Bargain Hunter Enters 15,000 Competitions A Year & Gets Christmas Gifts For Free
- Geri, 22, began entering competitions to save money for her baby
- Since then she has kept going and signs up for over 15,000 competitions a year
- She has spent nothing on Christmas gifts, having won them all for free
- Her best prizes include a £200 Tesco gift card, a Budweiser fridge and a coffee machine
Those of us who leave Christmas present shopping to the last minute usually end up buying whatever is available - and spending a pretty penny. Even people who buy discounted goods throughout the year are probably spending more than this bargain hunter, who gets her Christmas presents completely free of charge by winning competitions.
Geri Gregg, 22 from Chester who is mum to George, 3 and sells vintage clothing online as vintagefashionwears, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘I came up with the idea of entering competitions specifically to save money when I became pregnant. I was living back at home and wanted to help get some baby bits and stuff for our new flat. Then after my pregnancy, I continued doing it and saved a lot of the prizes for Christmas gifts. It helped with the stresses of Christmas, especially since the prizes get delivered straight to your door.
‘There are days I can become obsessed and enter hundreds of competitions, then on other days I’m too busy with my son or work to have a scroll through my phone and look. I probably enter around 15,000 competitions a year. That’s just an estimate - there’s too many to enter to keep count! I have daily entry ones I try to remember to enter, but it's not always possible.
‘Competitions are everywhere! They are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, in magazines, books...there are ones that require a purchase to be made first, you can text to enter some, or just pop your details in. I like to use the website ThePrizeFinder for a chunk of the web entry competitions. I prefer the social media ones as they’re free to enter but can result in a ban if you enter a lot very quickly!
‘There are many Facebook groups dedicated to comping, and a lot of information on how to get started is readily available online and on YouTube. I do recommend that people be aware of what details they give away, as unfortunately there's a lot of scams around that masquerade as competitions.
‘December is the holy grail for competitions. They’re known as Advents, where many companies run large campaigns with 12 or 24 days of giveaways. Other times of the year are popular too, like Easter and Halloween. A lot of companies run weekly giveaways such as 'Freebie Monday', 'Winning Wednesday' and 'Freebie Friday'.
‘I've won a whole range of prizes over the years. I think my favourite so far was winning a £200 Tesco gift card and a large bundle of games, as it came at a time when we were struggling financially, so it was a huge help when we most needed it. It's not necessarily the most expensive win, but it had the best timing. A Budweiser limited edition fridge has probably been my most expensive win! We did later sell that after using it first over the summer - it took up a lot of space. The funniest and most unusual prizes have been menopause tablets when I was pregnant, and a year's supply of Zoflora. Reusable bottles have been popular this year and subsequently I have ended up with dozens!
‘Entering competitions does save me a lot of money each Christmas. Plus I try to win some treats for Christmas Day, so overall I save between £1,000 and £2,000. Treating the family to something we can’t or don’t usually buy is really priceless to me. This year, I'll be doing the same again.
‘Last year I won a lot of hampers. They are some of my favourite prizes to win as you get such a range of items in them. Some people might think I'm just being cheap or stingy, but it's a fun challenge I like to set myself, plus my family are always asking about what I've won recently so it keeps life interesting!’
Tom Church, Co-Founder of the money-saving Black Friday app, said: ‘With Christmas present prices seemingly going up every year, it’s truly impressive that Geri has managed to find such a unique way to save money on her gifts. Sites like LatestFreeStuff.co.uk are great for getting hold of freebies and entering competitions - and Geri proves that, if you dedicate enough time to it, you’ll reap the free rewards!’
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