Thanks for voting!Ever thought life would be easier if you had a bigger house, new car or a year’s supply of smoked sausage? Okay, maybe not so much the last one, but many of us dream of hitting the jackpot in the form of a big-ticket item. Lotteries, reality shows and sweepstakes included. Heck, even talk show hosts give out a few new cars each year, along with a bunch of their other “favorite” things. But are these free prizes really free?
A spin of a wheel, a lucky guess or a drawing from a hat can make a person the proud owner of something they never dreamed of being able to afford. But FRUGILLIONAIRE explains that even with the purchase price covered, these gifts can still cost the recipient some major cash. The cost to run and maintain a new boat, car, or even the cost to install new kitchen appliances can make some prizes a little less desirable. And any added prestige or pleasure a new McMansion or a lottery hit can give you is probably going to get outweighed by not-so-lucky things like higher taxes, maintenance expenses and general headaches.
Moral of the story, scoring some free loot may mean fees to boot.
We admit that it’d be pretty sweet to win gas or groceries for a year or maybe a contest that pays your bills for a few months. But most “free” things in life probably aren’t. So what’s the bestest thing you’ve ever “won,” only to find out that it’s still costing you today?
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My first husband!
This story really has no relevance to my life for my savings goals
I agree with the article, and it reminds me of the Proverb which our society seems to have forgotten:
“Better [is] little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.” Proverbs 15:16
and also
“A little that a righteous man hath [is] better than the riches of many wicked.” Psalm 37:16
I won an air purifier that had very costly filters that needed to be replaced monthly, so I got rid of it. Not a very good prize to win.
1. I won a $10 gift certificate for a manicure. But, the manicure would cost over $20 plus tip. So, I didn’t even use it.
2. I won a gift certificate for a free karate class and uniform. But, it was so far from my home that it wasn’t even worth going there to take advantage of the free gift. I would probably spend more on gas.
I guess I win odd gift certificates
Yeah, like the “no fees” on Electric Orange… except for “foreign conversion” fees. What a joke! For international business travelers, paying an extra 1-3% just because you’re outside of the US is insane. I love ING Direct, and would move all my banking to them in a heartbeat, but I simply cannot justify it with the “foreign transaction” fees in place. Gotta keep my Capital One bank account open, I guess…
Frugillionaire makes a good point. There’s no way I’d be able to afford the insurance and maintenance if I won a luxury car. Ditto for the property taxes and utilities on a big house–in fact, haven’t some of the families on those “extreme home makeover” shows run into these issues?
The right approach to winning a “big ticket” item to those of us with ‘little ticket’ incomes is to determine if the item actually replaces an expense we’d have incurred anyway. If so, the money saved by not having the expense needs to first be allocated to those hidden costs of winning the prize. If the prize is an extra - something we’d otherwise have done without - we’re best selling it, using the proceeds to cover the taxes, and then pocketing the net winnings.
ING DIRECT US is being sold…time to remove all funds?
If you win something so big that you have to scramble to pay the taxes, I agree with Paul726, sell it and pocket the proceeds. If it’s small and makes life a little more enjoyable, that’s great and consider it a gift from above. If I won a new car, I would definitely sell it. Ditto for a new house as I am happy in my easily-affordable three bedroom home. I once won 10 boxes of 100 garbage bags…really nice ones. I can honestly say that was one of the best things ever. Weird, but it actually made a difference in the family budget!
It is not having what you want, it is wanting what you have. I don’t know who said it but once I started to really believe this, my debt has been steadily going down and my savings going up.
@Bob your savings are just fine. It’s business as usual at ING DIRECT. We’re still Orange, still as safe as Fort Knox and still committed to delivering a terrific Customer experience. Thanks for checking in.
ING Direct US is being sold?!?! “…business as usual…” If this is true then it IS NOT business as usual.
Great connects….so far great day…..& no complaint……
You never know what can be published & that can not …….place circumstances & people
New around and still learning……what to do….or what people do and How…..
MJGarcia
I never WIN anything but I do surveys on line and received a $350 check for points accumulated. Nice and unexpected surprise. I also do product research (try the product and answer the surveys); no money but I do receive things for free to use.
There are so many “free” offers on the internet that are not even close to being free. One of the big “freebies” we get complaints about all the time are the “free gift card” offers that seem to be everywhere. The scam seems to work like this: a “free” Walmart Gift Card (or something similar) is offered in exchange for your email address. When you enter your email address, the real cost of the card is revealed to you — it turns out you need to buy a certain number of products, or sign up fora certain number of offers to qualify for the “free” gift card. If someone uses the word “free”, it usually is too good to be true….
@Theresa S what are the websites that you go to for the surveys and product research?