Is keeping a sweepstakes journal necessary? Some sweepers treat this activity as more of a career rather than just a hobby. If you enter sweepstakes on a daily basis, then you might want to consider keeping a journal of your activity to help guide your future entry habits.

What's the Point?

As mentioned, sweepstaking is at least a part-time business for some. They spend hours a day entering contests and sell some or all of their winnings. Tracking time spent on each type of sweepstakes whether online or mail-in and the cost of supplies will help you gauge what's giving you the most return for your time and money. This isn't just something for people who sell their prizes to consider, but anyone who enters sweeps would find it useful to help spend their entry time more wisely.

Methods

Your journal is your own to personalize as you wish but some basics to include for each entry would be:

• Sweep sponsor, prize(s), relevant dates, entry method.


• Source where you found the contest, i.e. directory or from company sponsoring it.


• What you thought of the entry process. Was it time consuming with a lot of hoops to jump through?


• Prizes won with relevant tax info but be sure to keep all legal forms as well.

Even if you use spreadsheet software, you may want to keep small notepads around every computer in the house that you enter sweeps on or with your mail-in entry supplies. Remember to keep one near your mobile devices or use a notepad-type app on your device to make notes.

Keeping a sweepstakes journal isn't a necessity for the casual sweeper, but besides the advantages mentioned, you hard-core types who make this part of your livelihood will find this tool makes life easier at tax time. Good luck!

If you're considering selling your winnings, you may be interested in:
Win Your Way To Wealth: Win Competitions And Sell Your Prizes Online
Sell it Online: How to Make Money Selling on eBay, Amazon, Fiverr & Etsy (EBay Selling Made Easy Book 3)