I have been comping on and off for a couple of years now but last year was the year I began to comp seriously (and it paid off with a few really good wins inc a 7 night all inclusive holiday to Turkey and a dance class in Pineapple Studios with Arlene Phillips judging us! This also included a hotel stay, a theater ticket, tea at The Hilton and travel expenses!).
I've been in two minds whether to do this post (for several reasons), but I really enjoy reading others competition wins and seeing photos. It helps to inspire me at times where my comping 'mojo' is at a low, so I thought I'd begin to share my monthly wins with everyone too.
I usually tend to avoid competitions based on luck, but rather go for more skilled ones which require effort. These I tend to be more successful with and feel like I've earnt the prize if I happen to win. However the past few months I've really got into twitter, and have been entering competitions through simple retweets, and have been fairly successful. No huge wins in January, but wins nonetheless that keep me going:
Tanning lotion - £10
Memory foam pillow - £32. (I used to hate memory foam mattress' & pillows but this has bizarrely done my lower back wonders!
Cute i-phone case - £16.99
Caramelised Cashews. I don't think I was meant to receive this many bags initially, but the company were late sending my winnings out because my email had been misplaced to they kindly sent me some 'extra'. Either way, these bags are worth almost £2 in the shops, so that's £8 worth of nuts!
Like I said, nothing massive but it keeps me going, and such a buzz knowing you have received something for nothing.
Comping isn't easy - depending on the amount of comps you enter, its extremely time consuming. I'm lucky in the fact that I don't have children yet and only really have myself to worry about. Because of this, I can put extra time into effort-based comps so I stand a better chance of winning. Comping isn't for everyone and many believe that competitions are fake. I agree, some are, but the majority are real, and posts like these prove it. I wish I had blogged about them from the start to show you all! I still have photographic prove from a lot of them so maybe sometime soon if you're interested! Entering competitions gives you that chance of winning things that you may not have been able to afford otherwise, or even have access to (I've just read on someone's blog that they won a sleepover in Hamleys Toy Shop in London!) so there's many bizarre but wonderful prizes that you'd never be able to access otherwise (another example is my dancing getting judged by Arlene Phillips... I don't even think money could buy that!).
Do you enter competitions? What's your best win so far? I'd love to hear from you!
