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$500/Week as a Mystery Shopper: Getting Paid to Shop, Eat, and Snoop

July 30, 2026

Mercedes Eckert from iShop (mystery shopper) 100px

Getting paid to eat at restaurants, tour apartments, and run your car through the wash 20 times in an afternoon? That’s mystery shopping — a $2 billion industry most people have never heard of.

Mercedes Eckert has been doing it for 13 years and has helped over 25,000 shoppers get started through her company, iShopAGP.com.

Her personal best: $600 in a single day without getting out of the car.

She also runs ShopQuest, a free site where you can browse mystery shopper jobs in your city.

I Asked Listeners for the Most Random Ways They’ve Made Extra Money

July 28, 2026July 27, 2026

Random Ways to Make Extra Money - Random Ways to Make Extra Money Cover

Last month I put out a call for listeners to share the most random ways they’ve made extra money, and the responses did not disappoint!

Some side hustles start with a business plan. Others start with a stranger in a parking garage asking if you want to get paid to drink beer.

That one actually happened to me in Atlanta. The woman worked for a market research company, and they needed taste-testers for a product that hadn’t launched yet.

I invited a couple of friends along, and we each made about $75 sampling what turned out to be Miller Chill.

Later we lived near a place called the National Food Lab, so I went over and did a few more paid taste-testings.

We Bought a “Boring” Business. Running it Was Another Story.

July 27, 2026July 23, 2026

Buy a boring business, they said. It’ll be easy. It’ll be fun.

That’s the dream Andrea Palacio and her husband chased when they bought a landscaping company.

The road got bumpy fast, but they still added around $300,000 in equity value in just a couple of years.

Andrea Palacio runs AndreaPalacio.ai, where she helps other business owners put AI to work.

But before that, she and her husband lived on a sailboat for 4 years while running an e-commerce business selling pet supplies on Amazon and Shopify.

When that business stalled, they sold it and went looking for something new. They landed on a South Florida landscaping company, thinking it would be steady and mostly hands-off. Instead, almost everything went wrong at once.

27 Best Ways to Get Free Money: Legit $500+ Inside!

July 23, 2026July 18, 2026

Is there really such thing as free money? Well, it depends on what you consider “free.”

Money is almost always an exchange for value. But over the past few years, I’ve discovered a bunch of ways to make extra money with very little effort.

We’ll call it “almost free” money.

Upskill and Earn: The Proven Path to $150/hr From Home

July 26, 2026July 13, 2026

Here’s a proven path to $150 an hour, right from home. Maybe you’ve got a good job you like. But when you look ahead, the salary ceiling feels capped, the red tape runs deep, and the chances to move up are slim. At some point it hits you: this path won’t get me where I want … Read more

Online Focus Groups: 27 Paid Research Companies that Pay Up to $250 an Hour for Your Opinion

July 23, 2026July 10, 2026

I recently participated in a paid focus group in San Francisco. You know, the kind with the one-way mirror on the wall.

We talked about travel habits and preferences for an hour and half, and I got paid $150 for my time and opinions. Not bad!

Loan Draw Inspections: How I Earn $2k+/mo Taking Pictures of Houses

July 26, 2026July 9, 2026

Do you know there’s a side hustle where you can get paid to drive around, take a few photos of houses being built, and turn it into a steady side income?

That is the little-known real estate side hustle Lou Shaver from drawinspectortraining.com picked up in retirement.

Lou is a construction loan draw inspector. It has almost no startup costs, no special license, and not much selling. He started it as a retirement gig, made about $2,000 a month last year, and is now averaging about $4,100 a month.

Lou spent a career as an inspector, first in the Army and then for the Navy, and now he is getting ready to teach others how to do this work through his own training program.

28 Top Secret Websites To Make Money This Year: Up to $7,000/mo

July 23, 2026July 7, 2026

Tired of hearing about the same old ways to make money online?

We’ve all heard about Etsy, Fiverr, and eBay…

But, you know, there’s a whole world of other websites out there that can help you earn some extra cash.

Some of these sites are real hidden gems, flying under the radar while offering some serious opportunities.

60+ Best Ways to Make Extra Money on the Side in 2026: $500+

July 23, 2026July 7, 2026

It’s never been easier to make money on your own time and on your own terms.

In fact, this post has dozens of legit money-making ideas for you to try — and get paid.

Read on to find the ones that will work for you!

25 Ways to Get Paid to Do Nothing: Ideas to Make Money in Your Sleep

July 23, 2026July 5, 2026

Here are some legit ways to get paid to do nothing (or very little!). Some have earned me $10,000+ and you can start today.

Usually Hustling, Occasionally Social