There is something about entering competitions that gives people a real buzz but can winning competitions save you money?
With hundreds, if not thousands of competitions running online every day, there is sure to be a prize around that you would love to win. But have you ever thought about entering competitions to keep presents aside for family members and friends? I know some people do not agree with you gifting a prize or even regifting. However, I personally have no issues with this at all. I would much rather gift something I have won than just throw it away.
If you were to win a small prize every month, there is a chance you could save yourself at least £100 by Christmas if you did it every month. Then there would also be a chance of winning a prize that you really wanted to keep as a treat for yourself.
For those that are interested in competitions, here are a few tips to save you a little time and effort when it comes to entering.
Tips for entering competitions –
- Set yourself up a new email address – You will need your email address for the majority of competitions, with this comes potentially spam emails. It is easier if this is going into a competition-specific email address so it doesn’t interfere with your normal emails.
- Set up a competition Facebook, Twitter and Instagram profile – If you get the competition bug, you will be entering lots of competitions that will require you to follow accounts and potential share on social media. For some people, this is not a problem, for others that use social media to keep in touch with family and friends, it can mean that your feed gets a little drowned out by all the brands you may end up following. Using your new email though you will be able to create competition profiles just for entering the giveaways. This is also a great way to find other competitions as you will be following those who usually host them too!
- Use sites to help find competitions – There is no need to go trawling the web for competitions now, places such as the MoneysavingExpert forum and The Prize Finder list competitions that have been shared online. My personal favourite is The Prize Finder as you are able to hide, mark as entered and track competitions entered. It is also a place where bloggers share their giveaways such as this huge 10th Birthday giveaway.
- Track your winnings – If you are lucky enough to be a winner, it is worth tracking your winnings. It doesn’t need to be anything complicated, simply what you won, where from and contact details. This just allows you to track when a prize has come in and chase if it doesn’t arrive.
Be prepared to catch the comping bug once you get started, however, with more and more people turning to competition entry as a pastime, the competition for prizes is fierce! It is also worth weighing up the time it takes to enter a competition to that of the prize value on offer. For some people it is a hobby that they do around their everyday lives, it doesn’t take long though to take up a few hours of your day every week and sometimes this can be for no reward if you are not one of the lucky winners.
I would love to hear if you are a fan of competitions! Over the years I have entered a few, my best prize was our bathroom items from Victoria Plumb, we won pretty much an entire bathroom suite which was amazing. What is the best prize you have ever won?
