How I got my SRS - dreams do come true!

My SRS was paid for by a generous gentleman who saw my plea for help on my website. I'd created a webpage called Tara's SRS Fund - Can You Help? What did I have to lose? I was in financial straits and without the ability to work outside the home due to a disability. The worst that could happen is I'd get nothing.

The page had been up for several months. A few people said they'd send money, but nothing came. Then I got an email from someone named Mike asking if I still needed money.* He asked how much and I said $6500 (at the time I was planning on going to Dr. Preecha in Thailand). He wrote back saying he'd send $6500, plus $500 for miscellaneous expenses! Cautiously optimistic, I thought either he was real or someone was playing a joke on me. Three days later I got an envelope in the mail from Mike—it contained a check for $7000! I was ecstatic!

I got a confirmed date with Dr. Preecha and plane tickets. As my SRS date approached I kept getting an anxious feeling—my women's intuition was telling me something. A few days later, I got an email from Mike asking if I was going to Dr. Preecha because he was the cheapest, or that I really wanted to. I wrote back because he was the cheapest and I'd rather go to Dr. Brassard in Montreal. He sent the extra money, including round trip plane fare to Montreal, Canada!

What did the anxiousness mean? I'm not sure. I do know ignoring my intuition always gets me into trouble!

When I got home from my surgery I called to thank him for the thousandth time and the subject of electrolysis came up. I still needed more and he joked that it should be cheaper to remove than implant! A few days later I got a check for $1000, obviously for electrolysis!

Something else interesting happened. I wanted to take a camera along to document my experience in Montreal, but my equipment was stolen a couple years ago. One day, when I had an extra $100 I went shopping for a cheap point & shoot, but for some reason didn't buy one. A few days later, I got an email from Ritz Camera saying I'd won a digital camera in a sweepstakes! All the Montreal photos where taken with it. I got into sweepstakes when I entered a lingerie sweeps just for the hell of it and won a $250 shopping spree!

*Please don't ask me to contact Mike on your behalf.

The luck factor

You're probably thinking she lucked out. I agree with that to the extent that, despite obstacles and poverty, I've usually gotten what I've wanted throughout life. Do I believe in universal abundance and opening my receiving channels helped? Yes. Do I believe in guardian angels? Yes (70% of Americans do). Are there differences between lucky and unlucky people? What about the belief that one will be lucky?

Amazingly, it's been found that there are different characteristics between lucky and unlucky people! This was demonstrated by psychologist Richard Wiseman (The Luck Factor), who devised a series of tests to determine if there were any objective characteristics between lucky and unlucky people. He came to some interesting conclusions. Wiseman found people who were lucky had the following characteristics:

• They had a relaxed perseverance.
  
• Were optimistic and had an expectation of lucky things happening.
  
• Had a magical view of life.
  
• Were more aware and, therefore, able to take advantage of opportunities that can come along that the 'unlucky' group missed.

This raises an interesting question. Could someone who thought they were unlucky adopt those characteristics and become lucky? It also indicates one's belief system has an effect on luck.

10. Sweepstakes and contests - winning money and prizes

If you have a lot of free time this is an ideal way to maybe win money and prizes! Even if you work you can spend an hour or two each day entering sweeps. I got into sweeping when I won a $250 lingerie shopping spree that I entered for the hell of it. I've also won a $500 digital camera, $25 Blockbuster gift certificate, a cooking CD, chip clips and a VIP party and 10 tickets to see an NBA game.

Some people are avid sweepers and have won big items like autos, vacations and cash. One guy did it as his 'job' and spent eight hours a day entering sweeps and lottos. His wife was skeptical until he won $50,000 in a lotto! (This is unusual. I don't recommend quitting your job to stay home and enter sweeps and lottos!) Sometimes the sweepstakes will let you choose a cash prize instead of the regular prize.

Winning sweeps and contests is a matter of persistence and luck. You can't win if you don't enter is true. Don't get discouraged if months go by without a win. You have more chances of winning in local, smaller sweeps where there may only be several hundred entries. The worst odds are the lottos, they may be 1 in 70 million. I stay away from lottos, but you may want to try them as the payoffs are usually big. Sometimes the same sweepstakes is on several different websites (it'll be in the rules, that you should always read), thus increasing the number of entires and lowering the odds of winning. There are hundreds of online, and local, sweeps and contests going on at any time and numerous sweepstakes websites.

Apparently, time spent entering sweeps and contests is tax deductible! This post is from a contest forum:

Any and all expenses incurred entering contests are deductible against declared wins, up to the amount of the wins - computer use percentage (for example, using the computer 75% of the time for entering) would end up being a percentage of the computer cost (it may be depreciated computer value, not sure, need a tax person to clarify that) which can be deducted. Supposedly the computer use should be logged as a record of the use. Using deductions especially against larger wins which are sent to the IRS can diminish and even eliminate taxes on the wins. It helps to have a tax person doing the figuring and preparing. Of course, fees paid for tax prep are deductible too!

Suggestions for entering sweeps and contests

Read the rules. Some have restrictions, are void in certain states, etc. Find the entry period - when it starts and ends. Some entry pages are displayed even after the sweep has ended. Find out if it's daily, weekly, monthly or one-time entry. Obviously, entering multiple times can increase your odds of winning. If the contest requires entering a product code, etc they must also have a way to enter without this step - typically via snail mail.

• All legitimate sweepstakes and contests have no entry fee or shipping charges if you win. If they want a 'processing fee,' or some other fee, it's not legit. Obviously, don't believe European and UK 'lotto' emails - they're frauds.

Filling out entry forms is tedious. There's a program called Roboform that will automatically fill in sweeps forms, plus remember passwords and other information. With one click you can fill out an entire entry form. There are other free auto-fill programs.

If you win something substantial send a letter of thanks to the sweepstake's sponsor.

Good luck!

Have a suggestion? Find a discrepancy? Let me know!

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