I don’t think that bear’s big enough…

Thursday 11th September, 2008 - £7,926.83 in debt…

The last time I won something was at the Ottery St Mary flaming tar barrel “event” (yes, we have simple tastes in Devon) in 1999. It was a gigantic cuddly polar bear, and I christened him Dave. He was beautiful.

Bearing this in mind, I don’t know why I haven’t bothered entering any competitions since then. I just assume that I won’t win, and that the process of entering the competition will be too much fuss. But, since I can’t afford to buy anything, I might as well try winning some stuff.

Every competition I’ve heard about this week, I’ve entered. If all goes to plan, I’ll soon be winning:

1) £10,000 of Marks & Spencer vouchers from Loose Women (text to enter or use the website for free)

2) A Jack Daniel’s mini fridge (the Freepost entry form was posted through my door)

3) Three bottles of Devon wine with Devon Talk magazine (via email)

4) £150 of Borders vouchers with the Radio TImes (answer 15 entertainment questions on the website). Borders doesn’t have any branches where I live, but it’s the principle that counts.

Now, the last thing I want to do is sign up for mailing lists left, right and centre and get spammed for the rest of my life, so I’m only entering competitions with companies I’m familiar with. Or ones I already get spammed by anyway.

Luckily for people like me, according to broadcasting rules, every competition on the TV must offer one method of entry that’s free. That’s why they always say you can enter on the website or via email. But watch out: as I found with the Loose Women comp, the site might not repeat the question - just allow you to choose from a, b and c - so you must watch the show and take note of the answer.

I figure that local publications are probably my best target, as they offer half-decent prizes but don’t have a huge readership so my chances are better.

Any tips? Should I be entering every competition I can find, or streamlining the process and not wasting too much time?