Yes Sweepstakes Are For Real!

I got my first laptop back in October of 2009. I had just recovered from brain surgery and I wanted to try and find a proofreading job online. I wasn’t very computer savvy (I’m still not) and that first night I just wanted to explore how to use the computer.

I decided to check out some recipe sites and I went to Better Homes and Gardens.  As I perused the website a little blurb popped up that said to enter their sweepstakes, they were giving away a prize each hour. I have always been skeptical of sweepstakes, thinking they were just scams. I thought you had to pay money to enter and then it would be gambling. However I did end up entering that sweepstakes. The only thing it required me to do was enter simple basic information, nothing confidential.

The following morning as I eagerly checked my email for the first time on my new laptop, I found an email from Better Homes and Gardens that stated I had won $1000.00. What? It said I had to print out the attached affidavit and get it notarized at a bank within 10 days or I would forfeit my prize.

I didn’t do anything for several days. I went back and forth about whether or not it was for real. On the 9th day I made a decision that I was going to get it notarized at my bank and give it a whirl.

When I walked into the bank there was an unfamiliar man at the desk. He looked at my affidavit and said “congratulations this is a wonderful company. I used to work for them in Royal Oak, Michigan. ” I immediately felt better and I believed at that moment that the sweepstakes was genuine.

Thirty days later I received a $1000.00 visa card in the mail. I went to the gas station and after filling my gas tank, I knew it was real. I also knew I had discovered a new hobby!

I began learning about how to enter sweepstakes and I learned some valuable tips along the way. I will share those tips later.

Two months after I had won that initial sweepstakes, I received a phone call stating that I had won the grand prize in a sweepstakes. The grand prize? Wow. I thought how exciting to win another $1000.00. I was told the same thing about the affidavit.  I excitedly asked what the “grand prize” was. When she told me it was $10,000 I burst into tears. The economy was so bad here in Michigan. We own a company that is dependent on the auto industry and we were suffering greatly. That money that day was truly a blessing from heaven. I was so grateful and I was hooked on sweepstakes too.

Three months later that year in April I won an all expense paid trip to Egypt. It was the trip of a lifetime. It was sponsored by the Discovery Channel and it was so amazing.

Later that year in August, I incredibly won another $10,000. It was unbelievable and I was learning how to enter and having a blast. Stay tuned tomorrow for my tips on how to enter sweepstakes and have a very enjoyable new hobby!