A Win - Great Way to Start 2017

I received a call on Tuesday from my local Co-op (I am a member there) that I won a $50 gas card for a contest I entered.  This is the only place we get gas unless we are not at home.  I never get tired of receiving these calls or emails, it tends to make my week :)

If you have read this blog for any length of time you will know that one of my hobbies is entering contests.  I only enter when I have time, try to stick with single entry contests(even playing field) and only participate in contests for companies I know and like.  This protects me from a lot of the scam-riff raff and that way if I win something I can actually use it!  I only spend 5-10 minutes a day on this.  Some people craft, I contest.  In 2015 I took a break and as you can see won nothing.  I used to think I was not a lucky person, you know, that person who never wins at cards and puts money in slot machines at Vegas (not very much just so you know) and never gets anything back.  Then I started contesting and I realized that with contests persistence pays off.  In case you are interested about previous wins here is a list, some things I blogged about and some I didn't:


2016
Good Year Blimp ride and 10,000 air miles - was 5000 but due to date changes they gave us 10,000 - Value approximately $6-7000 depending on how many miles we spend on flight and season.
$500 Visa gift card (which I did not blog about, not sure why but used it for expenses on blimp trip)
Hubby won a free pass to our local recreation centre where he works out ($58 value)

2014
Baking supplies basket

2013
Green necklace from the shopping channel (value $80)

2012
Can of paint
Trip to Whistler Part 1 and Part 2

2011
Mirror
Winners $50 Gift Card

2010
$4000 worth of furniture
$25 Joe Fresh Gift Card
Free product coupon for Catelli any size (family size spaghetti)
Windowsill herb garden

Over the years I have won around $15,000 worth of stuff.  Quite shocking when you add it all up.  This hobby is not for everyone, and is quite discouraging until you get your first win.  And yes, you have to use an email address where you check your email every single day, even the spammy ones as you never know when you will be notified of a win.  You are always required to send a signature back within a specific timeframe and sometimes you have to pay for certain things out of pocket.  The blimp ride was one of my favorite wins yet included no travel costs.  I thought it was worth it to spend the money to take the ride and am so glad we did - it was a highlight of 2016.  Due to the number of times the blimp ride timeslot had to be moved Goodyear gave us twice as many air miles as they advised originally as they felt bad - that was simply awesome.

I thought this post was timely as many of you out there need something other than the craptastic news that is happening today to occupy yourself with.  I use contestgirl.com which works well if you are in the USA or Canada, a completely free and excellent site so you can remember what you entered and what you didn't and be notified of new contests.

So the next time you see a contest from a company you like, consider entering.  People do win them!  And in Canada our wins are tax free - yippee!