Next Stop: Pensacola

This has been a slow week.  On Sunday I completed several shops.  Then Monday and Tuesday were dead.  Yesterday I completed a lunch shop and for fun (not a shop) we went to see Identity Thief.  The local theater only charges $4.50 before 3 PM Monday-Thursday - I like frugal entertainment.  It was a funny movie.

On Sunday I am driving to Pensacola.  I plan to spend three nights there.  The value of the route I am doing is around $600, so I booked a cheap room at an Econo Lodge.  Most of my shops are night time so my hope was to find several end-of-month bonuses for daytime work, but that hasn't panned out yet.  I guess Pensacola has a lot of desperate shoppers, too.  What I miss about Alabama is the incredible opportunities that were always popping up.  It wasn't uncommon to find day-long routes where I could make $300-$400. Now I am lucky when I earn $200 in a day.

I've been giving some thought lately to whether mystery shopping is worth it.  It has gotten more and more difficult to earn a living since the move.  Specifically, the hefty bonuses I had grown accustomed to don't happen down here.  I can still earn a decent amount but I have to work much harder at it.

I have also been doing some thinking about my real estate investments.  Should I sell everything in Birmingham and reinvest in Clearwater/Tampa?  Should I sell everything and invest the proceeds in a REIT - that way I am completely hands off?  Should I keep everything but hire a property manager?  Should I just continue doing things the way they are now?  The more I dwell on my future, the more I desire to not be tied down to something.  I want flexibility.  On the other hand, my current real estate portfolio has an amazing return, and since I have moved I haven't had too many surprises.

I will probably end up making few changes when the dust clears.  Hopefully I just need to get over the ho-hum feelings I have been having and keep chugging along.