Two $5,000 Winners and a Freebie Mom

Many of you now know that I won a $5,000 AMEX card from the BK Burger Shots Instant Win Game but, you may not know the incredible story around it so I thought I would share it. I have already won some fabulous prizes this year and it’s only March but I am in it for the long-term and consistently win year after year.

I found out about this instant win game from Heather from Freebies4Mom. Heather and I are a team, sharing freebies and winnable sweepstakes with each other. Since we met on Twitter and then on the Tyra Banks show we now work together to help each other.

Okay, so, here’s my story.

On March 10th Heather emailed me about the sweepstakes. I played it that day and didn’t win. Then, super early on March 11th (my Daddy’s 87th birthday by the way) I decided to post the sweepstakes info on my site. While I was working on the post I was playing the game in another window. You get 3 times to play it each day. The first time I played it I didn’t win. The second time I played the screen said Congratulations you are an instant winner in super small text. It was 4:28 am EST and I had to blink a couple of times to even see it. Then I thought, I won something small but then realized that I had just posted the rules on my site. It didn’t tell me what I won but it said I would be contacted within 48 hours. I didn’t know if I won the $5,000 AMEX card or the $5,000 trip.

Can you believe how hard it was to go to sleep after that message? I had to wait another full day before I got the email telling me I won the $5,000 AMEX card. The official Affidavit was attached in that email. I quickly printed it out and took it to the bank, which is the best place to get official paperwork signed if you need a notary because it is free, to get it notarized. I brought it back and faxed it over to them. I got another email back saying they received it and would be in touch. Within 3 days I received the card by overnight Fedex.

I am absolutely thrilled because it has been a hard couple of years for us. We have a small home business and we are struggling to keep afloat. This was a godsend and will be used to pay bills and buy my family (and Heather) some gifts. I love to share the wealth and can never spend all of my prize winnings on myself.

But, let’s not stop there. The story gets EVEN better.

The next day, March 12th, I got an email from one of my readers, Hannah. She ALSO won the $5,000 AMEX card. She won it the day after I did (Hannah says she won at 9 am). And, just HOW did she find out about my site and this instant win game? You guessed it. It was from a guest post I wrote on the Freebies4Mom site. I asked Hannah to give me her story so here it is in her own words.

By now everyone has heard of sweepstakes and people winning big. Until recently, I did not believe it would be possible for me to win anything more than a coupon for something free. Little did I know, I was going to win one of the grand prizes in a sweepstakes.

In January a friend of mine was talking about how she went to CVS and spent $0.64 and saved over $200 in one trip! I thought that was amazing. She mentioned a blog which helped her find her deals, so I went home to check out the blog. I had tried couponing before, but it seemed too time consuming as I am a home school mom of six (ages 4 months to 7 years!), and we also have a small farm! The first week I started, it was actually triple coupon week at one of my local grocery stores. Unfortunately, at that time I could not find a blog with deals for that store, so I did the deals myself. I ended up spending less than $45 for well over $300 worth of name brand groceries. Granted, it is not as good as my friend did with her $0.64 trip, but I thought I did well for a beginner.

After that week I was hooked! I started looking for more blogs and more deals. That particular week there was a bloggy giveaway carnival which is how I discovered Freebies4Mom. I started looking at her site and found a post about the”10 Most Winnable Sweeps.” I thought I would try them and see if I could win. At the time I was not consistent in entering. After a few weeks, I finally won an instant win game. The prize was a coupon worth $4 for a free product. A few days after that, Freebies4Mom had a post about how to win sweeps with a link to Sweeties Sweeps. I began looking over her site and reading her tips as well as following her tips for winning.

Until late last week I did not believe it was possible to win a very big prize. On Wednesday of last week, I entered the sweepstakes mentioned on Heather’s and Wendy’s blogs as I have been doing every morning. However, I was only entering the sweepstakes that were listed as “the most winnable” sweepstakes. I decided to look at some of the other sweepstakes. I saw the one for Burger King. I read Sweetie’s post on how to enter and decided to enter. I registered and requested the free entry codes through email. I immediately received the email and entered the first code. Upon pressing enter the screen said I was a winner, and they would contact me within 48 hours to tell me how to claim my prize. I honestly thought I had probably just won a value meal or a Burger King Whopper.

The next day, I received an email that I had won a $5000 Value American Express Card with instructions on how to claim my prize. I thought it must be a scheme, and that I would still have to go through a drawing and was only a potential winner. I called my husband and read the email to him. He encouraged me to call the number in the email. I called and left a message, but she returned my call within fifteen minutes. She said I had indeed won, and all I had to do was to sign the papers and get a notary signature. She said I could even fax or scan and email the information to her and encouraged me to do whatever was easiest for me to get it in by the deadline. I went Friday morning and had the paper work notarized. I emailed the paperwork on Friday afternoon. On Monday, I received my prize via Fed-Ex!

I am just your every day ordinary person. As I already said, I am a stay at home, homeschooling mother with six children ages 7, 6, 5, 3, 2, and 4 months. We have a small farm where we raise beef and have a vegetable garden. My husband is a Project Manager for a tool and die Company. We are just ordinary people living an ordinary life. God has blessed us. We have also learned wining is possible. Although I have not decided what to spend the money on at this point, we can definitely use the money. Thanks so much Freebies4Mom and Sweeties Sweeps helping others win!

Hannah basically started with a need to save money for her family. Her friend told her about these sites and she told me she has cut her grocery bill down to nothing. They are in order by her favorites.

• www.moneysavingmom.com
• www.thethriftymama.com
• www.southernsavers.com
• savingyourcents.blogspot.com
• www.thefreebieblogger.com

From a blog carnival on one of those sites she found Freebies4Mom and from Heather’s site she found mine. And now Hannah is a blogger. Please visit her blog at frugallyfarmingfamily.blogspot.com

What does all of this show me? It says that EACH OF US has something to give to the next person. I freely give my knowledge away on this site because I love seeing people win. I like to think I make a difference, at least, in a few people’s lives. It’s kind of my way of “paying it forward” – give and you shall receive kind of thing. When you are a giver and not a taker you get blessed A LOT and I am living proof.

It also showed me the power of the Internet. I work at home ALL day by myself and I rarely leave except to go shopping once a week. My entire social life is through the Internet – this site, my other sites, Twitter, email, chat, and Instant Messenger. I have a HUGE social network of friends now that I would not have had without the Internet.

I am working on my next project. I am creating a new site that will be a resource for everything that helps you save money or get something for free. You will be able to go there and find everything you need in one place so you don’t have to search all over the Internet to find who is the best person to teach you about getting freebies, or saving with coupons, or anything else to help your budget. Stay tuned for that.