I want to turn you on to a way to stretch your dollar and possibly bring some excitement and luxuries into your life that you might not otherwise be able to afford. So, what the heck am I talking about? Not a get rich scheme, no pyramid scams, but online SWEEPSTAKES and CONTESTS! That's right!
Read on, to hear all about how sweepstakes and contests on the internet have helped my family out TREMENDOUSLY since I quit my job as a Science teacher and became a stay-at-home mom to our first child, Riley.
My motive was simple enough. I wanted to be able to quit my job when I had my first child, so that I could raise her myself. Now, my husband and I were very unsure of how we could make ends meet if I quit my job, but we both agreed that raising Riley at home was a top priority. When I quit, my own personal goal was to stretch our family budget as far as it would go. I tried everything including clipping coupons, sending away for freebies and rebates, cooking every meal instead of eating out, etc.
I even tried a few "work at home" opportunities, but frankly, I found most of these to be either scams or not worth my time. I even tried the survey racket and although I hear how many people make a lot of money doing those, it never seemed to work out for me. It wasn't until I discovered sweepstakes, that I actually found something I liked doing and was worthwhile, monetarily.
So, I'm sure your next question at this point is...how did you do? I don't want to brag, but basically in a 7-month time frame, I actually made MORE money than I did as a Science teacher in a YEAR! I won some awesome trips and every kind of cool electronic device out there. I won a bunch of cash and even won a 50" Plasma TV that I was able to give to my parents for Christmas! This is why I highly recommend entering sweepstakes on the internet.
To aid in this endeavor and because I hope to be hosting a ton of reviews and giveaways of my own here at Mommy Living the Life of Riley, I decided to post some of my "top picks" at least twice a week. If this becomes a feature that my readers really enjoy, I might begin posting these picks even more frequently. For now though, start checking back here regularly for "Winning It Wednesdays" and "Super Sweepstakes Saturday/Sunday".
Okay, now if you're a skeptic like me (and hooray if you are!), you're probably thinking that there has to be a catch...this is just too good to be true and you're right, there is! SWEEPSTAKES TAKES A LOT OF HARD WORK and a little luck too! There, I said it. Nobody has the kind of winnings I had by entering a few sweepstakes every now and then. But, that's also what's great about it. Even if you only enter a few sweepstakes a day, you have the potential to win.
But, I'm a little on the obsessive side sometimes and being a stay-at-home mom put me a LOT on the BORED side sometimes and so I basically turned entering sweepstakes into a full-time job. I ENTERED SWEEPSTAKES ABOUT 8-10 HOURS PER DAY, EVERYDAY! The great thing was, they were MY hours on MY schedule and I could stop at any time for any reason. Believe me, you don't have to do what I did. I know many people out there who only do this for about an hour or so per day and still make several thousand dollars a year from this hobby.
I'll admit, I've scaled WAY back on how much I enter sweepstakes now. This turnabout happened for many reasons. First, I seemed to have a lot more free time when Riley was a baby and wasn't as active. As a toddler, she's a continuous ball of energy and I'm her official 24-hour playmate (which I love being). Also, my husband and I have begun a business, MCM Inventions, Inc., whereby we are trying to manufacture and sell an invention we've patented, called Toothpaste 2 Go. I've found that starting your own business takes up A HUGE AMOUNT OF TIME! Finally, I've discovered blogging and I'd really like to try my hand at doing product reviews and giveaways here permanently. But, that's what's great about this hobby, you can do as much or as little as you have time for.
Okay, so there's my introduction to entering sweepstakes! What do you think so far? Is this something you'd be interested in learning more about? If so, please leave me some comment love and let me know. Stay tuned for an upcoming post whereby I will get into the "nitty gritty" of entering sweepstakes and tell you all about the different kinds, what you want to look for when you enter, getting into a daily routine, etc. Also, remember to stop by on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays for some of my favorite sweepstakes picks! Stay tuned and GOOD LUCK!
View Comments (15)
Ok - I'll bite. I'm intrigued but very skeptical...seems...too good to be true and in my experience..if it seems to good to be true then it *is* too good to be true...but...I'll read more if you post more about it. I honestly couldn't spend 8 hrs a day on entries...but could probably scrape out 2 hrs or so to do it.
I completely understand and believe me, 2 hours is actually plenty. That's about how I started out...then when I started winning some, I thought "well how much would I win if I did this for 4 hours, 6 hours, 8 hours?" And that's how I started doing it like a full time job. Glad to see you're interested! I'll start posting more about it! :)
I wouldn't mind reading more. Of course it's only natural to be skeptical. Some of the blogs I read have giveaways quite often and I know they're American blogs and I'm from Canada so if they don't state US and Canadians then I don't know if I should enter so I usually don't bother to. What is your view on that? If the giveaway doesn't mention any specific country or the country you're from, do you still enter? Thank you for posting this.
.-= luvtoeat.wordpress.com/´s last blog ..Happy Easter/Long Weekend! =-.
That's great! You ask a really good question too! Most sweepstakes that I'm aware of generally include Canada, but if you want to make 100% sure, then look for the Official Rules of the contest. No legitimate contest can operate without posting their official rules. The official rules is the LEGALLY binding contract between the entrants and the sweepstakes itself. EVERYTHING you want to know, including what countries can enter, will be posted here. Hope to see you back soon! :)
Hello there! Thanks for stopping by my blog! I have won a few giveaways but no major cash or anything. I think its so great that you have though, wow! I just don't think I'd know where to begin w this.
Heather @ http://www.savingmoneylivinglife.com
Thanks! Yeah, that's what's good and bad about sweepstakes...they are all long shots, but you have the chance to win some REALLY big prizes. Last year, I was actually the grand prize winner of a sweepstakes sponsored by Long John Silvers and I won $10,000 cash! It can be done, but the odds are really bad. That's why I started entering so many a day...I figured eventually if I entered enough of them, that my lucky day would come!
Thanks for stopping by my blog! I've won a few giveaways but no cash like you're talking about, that's pretty awesome!
Heather
I love the idea! I'm definitely interested in your top picks.
Great! I'll be posting more VERY soon and I'll start posting my top picks beginning this Saturday! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hi Melissa, love your blog and especially this post about he sweepstakes. I am a WAHM mom for about 15 years selling advertising and recently my niece and I started our own blog. But I have tried hundreds of ways to make money at home and never had much luck at them either. So yes, I would love to hear more about sweepstakes. I won't have 8 to 10 hours to dedicate but I still wanna know more.
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.-= Michele´s last blog ..The Seeds for the Herb Garden =-.
Thanks so much for stopping by! I went to your blog and entered the Sounds True giveaway...looks like a great product! I'll be posting more info on the ins and outs of successful sweeping real soon! Have a great day!
I am definitely interested in your top picks. How do you go about finding these sweepstakes to enter? Thanks for posting this and I'll keep watching!
I am excited to see what you share and this is something I would be interested in starting to do. Thank you.
.-= Michelle ´s last blog ..Cultural Care Au Pair Video Contest-Host Families Could Win a Free Program Year Plus the au pair could win $1000 =-.
What a great post. I just love the site! Keep up the great work :)
Thanks so much for stopping by and for your lovely comment! I really appreciate readers like you!