The "T" Word

So what happens if you really do win "the big one" or even a medium one? Most of the time, small wins just show up in the mail. You may receive an email to let you know that it's coming, but often it's a complete surprise. My husband knows that if it even LOOKS like it could be a prize, he should not open it. If you win a large prize, however, you will probably know ahead of time and that's because of the "T" word--taxes. You will most likely receive a phone call or email, possibly even some sort of special delivery (overnight mail, etc.), setting you up for verification of information for the purposes of tax reporting. You should expect to have to fill out forms and visit your notary and have all paperwork returned in a couple days or so. Currently, prizes worth $600 or more in value are required to be reported by the sponsor and you should expect to receive a 1099 in time to do your taxes. The value of the prize is treated the same as regular income, regardless of the prize. This could be good or bad. There are people who think winning the HGTV Dream Home would be an amazing thing, but personally, I wouldn't want that value added to my wages at tax time. On the other hand, I've heard of people not entering contests over $600 to avoid paying taxes. I think that's as silly as turning down a $600 bonus from my employer! My tip of the day for you is to think through what a particular prize would be worth to you in light of its tax burden. My trip to Iceland barely had an effect on our taxes that year because of our total situation, but most trips to Disney World are not attractive to me because I could do better as a Florida resident than the tax burden would be worth.

I didn't have to search long to find a sweepstakes of the day that would be worth the tax burden, at least in my opinion. Go here to enter for the big prize at HGTV. They and their sister sites run great sweeps all year long, and if you check the box on the entry form, they will let you know about each new one as it begins. Happy Sweeping!

Creative Sweeping

In my last post I discussed how relatively easy it is to win sweepstakes sponsored by bloggers because the number of entries is typically much smaller than would be in a sweepstakes sponsored by a company. This time we'll look at the other end of the spectrum. Some sweepstakes are called creative presentations, but not because they require any creativity on your part. These are a group of sweepstakes, usually by different companies and often under different names, but sharing a common prize. This means that you will not only be competing for the prize against all the people entering through that particular contest, but also against all the people entering through all the other related contests. You have almost no chance of winning. Still, someone WILL win (rules permitting--some actually specify that if certain conditions are not met, there will not be a prize awarded) and it will be someone who entered at least once. Because of the wildly low chance of winning, I tend not to enter creative presentations. It's just too much hassle, unless we're talking one-time-only easy entries. There are definitely some things to beware, so the "tip of the day" will be "tips". First, creative presentations seem to be a staple with magazine publishers, and part of the entry process is offering you the chance to subscribe. Be vigilant that you aren't accidentally signing yourself up for a lifetime of magazines. Second, if you do find yourself receiving a confirmation about your subscription that you didn't want, don't panic. I speak with experience when I tell you that it is usually easy to cancel. You may either go to their website (good luck finding the "cancel") or when the bill comes, just write "cancel" across it and mail it back. My third tip is that if you were actually tempted to get the magazine and having second thoughts, don't despair. More often than not, after you submit your sweepstakes entry, there will be another chance to get an even better magazine deal. (I get my Good Housekeeping for $5 a year this way.) Finally, check the rules even more carefully when dealing with creative presentations. The way you can tell which sweepstakes are related, even if they have different names, is by reading the rules. Sometimes the related sweeps in the creative presentation even have slightly different rules. Just remember, it's all one pot.

Want to see if you can get lightning to strike? Here is one little part of a creative presentation from Reader's Digest #908. (Yes, that's what it's called in the rules, although you will see different titles related to it.) Do a search for the other pieces of the pie. It's a FANTASTIC prize if you are the one in a bazillion. Happy Sweeping!

Smaller Sweeps

While I have mostly directed you to some higher value prizes, there is a category of sweepstakes that I highly recommend for beginning sweepers. Blog sweeps are great because with a smaller pool of entries, an entrant has a higher chance of winning. Often the prizes are small but interesting to the blog's readership. Sometimes the prizes are items the blogger owns and wants to share, and other times they are given by companies to advertise their product to a group of likeminded readers. Those prizes can be large at times. Most of the time blog sweepstakes entries are simple: comment on the blog. It is common to also allow additional entries for "following" the blog, "friending" on Facebook, "tweeting" on Twitter, etc. As always, it is important to follow the rules. I find it interesting sometimes to read what other people have written for their entries, and many times I see entries that do not qualify for one reason or another. I can only imagine what the blog owner sees. My tip of the day is about the additional entries. Be sure that if you are entering for additional entries that you write separate comments. For example, comment once for your initial entry and send it. Start a new note for your second entry and send it. Each entry needs its own comment, almost as if you were putting slips of paper into a drawing box. One (or however many) entry will be chosen as the winner, and you want as many "slips of paper in the box" as the rules allow.

My sweepstakes of the day will give me another entry in a blog sweeps. I have been following lots of blogs this summer as I have been learning about couponing. One such blog is Passionate Penny Pincher. Today she offered a set of coupons for her readers and I am passing that opportunity to win on to you. Happy Sweeping!

What's In a Name?

Have you ever wondered why some prize-winning opportunities are called contests and others are called sweepstakes? Generally, a contest requires some level of achievement or ability, or something that is earned, whereas a sweepstakes win typically just represents the random choosing of an entry. Personally, I rarely enter true contests, either because I don't think I'm good enough to win or because they take too much time and effort, or I don't have the equipment (video entries) or the expertise (cooking/recipes), etc. One time, when I was taking a class on social issues, I needed to write a paper about how the Internet will affect our society in the future, and there was a sweepstakes on the very same subject! Of course I entered! And, sadly, of course I did not win, but I did get an A on the paper. : ) The tip of the day is that there are some contests available that appear to be essay contests or photo contests, but a careful reading of the rules will reveal that they are actually random drawings, so just enter something and you'll have as good a chance as anyone else.

Now, my sweep of the day comes with a "true confession". I saw this sweepstakes on the Heinz Facebook page a long time ago and skipped over it because I'm not too familiar with Chili's and would never be able to write a good "Ode to Awesome". However, after one of my friends has won this TWICE, I'm going to "like" it and maybe win it! Happy Sweeping!

Calling All Kids

My children have often bemoaned the fact that they are disqualified from entering most sweepstakes because the minimum age is usually 18. Today I will reveal a great source for some of my favorite sweeps that often will allow entries for minors. As you probably know, the Disney brand is not limited to movies and theme parks. They are part of a family of companies including ABC and ESPN with the accompanying websites, stores, and publications, all wanting your family's attention, and they know that one of the best ways to get that attention is through the kids. While I cannot endorse everything that comes from these companies, I can tell you that there is a veritable treasure trove of trips, gift cards, and licensed merchandise to be given away throughout every nook and cranny of this group of websites. Register each child and adult in the family for a username and you will be set to use the same login at all the associated sites. Parents are able to (and should, in my opinion) set preferences/privileges for different children based on age and Disney is serious about wanting the kids to have a safe online experience. Do a search for sweepstakes related to go.com (or Disney, ESPN, ABC, family, com, etc.--all on the go.com network). As always, check the rules carefully. Some will be one entry per household, which means that you could be disqualified if anyone else in the family enters. Some are for ages over 18 only, some 13 and older, and some are for all ages. The tip of the day will help you with the ones that accept more than one entry per household. These related sites will keep you logged in from session to session, which is convenient if you jump from one to another as I do. It becomes inconvenient if you are attempting to allow another family member to enter a sweepstakes, even if it's a different one. Typically, there will be a place to sign out ("If you are not so-and-so, click here") so the other family member can sign in. It gets trickier if the other family member is a child since a child cannot change the adult's preferences. The tip is to keep trying. You may need to find "Guest Services" or something similar. It has to be a pretty awesome sweepstakes for me to go through the hassle sometimes, but Disney has some pretty awesome sweepstakes. Kids and their parents need to remember that it will be the parents who have to pay the taxes on high-value prizes.

You know I'm going to have a great sweepstakes of the day under this topic and I'll share another that I really hope will be all mine. Go here for yet another chance at a Disney cruise. Each family member 10 and older can enter daily. If I don't win, I hope you do. Happy Sweeping!

When You Wish Upon a Star...

I'm not into astrology but I do enjoy a little Disney magic, or should I say, Magic? Having taken 3 Disney cruises, I'm always looking ahead to the next one, and wishing that somehow I could win one. While I don't believe that a star could help make my wish come true, I have been known to mention my wish to the Lord in prayer. It goes something like, "Lord, you know that I don't pray to win a million dollars or even to get rich, but if I could win a Disney cruise, I would be so thankful for it." As the saying goes, "If you don't enter, you can't win," so the tip of the day is that you need to search for sweepstakes that are on your wish list. I don't do this daily, but from time to time, I choose a search engine and look for Disney cruises that I could enter to win. I guess I didn't do it recently enough, because this one slipped right past me until today. For the sweepstakes of the day, go to the Facebook page and "like" it, play the game if you'd like (but it's not necessary), and you may enter one time to win a cruise for 4, although I really hope, wish, and pray that I do. Happy Sweeping!

What Would You Do....

in order to win a really great prize? It's a decision that sweepers have to make before they have entered very many contests. Today's tip of the day is more like an opportunity for me to tell you a little of my philosophy and how I decide where to draw the line. First of all, I oppose gambling, so I shun anything that seems like a lottery or is sponsored by a casino. If I have to pay to enter, I don't, unless it's an entry that comes with the purchase of something I was going to buy anyway. For that reason, I will not enter sweepstakes that require postage. I also am against alcohol and tobacco, so I will not enter sweepstakes sponsored by those companies. It's actually not so much that I don't want to profit by their ill-gotten gain (because lots of innocuous-looking things are related to things I reject), but I do not want my name or picture to be used in their advertising. I will not lie or stretch the truth to make myself eligible (e.g., rationalize that "I AM a nurse because all moms have to be a nurse" so I can enter a sweepstakes for nurses only), and I will not use an alternate address to gain an entry that I could not get otherwise. I want all my wins to be blessings from God and I would rather not win at all than to win dishonestly.

I don't really get a kick out of most of the games involved in entering sweepstakes, but once I get past all the registering, signing in, requesting a free code, waiting for the code to arrive in my mail, etc., this sweepstakes of the day from Butterfinger will probably be a favorite of mine. Today I even got through the first door and got to pick a 2nd key! I can't wait to try again tomorrow. Now if I had a code from a wrapper, I could try again today, and I do love Butterfingers, but I think I shall just promote the product and talk up the sweeps and try to keep my fingers off the Butterfingers.