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!