Yes it's that time of year again. Time to think about shopping for all those holiday gifts-and how to pay for them. This year, instead of running up the credit card bills, how about doing your holiday shopping the smart way-by getting paid while doing it! Yes, that's right, you can actually make money while doing your Holiday shopping.

How is this possible? Well just in case you didn't know, there Is a legitimate, home-based way to earn income called mystery shopping. Basically, depending upon the type of shop or research assignment, a mystery shopper will pretend in a believable fashion without giving themselves away, to be an actual customer or potential customer of a business. In the process, the shopper will gather information and make observations that the client company wants to know about, and submit a report with their objective findings later on.

While top-earning mystery shoppers also conduct research for companies that fall into the service category such as apartment complexes, home builders, financial service companies, car dealers and fitness centers, there are many mystery shopping assignment opportunities in retail and food establishments. Since you are likely going to be hitting the malls and your local stores, as well as eating out more as you rush around trying to get everything done for the holidays, you might as well try to get paid for as much of that effort as possible.

You can expect to make $7-$25 for each retail-based assignment you do between actual cash and free merchandise. The more you are asked to do, the more the assignment pays. The best-paying retail shops are what are known as "purchase and return" shops, where you buy something and then return it anywhere from a half an hour to a day later to report on how both parts of the transaction were handled. So, for example, if you did 10 of these shops, you would make $250 to help stretch the holiday budget. Plus, while you are out and about, you can take on a fast-food or restaurant shop and have that paid for as well.

Plus, after the holidays are over, if you enjoyed the experience, you can keep doing mystery shopping as an ongoing source of income on a flexible schedule. If there is a good demand for mystery shoppers in your area, it is entirely possible to make up to $1,000 in a month's time in actual cash and high-end freebies depending upon the types of assignments you do. Many good shoppers make between $300 and $600 monthly.

So how do you get these assignments to help pay for your holiday shopping and maybe even launch a new, home-based career as a professional mystery shopper? I go over the many ways to do this in great detail, along with lots of other great tips and techniques in my book "The Perfect Work-At-Home Job: Mystery Shopping". But here's one way: Go to http://mysteryshopcoach.cjb.net. At the bottom of that page is a link to "Mystery Shoppers Resource", a great site for mystery shopping leads almost exclusively posted by schedulers. The webmaster, Julie Moreau, will even e-mail you each time she updates the page (e-mail to jmoreau1@aol.com, please mention I referred you). When you see a job posting in your area, simply follow the instructions and apply. There's a lot more to being a professional, top-earning mystery shopper than just this, but it's a way for you to dabble, make some money this holiday season and get a feel for what is possible.

Summary: Don't run up your credit card bills this holiday season. Do your shopping the smart way and get paid for it! Use this experience not only for this holiday season, but to regularly earn money and freebies on your own schedule as a professional mystery shopper.

(c) Copyright 2001 By Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing