”

Ms. Voitle never planned on becoming a freeloader. A trained engineer and financial expert, with four advanced degrees and a gift for numbers theory, Ms. Voitle worked for years as a number-cruncher for Detroit’s auto factories. Her real dream was to make it big on Wall Street. In 2000, she got her break when Lazard LLC, the storied investment bank, hired her to analyze fixed-income derivatives in the firm’s asset-management business.

Single, with a salary of more than $100,000, Ms. Voitle bought a house in leafy Baldwin, N.Y., complete with a pool and gym. She spent weekends golfing, traveling or playing with her cats — Continental and Northwest. In the fall of 2001, she was laid off. With thousands of other investment-bank workers losing their jobs, Ms. Voitle couldn’t find any financial work. Last summer, her unemployment checks ran out and both her electricity and phone were shut off.

“I woke up one morning and said, “That’s it. I have to start looking for money, wherever I can find it,” she says.

Trolling the Internet, she discovered an ad for mystery shopping. “I thought, ‘this looks too good to be true,’ ” she says. Mystery shoppers get paid to sample a company’s service or products and write a report on their experience. For companies, mystery shopping is popular way of checking on quality. For Ms. Voitle, it was a quick source of cash and freebies.

Her first assignment was a Pathmark grocery store, where she received free groceries and $10 for a quick report. She worked her way up to gas stations, clothing stores and restaurants. She quickly discovered that the best-paying mystery shopping jobs were for upscale businesses like banks and high-end car dealers. She earns $75 for test-driving a Land Rover, compared with about $30 for a Ford.

Volume is critical. On any given day, she will mystery shop gas stations, grocery stores, golf courses, clothing stores, casinos, hotels, insurance companies and restaurants. She even gets paid to shop for apartments and interview for jobs. She can make as much as $50 for applying for a job at a major company, and reporting back on the performance of the people who do the hiring.

…”I couldn’t believe there were all these opportunities out there,” says Gordon Stewart, a friend of Ms. Voitle’s who works in finance. “She’s discovered this whole other economy.”

Source: Wall Street Journal

Wow, can you believe that Jennifer makes up to $7,000 just for shopping and completing simple questionnaires? Do you think you can do it too?

You might not make $7,000 a month like Jennifer, but even if you only made $1,000 or $2,000, wouldn’t it help a lot?

Mystery shoppers are needed all the time and there are jobs all over the US, Canada, Australia and UK.

The best way to go is to subscribe to a professional resource for secret shopper jobs. You will get a step-by-step guide on how to get started successfully (a must for new shoppers) AND you’ll have access to an extensive database of shopping jobs in your country and in your state.

Sam Parker
http://www.articlesbase.com/shopping-articles/take-a-free-lunch-and-get-paid-for-it-752098.html

11 Comments »

tehsuxs:

How do I get a free lunch from my coworkers after I buy them one?
Maybe because I’m the new guy on the job and I’m right out of college and this is my first major project with the company, but it seems like the guys in my office like when I bring them lunch (usually on friday in the form on some fine italian foods) which I don’t ask anything in return for. Now an entire week goes by between when i bring in food on friday and what not and no one buys me lunch. The only time that ever happens is if the Executives are here or a meeting is being held and lunch is ordered for the entire team.

This friday I told them I was to poor to continue buying lunch kind of in a joking manner, like sorry I didnt do it this firday. But every in the week I stopped at this classic italian bakerly I love and picked up some fresh donuts, which they loved. They told me I should do more things like this and thats what really finally set me off.

I’m basically just thinking about stopping the whole being nice thing since it hasn’t paid. Free lunch sucker = me

October 17th, 2009 | 3:35 am
str8talker:

You don’t owe them anything. It is a nice gesture and if you’re doing it to get something back, you may as well quit. Most people will take and never give back. You don’t owe them an explanation, just quit bringing any food to work for them. They’ll figure it out!
References :

October 17th, 2009 | 8:37 am
Lady G:

You did a nice thing, and while they certainly appreciated it, they just aren’t inclined to reciprocate. So you just stop. You somewhat jokingly told them you would, so just stop.
References :

October 17th, 2009 | 8:39 am
Arggg:

What greedy, selfish pigs. Stop buying them stuff. Save your money.
References :

October 17th, 2009 | 8:41 am
norakelly29@yahoo.com:

you seem to be trying to buy your way to being accepted there. it is not the correct thing to do. Give them time and wait till they invite you. Then bring the donuts.
References :

October 17th, 2009 | 8:43 am
GC:

they’re just being stupid fat-asses that are poor & can’t afford food so they depend on you to feed them
so my advice
stop bringing them food
& i think that you should stop being your nice self & start being a lil’ mean
but not a whole lot
so like one day
bring the food they like & if they ask
"oh what’d you bring me?"
be like
"nothing, this is for me. im not rich to be buying you guys food all the time"
:]
that’s what i did
& hey
we all go out to eat during lunch & they pay for their own food
:]
References :
California-San Diego
The best city in the whole entire world!

October 17th, 2009 | 8:45 am
kimba20136:

take the money you would spend on buying /making them food and spend it on yourself.
Stop at that nice Itialian bakery and buy something for YOU!
not them just you. Explain you’re at entry level salary and you can’t afford to buy for everyone all the time when they say you should do it more often- or tell them sure you’ll stop again for doughnuts but it costs $$ who’s chipping in
References :

October 17th, 2009 | 8:47 am
spadezgurl22:

then stop buying them lunch just bc u gave a gesture does not mean u should expect anything in return although that would be nice. buy yourself some delicious donuts and treat urself since they are not to keen to reciprocate.
References :

October 17th, 2009 | 8:49 am
Barbara B:

Random acts of kindness are seldom thanked.

that doesn’t mean you should stop being nice – but no more freeloaders.

The only thing you CAN do is get a "Sophia’s Ristorante" menu and leave it in the break room. (keep another in your files). On the days you’re feeling generous – announce to your closest co-workers that you’re making a Sophia’s run and can you put them down for anything. Collect $$ right then and there – write down how much everyone gives you – no freeloading. Then be the nice guy and either place the call for delivery or go and fetch it.

But no freeloading. Everyone pays in advance.

Anyone who complains – tell them that you can no longer afford to buy everyone treats – especially after the disrespectful way people made you feel taken advantage of in the past.
References :

October 17th, 2009 | 8:51 am
casey:

When my spouse works at the office and I make desserts for him to share with the boss/co-workers, they try to be his friend and they do favors for him. Like the boss would allow my spouse to leave early or come in later, when my spouse asks and also because he’s lenient.. Cuz they think my desserts are delish. I usually bake brownies, cookies, cupcakes, etc. That’s when I feel like it. I don’t do it all the time. I guess it depends on the people you work with and the company.

If people keep asking you to buy food for them, now’s your chance to ask them, "are you gonna buy lunch for me this afternoon"?
References :

October 17th, 2009 | 8:53 am
Shahnee21:

Well, as a first-timer in your job with a major project, it was a very nice gesture to do all of that. However, you may have just wanted to do it once, and that’s it. One day is more than enough for others to see your generosity… and if they don’t then that’s all you can do for them. However, if you keep talking about getting something for them or if you actually do it more than once, they will end up expecting it from you more often then not. If you decide not to bring something one day, then they’ll probably be either disappointed or wondering why you didn’t bring anything for that Friday because they’re used to you surprising them with something.

Either way, what’s done is done, and you’ve done what you can. If they don’t appreciate your generosity, then so be it. At least you were thoughtful enough to go for it. Don’t even expect anything in return. If someone wants to treat you to something, then they will, but in the mean time, don’t even think about it because it’s not worth it. All you can do is realize that you’ve done something nice for someone – that feeling should work itself out and make you feel good.

Don’t continue with the every Friday thing. Don’t feel guilty, either. You’re only human – you can only buy so much food for others every week. Just worry about yourself and your job, and the food thing will just be. Catch my drift? =)
References :

October 17th, 2009 | 8:55 am
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