Do you consider yourself a fanatical sweeper? I would say I am not fanatical but super ambitious and driven to enter and win. Is it a part of our daily lives? Absolutely! Do I dive into dumpsters to find Coke code? Absolutely not.
Where do you fit into the “sweeping” community? Are you a fanatic? Addicted to winning?
I love this hobby. It’s the only hobby I have stuck with this long and not gotten bored with. It has helped our family in “extreme” ways. Yes, just like extreme couponing, sweeping can be extreme because there are so many sweeps to enter and so many prizes to be won. Once you are bitten by the sweeping bug and get that CONGRATULATIONS letter there is no turning back. Just like the person who keeps going to the casino to hear the cha-ching of chips and whirr of the slot machine, we live for that next prize.
I think I am like Necta (see below) and am ‘lil addicted, a ‘lil obsessed, but not extreme. Maybe you are a fanatical, extreme sweeper. Doesn’t matter how you do it or view it – hey that rhymes, we can all be winners because there is more than enough sweeps and prizes to go around.
From TV Guide (June 8, 2011)
Exclusive: TLC Picks Up Series Pilot About Sweepstakes Addicts
Move over, Extreme Couponers. TLC is going after another quick money subculture: People obsessed with entering sweepstakes.
TLC has ordered the hour-long special High Stakes Sweepers, which follows passionate sweepstakes players as they spend their days and nights filling out contest entries in the hopes of striking it big. The new project comes fresh off the successful run of surprise hit Extreme Couponing, which has averaged nearly 2 million viewers and become a pop culture phenomenon.
After reading the press release about the new TLC Extreme Sweeper – or as they are going to call it – High Stakes Sweepers – I had to ask my readers where they thought they fit into the sweeping equation.
With their permission, here are some of their responses:
Julia: It’s more like a healthy obsession! lol That’s what my hubby calls it.
Cynthia: I think of it as a hobby, it’s for fun. LOL
Michelle: Provides needs and wants for my family I could not have otherwise. Sweeties Sweepstakes is my favorite sweeps site.
Jennifer: If I see a sweepstakes or contest and I have time, I’ll enter it. I’ve won tshirts and concert tickets and coupons, but the big one was a $1000 Walmart gift card about a year ago. It really helped, too, because money was tight!
Helen: I agree with Julia.. its a healthy obsession… I enter for things that I know I need or really desire. I don’t enter for things that I don’t really want so that others that do want whats up for grabs has a better chance.
Sherry: I feel I take after you Sweetie, the only difference is I still need to hit the big one. Lots of small ones here and there, my time will come because I am determined. Thanks for showing me the light! 🙂
Heather: It’s an addiction for me! I’m a stay at home mom and at times I need a mood lifter so when I enter contests and get the winning screen or the congratz email or a package at the door it definitely boosts my spirits for the day and makes me forget for a bit that my son is acting like a madman!
Candice: I am totally addicted. I spend too much time sweeping in my opinion, but if I didn’t I probably wouldn’t be winning. I’ve won over $5000 worth of things so far since Oct. 2010. Hoping to win a trip soon!
Jessica: I’m a stay at home mom. sweeps and couponing is an addiction! I spend about 2 hours doing it every night when the kids go to sleep 🙂
Jenn: I enter hundreds daily online and about 1500 a year through the mail. Been doing this for 12 years now.
Pleasant: I’d like to get much more involved. I can’t seem to get past the instant win games. I’d love to know the pro’s secret to success (30 mins instant win, 30 mins to daily, fill in the blank sweeps or giveaways on blogs, etc.)? I don’t want to win the tiny stuff. Would rather shoot for the trips, cars, money, etc.
Samantha: For me it’s about hope. Times are so financially difficult right now, and sweeping gives me hope that we might one day get the new car we so desperately need, or sone extra unexpected cash to help pay bills! A vacation though, would just be magnificent at this point.
Maraina: My hubs says I am obsessed! I do probably do spend too much time sweeping but have won some really great prize. Still hoping for a big win.
Cindy: It’s what I do daily, oh what am I talking about, Several times a day! I’ve been entering sweeps for over 30 years and last year finally won a biggie! A new car. It was such a blessing! I get excited over the small wins too, that’s what keeps me going! And I’m with Samantha, it’s all about hope. Keep trying, it will happen if you enter! GLTA!
Necta: just wanna say it all started with me when I received an email that I won a laptop and Dr Dre Beats. I was so excited this was last year and the next day I was looking for sweeps and found Sweeties website and was hooked line and sinker lol. I must say I’m a lil addicted but I love it have won lots of prizes thanks to sweeties sweeps, waiting for that car or some cash to pay off my student loans…
Audrie: I just started about a month ago and haven’t won anything yet, but I again just started! I’m a stay at home mom so money is super tight. I manage to enter all my sweeps in a 1/2 hour every morning during Bubble Guppies!(thanks to autofill) and periodically when you post new ones throut the day!
Courtney: I just started sweeping now for about 2 months and I love it. My biggest win was the $250 gift card with the Glad force flex bag…now im addicted!
Melodie: I’ve been entering sweeps for years, and still Never win…but ill keep trying
Kathy: I’ve been trying and trying and putting it out there to the universe… hoping it is listening!!
Terri: I’ve been sweeping for almost a year. I win a lot of smaller prizes and had one good size win last year but it’s part of my daily routine to enter. There were a few times i got discouraged but then my daughter in college won $5,000 from… the Old Navy Easter sweeps on Easter sunday so now i’m back and entering everything I can. Your email about not getting discouraged from your sweeping 101 emails was such a good inspiration to me and a reminder that I have to keep entering if I want to win. Reading about others wins inspires me and reminds me that real people can win – in fact it was after reading about one of your other readers winning $1,000 from the Old Navy Sweep that I encouraged my college aged daughter to enter and we were shocked at her win. Thank you for all you do 🙂
Dianna: I think I can definitely GET obsessive from time to time, lol, but in general I try to think of this as a hobby and if it stops being fun for me, I take a break from it for a few days – but usually yes, I do enter my sweeps daily every morning before my work day begins.
Brie: Do fanatics really ever know that they are fanatics? I found Sweeties Sweeps a little over 2 years ago, my first win was a movie ticket that I never received but I didn’t give up. I’ve been entering almost every day since and I have been able to provide our family with lots of things that we never could have afforded for ourselves, and lots of things that we would have purchased for ourselves, but didn’t have to because of a win. I can’t even really explain how much sweeping has genuinely helped my family. My husband says that sweeping is my job and has started insisting that I keep a spreadsheet with how much I actually bring into the house, even though I stay at home so I can actually see my “income”…some months, I make more than he does!
Kelly: I don’t see myself as fanatical I see it as me time in the early morning hours, when the house is quiet, I can sip my coffee, and supplement our lives with freebies. Whether its money, t-shirts, free coupons. Its all good. It makes my life easier when I can get things and not have to spend my hard earned money for them.
Tracy: Sweeping is getting very close to an addicition for me. I am on the computer many hours a day (embarrassed to say how many). But how can you stop when you win everyday (well there were 4 days I didn’t win) of the month. This month I have won 56 times. So yes it is an addiction at this point. And yes I do need to get out and get a real job.
Michelle: Well I have not won as much as alot of these folks, especially late.. for some reason, lucky if I have a win a week. I am addicted… waiting for the big pay day! Although I don’t spend as much time as some with twitter lately. I did have christmas covered with all my wins from last year, and that helped out alot with finances.
Kristine: When I was out of work, sweeping was the highlight of my day. I’m so glad I found your site during that time because it gave me hope and something to look forward to doing other than constantly searching for a job. I started 2 years ago, and this year has been great to me. I’ve already won a trip for 4 to Disney World, a pair of Christian Louboutin heels, and just this week a $1000 gift card. I’m glad to be back to work but I haven’t stopped sweeping!
Soha: I always think if you don’t enter, you don;t win. so for me it’s definitely a most worthwhile, time consuming “hobby”.
Carolyn: Entering sweepstakes is one of my favorite hobbies. I found Sweeties Sweepstakes in March when I was looking for codes for the Loacker sweepstakes. This site has been a blessing for me because I graduated college in December and I have not found a job yet. I have had some very nice wins in the past three months. In March, I won $100 from Outback’s Red, White, and Bloomin’ sweepstakes, April I won $100 from Marlboro, and this month I won a year supply of frozen California Pizza Kitchen to be awarded in 52 coupons (ARV $349) and a Sony Cyber-Shot camera (ARV $250). I wish I have won bigger prizes, but these prizes are very amazing. I joined the Secret Site in April and I had my very first win on May 23rd. I won a nail polish collection worth about $100, but I cannot share more details yet because the sweeps does not end until May 31st. Thank you for all that you to inform us of upcoming sweeps, especially the ones on the “winnable” list. Small wins such as movie tickets are always nice because prices constantly go up and entertainment is not a priority on my list unless I can get it free or find cheap deals.
Deborah: It’s a hobby that I’m obessed with! Still waiting on that big win.
Ingrid: I do enter everyday and always looking for new ones, but I would not say I am addicted. I started in 2001 and to this day my prizes has allowed me to have and do things that I could not have afforded otherwise. The great part is that it does not cost anything to enter (only if you are mailing in eateries). Recently a friend who I encouraged to enter sweepstakes won a trip to Rio for the premiere of Fast 5 and got to meet the cast – I was so happy for her I felt as if I won too just seeing her so happy.
Debra: I do it for the thrill of winning. I feel like a winner, even if it is only for a coupon for a free product item. But, when winnings become slim and I get burned out, I take time off, which is what I’ve done for several months now. I actu…ally got burned out this time after several nice wins, because life in general has been sucky lately. But, it’s pretty weather now (I tend to get down in the winter), and I’m feeling the urge to purge, organize, and enter sweeps again. I rarely keep my wins, unless it is hard cold cash, which is something we need while living on one income. I love giving gifts, so this feeds into my second obsession of giving.
Vanessa: sweeping is def part of my daily life. It’s fun! plus, I’ve made a lot of great friends! =)
Source: www.facebook.com/sweetiessweepstakes/posts/10150607515305252
Do you think the TLC show will change how people view us?
Just like all of us couponers having a hard time at stores for using coupons since Extreme Couponing came out, I think that if us Sweepers tell people about our hobby we will be looked down on. These shows are killing me! They are only showing the people that go overboard, not the real, everyday people who do it in a healthy way. America at large thinks what they see on tv is the only way the couponers ans sweepers behave. Makes it rough for the “real” people!
So funny! I was just thinking yesterday that TLC should do an “extreme sweepers” version of extreme couponing. I’m sure there are some crazy sweepers out there just like those crazy couponers! I am both a sweeper and a couponer, but not extreme in either (yet, lol).
I wonder if the odds will go down for us when millions of viewers start doing sweeps? Just like millions of people are couponing more…..then again what a great thing it would be for sweetie to have a big boost for her site!!
Yes, it will spike the interest in the hobby but just like everything, only a handful will stay around, especially when they find out how much work is involved and that you can’t just enter and win everything you enter.
Yeah, I love sweeping!! I enter nearly everyday, and I can’t imagine giving this hobby up. Just won an $8.00 Publix Gift Card an hour or so ago from Coke…free entry too, did not have to use any of my points! I would not “dumpster dive” for coke codes, but I have taken 24 and 12 pack cartons out of trash cans for the codes. Hey, they were visible; I had gloves :).
My favorite win thus far has been a netbook computer, which I won slightly over a year ago just as my Toshiba laptop was on the verge of permanent and irreparable death. I had no idea how I was going to afford a new laptop computer, so you can imagine how excited I was to receive the winning e-mail notification! I was on another sweep site and there was a vote request from a member; he won for his school and I won just for voting for him, so that really sweetened the win.
Gem…I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one who might pull a Coke carton out of the trash can if it’s visable! 😀 Heehee! I will also pick a cap off the ground. I’ve won in the txt to win game by picking caps off the ground since I don’t drink coke! 😀
To me…sweepstaking is a great hobby and a great way to win what I can’t afford. I think money is tight for everyone and if I can win some extra cash or gift cards to lessen the blow then by all means…why shouldn’t I?
Some people don’t understand when I say that my hobby is sweepstakes…but who cares what they think? They’re the same ones who are jealous when I roll up with some freebies! 😀
Sweeping is a hobby for me also and I do get Coke caps from my family members who don’t enter sweepstakes, also have found a few on the ground and from bottles that people throw away (that is why I keep a pair of gloves with me).
When it comes to entering sweepstakes I am very disorganized and not consistent, so that might be the reason that I don’t win a lot of stuff. I do when a few things here and there. I don’t enter sweepstakes for vacations or cars because I don’t have any extra money to pay the taxes. Mostly I enter to get electronic items, still waiting to win an iPod Touch, iPad, and a computer. The strange thing is if there is a sweepstakes for food items (coupons for free food) I seem to win those. Still waiting to win something big.
Almost 2 yrs ago I entered my name and hubby’s in a car giveaway at the mall. Hubby’s name was drawn as a finalist & he went on to select the correct set of keys. That same month I discovered the Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards & won twice. That was the beginning of my obsession with sweepstakes/instant-win games. Around that time I found Sweeties Sweeps and haven’t looked back. Last fall I won a $500 gift card in the Office Depot Back to School sweeps and a couple weeks ago I won an iPad2 in the Join Shield/Thor sweeps. Those have been my biggest instant wins. Now, hoping for a vacation…:-)
I will happily pick a coke cap out of someone’s recycling bin. Think im gonna stroll the streets this week on recycling night lol… I look forward to watching the show. The more people that enter the sweeps, the more the companies will use to market their product.
Really just a question as this is all new to me. Do you find it necessary to subscribe to all the websites that have a sweepstakes. They all ask you to subcribe to newletters etc. Seems like a bit much, do you changes increase when you do subscribe?
No, it will not help you win if you subscribe to sweepstakes newsletters but you do it to get notified of sweepstakes to enter.
I have been entering sweepstakes for almost one year. I have only won a few small prizes. I enjoy entering sweepstakes and won’t give up. I’ll let you know if I win.