Are you one of the millions who likes to dream about what you’d do if you won the lottery? I’ll confess, I have imagined how I’d divvy up my winnings, and I rarely ever even play. One reason is that your odds of winning a top prize aren’t good. In fact you’re more likely to be killed by a lightning strike than to win. And yet some people spend $10, $20, even $50 a week on lottery tickets. All that money could be put to better use saving for retirement, but some people can’t let go of the chance to “win big”. My recommendation? Online sweepstakes.
The Problem with the Lottery Habit
You might think there’s not much harm in playing the lottery, but you should think again. In 2014, Americans spent $70 billion on lottery games and the poorest third of households bought half of all lottery tickets sold. And while those lottery profits are helping states fund programs, they’re taking wealth away from all those players. If you invested $10 a week tax deferred over the 45 years you’re likely to be saving for retirement, with a 7% return you’d have over $150,000. While that may not provide a comfortable retirement, it definitely adds up to a good start.
But what about the potential winnings for all those years? It’s important to note that according to Bloomberg research, the average lottery player loses about $0.40 for every $1.00 in tickets purchased.
How Online Sweepstakes Can Help
So what’s a lottery daydreamer to do? Try online sweepstakes instead. My wife loves to play online sweepstakes, and although we haven’t “hit it big” yet, she did win a $1,000 Amazon gift card, a tailgating set, a Star Wars VR set (that we sold for $200), $50 in cash, free movie tickets, and some other miscellaneous items.
Benefits
The major benefit of online sweeps is that they’re free. You still have the potential to win big, but without the financial cost. You can enter as few or as many as you want, and you select which ones you want to enter based on the prizes.
Drawbacks
There are some drawbacks however. Both the lottery and online sweeps require an investment of time (although how much is up to you), and your time may be better spent on a side hustle with guaranteed income, or on ways to increase your primary source of income.
Also, some sweepstakes require you to watch video ads to enter (some let you move on to another window while it plays, others do not), while other sweeps require you to subscribe to their email list (you can unsubscribe at any time). There are plenty of sweepstakes that don’t require either of those, so it’s up to you and which ones you choose to enter.
Tracking
My wife swears that it’s important to track which sweepstakes you’re entering and she uses a basic spreadsheet to do it. Not only does this help confirm the legitimacy of a sweepstakes win (as opposed to a scam where they try to get your personal information), but it helps to keep track of which sweepstakes you want to enter more than once, or share with friends.
Rules
It’s important to check that you’re in compliance with the Official Rules, and any legitimate sweepstakes will have a link to those. Pay special attention to how often you can enter. Some are daily, some weekly or monthly, while others you can enter only once. The tricky ones let you enter daily, but only up to a certain limit so you’ll need to keep track of how many times you entered. A number of the daily sweeps require you to wait at least 24 hours between entries, so you’ll want to keep track of what time you enter those.
Keep in mind that you are not required to buy anything or purchase a subscription to participate in sweepstakes, but some which require codes will list an alternate way to get them in the rules.
Which Ones to Enter
There are several things to keep in mind when you decide which online sweepstakes to enter. First, if you win you’ll be responsible for taxes, so be sure the prize is something you can afford, especially if you’re not winning any cash.
Speaking of the prize, make sure it’s something you want or something you can easily sell. Some prizes are non-transferable (especially trips) while others may be difficult to sell. That tailgating set I mentioned was a second prize and we figured we’d just sell it. We didn’t know that the canopy tent and camp chairs were bright pink and now they’re sitting packed away in one of our closets. 🙁
Some sweepstakes may mention a specific prize, but actually give you a check or gift card. Others may offer a specific prize, but give you the option to take a cash amount instead (usually lower in value than the prize). Check the rules for details.
Finally, you may want to shoot for the stars and enter contests for millions of dollars, but you’ll have a lot of competition with those. Entering sweeps for $5,000 or less means your odds are likely to be better.
How to Find Sweepstakes
For the granddaddy of all sweeps, try Publishers Clearing House. No longer do you have to fiddle with those little paper stamps and mail it away. You can play online everyday to win cash amounts big and small, as well as prizes. This site is especially good if you enjoy scratch-off cards and games.
Beyond that, there are quite a few sites that list new, open sweepstakes. A reliable one that my wife uses is Contest Girl, updated daily.
Online sweepstakes may not make you wealthy, but if you enter consistently, you’re likely to see some results. Meanwhile you can take your lottery money and invest it for a rainy day.
Do you ever play the lottery? What about online sweepstakes? If you won the big prize, what’s the first thing you’d do with the money?
Thank you for mentioning the tax issue; I think regular “sweepers” need to keep it front and center, if they win. I saw a show on TV where an avid sweeper won a car, and the tax bill was in the thousands!
Taxes can be a huge gotcha for some of these prizes. My wife told me about one sweepstakes for a month-long trip worth $100k which she didn’t enter just for that reason. Thanks for your comment, Miguel.
Have same problem , cause fee not giving , stupid.
I’m just about to kick in $5 to my office lottery pool. So yes I do play the lottery. Not often, but usually when the prize is several 100 million. During the holidays I often give away starch offs too.
I have entered some sweepstakes over the years, but find it can be too time-consuming to do it regularly. Great to hear your wife has developed a system and has taken home some nice prizes.
I also tend to buy a couple tickets when the prize money is really high, although ironically that’s when your odds are worst. Office pools are tough because you don’t want to be the one person who didn’t win. The occasional $5 isn’t doing much damage…it’s the habitual buyers who are really spending too much chasing a dream.
I get an email from Amazon with giveaways daily. I haven’t won anything, but keep entering for a Free Kindle (mine’s on its last legs) and sometimes other stuff. Mostly, you just have to follow an author on Amazon, watch a video, or share something on social media.
I also occasionally enter the Swagstakes on Swagbucks. But the only times I’ve won something, it’s been on a Rafflecopter on a blog.
That said, I do play the lottery when Powerball or MegaMillions gets big. It’s not lucrative, but it’s fun to dream. Who knows? Maybe I’ll win that $430 Million Powerball jackpot. But I don’t play often and I only buy one ticket when I do.
The old expression “everything in moderation” comes to mind, so you can be excused for an occasional wish and expenditure on a multi-million lottery ticket when they are so tempting. As long as you’re in control of that urge and only occasionally give in, I think you’re on the right path. Good luck on that Kindle!