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.

Dry Spell

No, I'm not talking about the weather. Our area has had quite a rainy summer. I'm talking about how I did not win a single thing in the month of June. A few years ago I wanted to find out how much I really do win, so beginning on January 1, I began keeping track. I discovered that I almost always won at least one thing a month, and if I didn't, the next month made up for it. Since then, I've continued to monitor whether I'm maintaining that pace, and so far, so good. July should be a great month! The key to successful sweeping is to enter a LOT of sweepstakes and to do it over a long period of time. Friends will often comment that I seem to be very "lucky" because I win a lot of sweeps, but they don't realize how many I DON'T win. So my tip of the day is a real no-brainer, but it's simply to keep on entering. If you haven't won anything yet, check to see if the contests you've entered have even ended yet. It is common for winners to not even be announced for weeks and sometimes even months after a contest has expired. (By the way, I count my wins from the day I am notified, so it's possible I did win something in June that I just don't know about yet!)

My sweepstakes of the day addresses the issues mentioned above. It has LOTS of winners, so MANY of you should be able to win something if you keep entering. It doesn't end until the middle of September and you may enter more than once per day if you have cap codes. The downside is that this is not for the fainthearted. It has loading issues and is not easy to figure out what to do. The good news is that many people will give up and leave more prizes for those of us who are persistent. Go here to enter your code OR, if you don't have one, click on "play" and choose a person on the couch to represent you. Happy Sweeping!

Be Careful What You Wish For

I spent most of my morning (way too much time) making myself come up with a $70 order on a particular website that I would not ordinarily patronize. I have had a gift certificate for nearly a year that I had won, but every time I spent a few minutes browsing, I have walked away uninterested. I didn't want to waste a $70 win, but these items were overpriced and not appealing to me. Today I decided to deal with it once and for all. After looking at all the merchandise and finding $70 worth of "stuff", I hopped over to RetailMeNot to find a code for free shipping. I ended up throwing one more thing in my cart to avoid paying the shipping on my free stuff. This win was a lot of work on the receiving end. I don't even remember what I originally entered for, but I guarantee it was not for the $70 gift certificate.

Sometimes getting a different prize works out pretty well. Several years ago, I entered almost every day to win a $20 gift card to Fazoli's. I think that was 3rd prize, and it would have been a great prize, but I didn't win that. I won the GRAND PRIZE of a trip for 2 to Iceland AND a $2000 Perry Ellis wardrobe. What a shock! It was truly the trip of a lifetime. My tip for the day is that you need to check out ALL the prizes listed for a particular sweepstakes. You might be aiming for one, but realize that you might just win a different one!

My mom always had the perfect gift for me once I hit the teenage years. She would just keep giving me money! I can almost hear her saying what she said over and over: "It's just the right color!" My sweepstakes for the day will be the perfect color if you win it, and you won't have to worry about getting a different prize. Go to BlogHer and tell what makes Dad special. Happy Sweeping!

The Games People Play

Have you been entering the Coke Six Flags Instant Win that I told you about last time? It's true that it's a lot of work, and if it weren't such a great prize, I wouldn't be entering. The good thing about "pain-in-the-neck" sweepstakes is that it discourages all but the diehard sweepers, so the odds of winning go way up. Since I have never won one of these from Coke, I'm not really sure how they work. I have heard that the prize just shows up in your mail very soon after you have won. I have won MANY instant wins from other sponsors, though, and can give you some good tips on those. Typically, there will be several instant prizes which could range from some really great ones like trips and computers and cash to smaller ones like coupons or t-shirts or cosmetics (truly ANYTHING!) and you would be notified by email immediately after you have played the game. The prizes often will not be sent out for several weeks--after you've forgotten to keep looking for them!--but I save my winning emails to try to keep track of when I might receive it. Check the rules because some sweepstakes allow you to continue playing through the end of the contest for additional prizes.

You know how you get scratch-off tickets in the mail from time to time, perhaps to win a car at the local dealership. We never seem to win whatever the good prizes are, so sometimes we'll scratch off all the spaces and notice that no matter what we scratched, we weren't holding a winning ticket to begin with. That's the way most instant win sweepstakes work. As soon as you log in, you are issued a "game card" that is already either a winner or a loser. My kids like to play the sweepstakes games for me and I can't convince them that it doesn't matter how they time it or how well they play, my game has already been determined. That's why the rules will often state that even if you get a winning screen, it doesn't mean that you have won. I have received winning emails before when I hadn't gotten the winning screen. This makes me feel better on those occasions when my computer freezes up in the middle of my entry. I've gone back to where I was and have been told that I already played today. It means my "game card" was issued and it wasn't a winner. So now I have a really great tip of the day for you! When you are doing an instant win sweepstakes that involves playing some kind of game, look for teeny, tiny, unobtrusive print either at the top of your game or below the game that says something like, "If you can't see the game, click here." If you click there, you will be able to bypass the game and find out immediately whether you had a winning entry. I have won many times doing just that. Want to try it out? I won the nail polish on this one the very first time I played it. This was found in the coupon section of the Sunday paper, so check those inserts for sweepstakes opportunities. Happy Sweeping!

Follow the Rules

This past year at school, our faculty members had fun determining our personality types according to the Gary Smalley styles. Being the beaver that I am, I have a natural tendency to want to follow the rules. Even if you do not have that natural tendency, you will not be a successful sweeper if you do not pay attention to the rules. You will need to read the fine print to determine whether you are eligible to enter, how often you may enter, and whether you even want to enter. Sometimes reading the rules reveals stipulations that you could not or would not desire to meet, or that the prize is not what it seemed to be. Most sweepstakes have pretty much the same wording, which makes them easy to glance over, but sometimes unusual wordings will seem to pop off the page. Most of the time there will be a place on the entry forms to confirm that you have read the rules, or if not, there will usually be a statement that by entering you are agreeing with the rules. In keeping with this tip of the day, I have a sweepstakes for you that makes it REALLY good if you read the rules.

I have been collecting points from the caps and cartons of Coca Cola products for a long time. I have used them to redeem for magazine subscriptions and photo albums, but most of the time I use them to enter sweepstakes sponsored by Coke. Right now I'm saving most of my points for the next time they have a Disney cruise sweepstakes, but here's one that I would love to win. To enter to win a set of 4 tickets to any Six Flags park worth $160, you would normally need to spend 6 points (2 bottle caps) per entry up to 5 times a day. If you are being a good little sweeper and reading the rules (click the link for the full rules), you will see how to enter for this prize without spending any points! It almost makes me feel sorry for people who are needlessly spending their points, but the beaver in me decides that they deserve it for not reading the rules. Happy Sweeping!

Fill in the Blank

I listened to Dave Ramsey talking today about how some people fall victim to financial predators and their scams because of discontentment. In the hopes of getting rich, people will do almost anything and are trapped by their own greed. It is important to remember that sweeping is not a get rich quick scheme or even a way to make a living. Businesses want you to try their products or at least see their advertising and remember their name. By offering a sweepstakes, they can generate positive feelings toward their company and entice consumers to do some of their advertising for them.

Friends are often amazed to hear how many sweepstakes I can enter in a short amount of time. It's really not so amazing when you know how it is done. I remember helping my grandmother do her laundry in the basement using a washboard and one of those REALLY old wringers, then hanging the clothes up to dry. I can do it so much faster than that today because I have laundry equipment to do most of the work. I have already told you about Online-Sweepstakes.com . With my premium membership, there is a feature that will automatically open up an entire group of sweepstakes at a time and have them ready for me to just fill in the blanks. You may think that would still take forever, but it's time for us to discuss form fillers. You probably already have it on your computer somewhere, and I'm too technically challenged to tell you much about it, but I have disabled that function on my browser, so it's probably in the internet tools. I have a better solution for you. You can download the free version of Roboform, set it up (easy!), and it will fill in lots of basic blanks for you with the touch of a finger. Most sweepstakes just ask for basic contact information anyway. If you find, as I eventually did, that there are too many unique passcards that you wish to save, you can upgrade to the paid version for about $30 (one time!). Depending on my internet connection, and the complexity of the particular sweepstakes, I can easily do 10 sweepstakes a minute. So, the tip of the day is that you need a good form filler. Now, just so you can see how great a help a form filler can be, my Sweepstakes of the Day is a whole page of sweeps! Go here and look below the ads for the ones sponsored by Classic Heartland. It looks like plain type, but those are active links. Find the ones you like and enter your basic contact info with your form filler. Happy Sweeping!

First of the Month

I used to think of the first of the month as payday, but now that we no longer live paycheck to paycheck and most of our finances are on autopay, it doesn't cross my mind much in that respect nowadays. However, the first of the month is still a day to be anticipated since I became a sweeper because there are typically SO MANY sweepstakes beginning on that day. (I love it when the first falls on a non-school day--like today!) Now, in honor of payday, here is a great sweepstakes that will also help you reach your financial goals even if you don't win. You will need to be able to set aside $100/month in a savings account. I have used ING Direct for several years as a place to keep funds that I want to be accessible, but not too accessible. Right now my "Dave Ramsey Emergency Fund" is parked there, earning a small pittance (better than most). ING Direct is sponsoring this sweepstakes for $50,000:

I am often asked if entering sweepstakes generates a lot of junk mail. The answer is yes and no. Most of the time I know before entering whether the company will add me to their mailing list and I have to make the decision of whether to enter or not. If the prize is big enough, I might go ahead and allow contact. It's usually easy to be removed from the mailing list after the prize has been awarded, or I can mark it to be blocked and sent to the junk folder. More often than not, contest sponsors will have a place (sometimes hidden!) where people can opt out of mailings. On the other hand, I have opted in to lots of mailings because I have interest. Some sweepers choose to open a separate email account for sweepstakes. I figure I would still have to check it daily in case I win something, so I just use my primary email. Use whatever works for you.

For those of you who would like to get started sweeping, my tip of the day has to do with setting up an email address and username for sweepstakes. You will probably want to use the same one over and over (along with the same password) to cut down on what you have to memorize. If you do a lot of sweeping, you'll find that a lot of sites are related to each other and want you to use the same info. Choose something short (less typing!) but it usually needs to be at least 6 characters and contain at least one number. Happy Sweeping!

Getting Started

I've been waiting for summer to arrive for many reasons, not the least of which is that I needed more spare time in order to start a blog. Unfortunately, now that I have some time, I'm away from all my smart friends and family members who could help me figure out how to do this. I will do this the same way I learned to "sweep". There was a lot of trial and error involved with that, so bear with me while I fumble my way through this.



As an experienced sweepstaker, I am often asked many questions about this hobby. One of the questions often posed is "How did you get started?" I began a little more than 8 years ago when some unusual circumstances provided me with lots of extra time on my hands. My mom had won a sweepstakes at a Hallmark store in her town, which taught me that yes, real people do win things. While visiting her one time after that, I registered for something at another mall store and won a small prize. Lightning had struck twice in one family! When I began to notice various sweepstakes advertised online, I began entering a few here and there, never really expecting to win, but I was surprised to notice that I actually did start receiving surprise packages in the mail. Granted, they were usually things like hats, T-shirts, tote bags, nail polish, etc., but occasionally they would be DVDs and gift cards.



So far, so good, right? I had said there was a lot of trial and error. It began to be difficult to remember which sweepstakes I had entered already. My searches for new sweepstakes to enter had taken me to several different sweepstakes sites, but I finally settled on the one that was truly the best. I signed up for a free account at Online-Sweepstakes.com as a way to find all the sweeps I wanted to enter as well as to keep track of the ones I had already entered. I soon learned that this site was also invaluable for the tips and other helps it provided. At the time, all of the resources at the site were free for all members to use, but as its popularity grew, it eventually became necessary to charge a nominal membership fee for members who wished to use the premium features. The current fee is $30 for an entire year, which to me is totally worth it. Therefore, my tip of the day is this: Join Online-Sweepstakes as a free member to get started, but when you decide that you want to do more than a little sweeping, go for the premium membership. You will have access to more sweepstakes and the time-saving "Shazam" feature...and the more you can enter, the more you can win! Happy Sweeping!