Money, Money Everywhere - Part Two

Years ago, when we were still struggling even to make bills every month, I found a hobby that suited me to a "T" - contesting. Desperate for cash, a stay-at-home mom with three young children, I spent hour after hour pouring over my monthly newsletter (obtained for a minimal yearly cost), deciding which sweepstakes to enter. I would then laboriously fill out dozens of 3 X 5 cards with my name and address and whatever was required, hand write the destination on #10 envelopes (no machine-printed entries accepted), stuff and stamp them (stamps were 22 cents), and walk them to the post office (no car) to mail them. Then I would wait, hoping and praying, that I would be lucky enough to win The Big One - the payout that would solve all our problems and set us for life.

And I did win. Barbie dolls. Autographed baseballs. Hats. Shoes and handbags. All kinds of cool little items. But not a single dollar. All in all, I figure the year I spent contesting netted me about ... minus $250.00.

Recently, I decided to check out modern contesting. Holy Jimmy the Greek, there's a lot out there, and it's almost all online - stamp-free, envelope-free, free-free! Well, free-free if you don't mind a flurry of "courtesy" calls in the week or so after you enter, which I don't. Caller ID is cheaper than USPS, and who knows - I might win!

Understand, however, that I'm going into this with a completely different attitude these days. We're no longer frantic for cash - this fiscal adventure is not from that dark place at all. And I now know that luck is not a factor.

Now, not to believe in luck is almost un-American. Tales of seemingly small actions resulting in riches and fame beyond our wildest dreams of avarice keep us buying those tickets and pulling those slot machines. But it's not luck. Not exactly.

"But," you say, "what about Publisher's Clearing House, or Lana Turner's discovery in that drug store, or that rock band, or my buddy who found a $50 bill on the sidewalk, or ..."

None of it. People who win big contests entered them - and with a gambling win, they probably shelled out more over time than the win brought in, because the house always has a huge advantage. Those who hit it big in entertainment or sports or business or science work for decades in order to make sure they are ready to capitalize on the "big break" - even if Lana's story is true, she didn't catch the producer's eye the minute she hit town but after years of putting her face all over Hollywood. And your friend who found the cash simply saw it - after thirty people who were wrapped up in their own problems walked right over it.

Winning stuff depends on taking action, not on trusting so-called "luck." It's all about making sure you're in the way of chance, probability, the good fortune that is always there, just waiting to find someone - anyone. Money is out there, in every crack and crevice of both our planet and our economy, but it's going to find someone who's trying to find it first.

Winning money, in my book, depends on little or no investment except one of time. There are tons of web sites devoted to contests, as I found. I go to one of these clearing-house sites monthly (so far), click on the cash-prize sweepstakes list (mostly), and then enter only those through companies I recognize, both in case of scams (educate yourself about these) and to insure payout should I win. Some sweeps require a one-time entry, all of which I do the day I see them. Others accept daily entries. These I bookmark and return to as often as I sign onto the internet - not daily, but about four times a week. My favorites are those that are nearly auto-enter - after the first time, I simply put my email address into the correct slot, hit enter, and watch the page fill in. Otherwise, it's just typing - time, and your manicure, is all you can lose.

State-run lotteries also are a favorite, but I buy only one ticket, and only for the bigger lotteries. I know the odds. I also know that buying a thousand entries does not substantially increase my chance of winning. That single string of numbers puts me solidly in the way of the probabilities just as much as multiples would.

When I can catch them, I also call into radio stations when they're running a giveaway. I just have trouble catching them. If you have a super-powered redialler and the time to use it, this would be a great option. I always seem to get the word when I'm in the car.

Some game shows also fit this category, but not all - some are a lot of work! However, more depend on either the knowledge you already possess (Wheel of Fortune) or on your personality to be chosen to play (The Price is Right). Those look like a blast to me!

The only gambling I'm likely to do any time at all is Bingo. I have the most amazing memories of playing every summer when we'd camp in Oregon - small town, no TV, what else could we do? I won cash twice, local honey and baked goods several times, but it was more about the wonderful people who came to this community event than about the gain. I'd like to see if it's changed.

Will I win any cash? Maybe. Am I depending on it to reach my goal?

Not a chance.