The holidays are just around the corner. Halloween is already upon us. Thanksgiving items are already on store shelves. Before you have lost the weight you gained over Thanksgiving, you will notice Christmas decorations already being set up. Mystery shopping is a wonderful way to add fun to the holidays.

A shopper on the East Coast has a mother that insists she can’t spend any money on Christmas gifts. The shopper finds items while she is on an assignment for her mother. Card shops are an excellent way to collect birthday or holiday cards. Grocery stores even sell greeting cards.

There is a shopper who purchases most of her food items while conducting grocery store assignments. She has great relationships with schedulers and usually completes 20 grocery store shops a month. Some of the grocery stores have great gift items. She can purchase just about anything she would need during the month, even postage stamps. The shopper is already stocking up for her Christmas cards. She made a list of all the cards she would need and determined how many books of stamps she wanted to buy. She is buying one book of stamps at every location she has a shop. She will be ready for Christmas in November.

Successful shoppers plan ahead. It is a good idea to comb the job boards and find out what types of assignments are available. If you know you will be in a certain city, you may want to email your scheduler and say you are available for assignments. Shoppers can even list the types of shops they are interested in.

The holidays are special. They can be extra special if assignments can help keep gift giving and celebrating costs low. It isn’t too soon to start planning for the holidays now.