Spent $375 to make $35!

Well, we just wrapped up 2 mystery shops this evening, where we had to spend a total of $375 in order to get paid $35 ($20 for one and $15 for the other). We'll be having them refund our card this weekend, so the money spent isn't lost, but it's pretty funny to think of it as spending that much just to make 10% back.

Now one of the purchases was for sunglasses. I don't know who buys sunglasses for $275, but I pretended to be one this evening. There must be enough people that do so, otherwise the store couldn't stay open at the mall. They are nice, made of titanium, but not worth as much as my car almost (paid $400 for my car 3 months ago). I'm normally a dollar store type sunglass guy, I figure if I lose them, I won't be that upset. And lose things I do!

The other purchase was for a sofa. I don't understand that people pay $700 for a sofa or $2K for a whole living room set, but there must be folks that do that and then donate their old sofa to me =) The only piece of furniture I've bought was a bed for $300 that had drawers underneath it and made of solid wood. I don't use it as a bed anymore, but the drawers are used as tool storage in my basement. The rest of my furniture has been hand-me-downs from others no longer wanting the furniture.

One last positive thing was we were able to sell one of our gift cards that we received from the baby shower last month for a store we feel is too expensive for clothing. 2 more cards for Kohl's to sell!