Week Six, Day Two -- Improving Our Odds

It's been a few weeks since we've won a prize and we're starting to get discouraged. While doing some reading about improving our odds, it was pointed out that the more prizes a sweepstakes offers, the better your chances to win. If I enter a sweepstakes offering ten prizes, then I am ten times more likely to win than I am if I enter a sweepstakes that only offers one prize. So today, we're entering the sweeps that offer a lot of chances to win. The prizes range from big to small but as I've said before, a prize is a prize.

 

Happy sweeping!

• Revlon Lipstick -- 5,000 prizes available, enter daily through January 14, 2011
• Cash and Watches -- 1,053 prizes available, enter daily through January 31, 2011
• Bicycles and Lip Gloss -- 103 prizes available, enter oncey through January 31, 2011
• Cash -- 124 prizes available, enter daily through March 4, 2011
• More Cash -- 124 prizes available, enter daily through March 4, 2011
• Still More Cash -- 124 prizes available, enter daily through March 4, 2011
• And Cash Again -- 7,041 prizes available, enter weekly through March 31, 2011

Week Six, Day One -- Geek Prizes

Michael is a geek. He will be the first one to tell you that so I'm allowed to say it. Now, he's not the biggest geek I've ever seen--he doesn't use pocket protectors, he doesn't attend Star Trek conferences, and he has (at least these days) a life outside of computer video games.

But he could take apart my computer and put it back together again and I'd never know the difference. And he can quote a few too many lines from Star Wars. And, to be totally honest, he probably misses his gaming days. To top it all off, he loves gadgets. If it'll boot up, light up, or sync up, he'd probably enjoy it. So today's prizes are just for geeks. We've got laptops, iPads, ereaders, and other miscellaneous gadgets on the prize list for today.

Got a geek in your life? Try to win him (or her) a prize below.

Good luck!

• Ergonomic Wireless Mouse -- 1 prize available, enter in multiple ways through January 10, 2011
EXPIRED
• Mini Laptop -- 1 prize available, enter once through January 10, 2011
EXPIRED
• Wi-Fi Signal Enhancer -- 1 prize available, enter in multiple ways through January 11, 2011
• Kindle eReader -- 1 prize available, enter once through January 10, 2011
EXPIRED
• MacBook Air -- 1 prize available, enter daily through January 14, 2011
• iPad -- 1 prize available, enter once through January 31, 2011
• Android Tablet -- 1 prize available, enter once through January 31, 2011
• iPad -- 1 prize available, enter daily through March 6, 2011
• iPad -- 1 prize available, enter daily through March 25, 2011
• TV, Netbook, and Video Game Console -- 1 prize pack available, enter daily through April 8, 2011

Week Five, Day Five -- Lookin' Good

Today's prizes are all about looking good. We've got cosmetics, hair products, skin treatments, etc. And while Michael may not appreciate winning these prizes, I will certainly put them to use.

Speaking of prizes, we are at the end of week five and we don't have any additional winnings to report. As of today, we have won a total of five prizes. Five prizes, five weeks. But if we don't win something else soon, we'll be off track for hitting our goal of 52 prizes in a year. So wish us luck! And if you're entering along with us, good luck to you, too!

• Body Scrub -- 5 prizes available, enter as often as you want through January 7, 2011 EXPIRED
• Tooth Whitening Kit -- 1 prize available, enter in multiple ways through January 7, 2011 EXPIRED
• Aveeno Hair Products -- 1 prize available, enter in multiple ways through January 8, 2011 EXPIRED
• Eye Shadow -- 1 prize available, enter daily through January 10, 2011
EXPIRED
• Make-Up Kit -- 3 prizes available, enter daily through January 12, 2011
• Eye Cream -- 1 prize available, enter in multiple ways through January 13, 2011

Week Five, Day Four -- Small Packages

They say that good things come in small packages and we think that's true. Today, we are only entering to win small prizes. In this particular instance, we are classifying small prizes as ones that have lower monetary values.

We are entering these giveaways for two reasons. One, the prizes are small but way cool. Two, our odds of winning are substantially higher in sweepstakes with a small prize than they are with say, the HGTV Dream Home Sweepstakes! And our goal is, after all, to win 52 prizes in a year. So anything we can do to tip the odds in our favor is a good thing.

Happy sweeping!

• Lunchbox Set -- 1 prize available, enter daily through January 17, 2011
• Preschool DVDs -- 3 prizes available, enter daily through January 22, 2011
• Babyfood Freezer Trays -- 1 prize available, enter daily through January 30, 2011
• Exercise Prize Pack -- 1 prize available, enter in multiple ways through January 19, 2011
• Pillsbury Prize Pack -- 1 prize available, enter daily through January 9, 2011 EXPIRED
• Toothbrush Sanitizer -- 1 prize available, enter in multiple ways through January 10, 2011
• Penzey's Spices -- 1 prize available, enter once through January 15, 2011
• Progresso Soup Prize Pack -- 1 prize available, enter in multiple ways through January 7, 2011 EXPIRED

Week Five, Day Three -- Contests

In a previous post, we talked about the difference between sweepstakes and contests. In short, sweepstakes winner are chosen randomly while contest winners are chosen for their efforts (creative endeavors, solving puzzles, etc.). As a general rule, we've been entering sweepstakes with only one or two exceptions. Today, though, we thought we'd take a look at some of the contests out there.

Because of the extra effort required to enter a contest, there are far fewer entries than there are in a typical sweepstakes, thereby increasing your odds of winning. Of course, you would only enter the contests that require the kind of skills you possess. For instance, you wouldn't want to enter an art contest if you've never held a paintbrush :-)  All of that being said, the following contests require a variety of skill sets. Hopefully you will find a couple that are just right for you.

Good luck!

• Hidden Valley Ranch Recipe Contest -- 3 prizes available, enter through January 7, 2011 EXPIRED
• Coffee Video Contest -- 1 prize available, enter through January 15, 2011
• VH1 Movie Review Contest -- 5 prizes available, enter through January 15, 2011
• Parents Magazine Photo Contest -- 2 prizes available, enter through January 15, 2011
• Universal Studios Essay Contest -- 1 prize available, enter through January 24, 2011
• Expedia Naming Contest -- 7 prizes available, enter through February 3, 2011
• Cover Girl Video Contest -- 21 prizes available, enter through February 16, 2011

Week Five, Day Two -- In Your Dreams

Odds are good that the biggest prize we'll be entering to win this year is the 2011 HGTV Dream Home. If you're not familiar with the HGTV Dream Home, let me tell you about it.

First of all, HGTV holds this giveaway every year. Sometime before the start of the giveaway, they have an amazing home built somewhere in the U.S. This year, the home is in Vermont. They completely furnish and decorate the house and they even put a vehicle in the garage. If all of that isn't enough, they tack an extra $500,000 cash on to the prize.

The house and it's furnishings are valued at about $1,500,000. The grand prize winner can opt to take $650,000 instead of the house but they will still receive the additional $500,000 plus the vehicle.

Want to enter? There are two ways to enter online and you can do each one daily through February 18, 2011.

• HGTV Entry Form
• HGTV Front Door Entry Form

Week Five, Day One -- Tickets

I took my four year old to see Yogi Bear this weekend. To be perfectly honest, it was a chore for me to sit through the whole thing but my son found it hiliarious. Watching him giggle through the entire movie made the outing worthwhile.

Movies are kind of a rare outing for us these days because before we even make it to the theater, we've doled out at least $30 bucks for a babysitter. Then, of course, you can't even walk in the door of the theater without dropping at least $20. And Heaven forbid you should want to get popcorn or a soft drink.

But as rare is a movie is for us, other ticketed events are even rarer. Let's see, I think the last concert we went to was a Bob Seger concert three years ago. The last play was probably Mama Mia sometime last year. And the last sporting event? Hmmm....I don't know that we've ever attended one of those together!

But so, this is going to be the theme for today's sweepstakes. All of the ones we are entering today are to win tickets to various events. If you're playing along with us, keep in mind that most of the prizes do not include transportation to said events. Nonetheless, I might be willing to make the trip for some of these.

Good luck and we'll see you tomorrow!

• Bon Jovi Concert in Choice of 11 Cities -- 1 prize available, enter daily through January 16, 2011.
  
• Super Bowl XLV (All inclusive trip) -- 1 prize available, enter once through January 22, 2011.
  
• Super Bowl XLV (tickets only) -- 1 prize available, enter once through January 23, 2011.
  
• Movie Tickets and More -- 1 prize available, enter once through January 5, 2011.
  
• Sea World Tickets -- 1 prize available, enter once through November 11, 2011.