I was richer than ever on maternity leave thanks to my secret job – I made £5K extra, all I did was sit in traffic jams

WAITING for the temporary traffic lights to turn untried Nat Coote flicks on her car’s dashboard camera and starts recording her journey.

Drivers bleep their horns in frustration at the wait caused by the ongoing roadworks in Leicester.

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But instead of stuff frazzled the mum-of-two cant help but smile, knowing that stuff stuck in traffic lights is earning her cash.

Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, Nat, 38, explains: I get paid to mystery shop roadworks. 

All I have to do is momentum past, record it on my dashcam, fill in the form and I get paid. 

My friends are shocked when I tell them I get paid £20 to be in a traffic jam.

Ive made virtually £5,500 over the past year by mystery shopping on maternity leave. 

I love stuff a 007 super mummy snooper, the mazuma and freebies I earned has been a lifesaver.

It helped pay the mortgage, save for holidays. 

I have earned mazuma by ownership lottery tickets and shopping in outlets. 

I have gone undercover with the kids to trammels out childrens nurseries, and wracked rude staff at a soft play centre.

I nab mystery shopping assignments so I can earn while doing the weekly shop in Lidl, Asda or Aldi.

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I get self-ruling nights out, restaurant lunches, self-ruling fuel when I buy on the sly providing research data for some of Britain’s top mystery shopping agencies.

According to Natalie, her part-time money-maker ways that she can be totally flexible when it comes to her childcare and day to day tasks can plane earn her money.

Popping to the shops for milk and specie can sometimes earn me money, she says.

I only do jobs I can fit virtually my schedule, Ive been worldly-wise to earn uneaten cost of living cash by taking the kids to the park or simply pushing my trolley in the supermarket.

According to the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA), approximately 50,000 mystery shopping trips are undertaken every month in the UK.

Esomar Global Market Research estimates the mystery shopping sector in Britain has a turnover of £6.6 billion and leads Europe.

In Britain, Market Force, Ipsos, Tern, Serve Legal, Grass Roots, Redwigwam and ESA Retail are among the most popular mystery shopping companies taking on undercover shoppers. 

Despite people unboxing and reviewing items on social media its super snooper mums like Nat who are have the real secret shopping power.

We aren’t doing paid collabs, what I report on is my real life wits so you can trust it, she says.

Married marketing manager, Nat, who is mum to a seven and two-year-old, only started mystery shopping in March 2022.

I was on maternity leave and needed a side hustle to help pay the bills but one that I could work virtually the kids’ schedules, she explains.

Nat spent three weeks researching mystery shopping and signed up to four variegated companies online.

She says: I wanted to sign up with companies that did mystery shopping on national and local levels.

It meant I could mystery shop locally but gave me the option to make money if I was away.

Its not a daunting process considering the websites have videos you can watch and information well-nigh the does and don’ts of mystery shopping.

Nat learnt quickly to read the mystery shopping unenduring and follow it exactly as well as checking the misogynist jobs daily is critical.

Mystery shopping has been a lifeline, Im not sure how I would have made it through my maternity without it.

Nat CooteLeicester

You need to log onto the apps or website and bequick to get the weightier or easiest mystery shopping gigs, Nat says.

Overnight stays in hotels, mystery shopping restaurants and mystery shopping holidays are some of the weightier jobs to get and go quickly when they are posted.

Nat says its important to follow the instructions to the letter or else you wont be paid or have any money spent reimbursed.

She explains the forms are washed-up online via a secret shopping app and you have to well-constructed and upload all the documents and photos or videos the day, which she does without the kids are in bed.

As a mystery shopper you rate shops but you moreover get a rating and if you goof to well-constructed your own forms properly or present less than quality reports it will go down, she says.

It definitely makes you a largest mystery shopper.

If you don’t have time to write up the report, don’t winnow the task.

Nat reveals fees for mystery shop can vary dramatically,

I have earnt fees from a fiver to £55 depending on what it involves, she says. 

The fee can vary due to the time it’s predicted to take and the work you’re expected to put in. 

You can’t mystery shop at the same store or location in a three to six month period to ensure your imbricate isn’t blown.

You can’t take items you buy when so I unchangingly pick jobs which involve ownership and stuff reimbursed for things that myself or the kids need.

Ive been worldly-wise to earn uneaten cost of living cash by taking the kids to the park.”

Nat CooteLeicester

Nat has completed increasingly than 250 mystery shopping jobs since March last year including  secret shopping in supermarkets, suit stores and plane post offices.

Now Nat is when working part-time as a marketing executive and is increasingly selective with the jobs she applies for.

I segregate my favourites to well-constructed on my days off or on the way to work, she says.

I recently got a months self-ruling gym membership to trammels out the premises which was a big bonus.

Occasionally a mystery shopping job will pop up when Im once in Tesco so its a win-win really.

Mystery shopping has been a lifeline, Im not sure how I would have made it through my maternity without it.