Is there a website made for searching for contests to enter?

Well, I just googled it and found lots of hits:
Google (http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=contests+and+sweepstakes&aq=0&oq=contests&aqi=g10&=Google+Search&=I%27m+Feeling+Lucky&fp=1mZ_-PL2Zjc)

I haven't looked at these so none of this is a recommendation. I don't know how many people might already know of such a site that is legit. And I'm not sure how much I'd trust a post by someone who is a little too anxious for you to go to a particular site. (They may have ulterior motives.)

As some general suggestions, I would have to say that I know there are places who put together things like sweepstakes. When I had time to mess with it, I used to be a member of such a place, pre-internet. (Snail mail version.) Remember that a sweepstakes cannot require a purchase or cash in order to enter it. If you see such a thing, it is not a legit sweepstakes. They are also generally run by judging firms, so you may start seeing some addresses in common. For instance, there at least used to be a big one in Nebraska that I saw a lot. I also remember the city Young America.

Contests can require a purchase or cash up front. In which case, I'd say the rule is just like everything else: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

That first hit is About.com and I'd probably trust the articles there. In fact, there's a section on scams and safety. In fact, that looks like a good thing for you to read first.

Next down... contesthound.com... looks a little fuzzy if you ask me. (You aren't going to get paid $15 - $150 an hour doing surveys. I do surveys and I get paid a little bit, or get points towards gifts, and it probably amounts to about 10c an hour. Give me a break. I do them because I'm strongly opinionated. ;) That's one of those "sounds too good to be true things.")

The goodhousekeeping one I'd probably trust.

I re-did the search just on "contests" and the hits aren't much different, except there's some sports stuff that showed up and also stuff for members of specific places. (Like amateur radio. Are you into that? :))

All of the above is just my opinion of course. (Am I rambling again?)

THANK YOU for the link and all the advice.

You're welcome. :-)

Interesting that I just noticed the Vision Expert on you. What a coincidence - I recently had eye surgery. (Not fun.)

Haha, I bet. What sort of eye surgery?

Now, I have another question on this same topic, and please excuse me if it's a stupid one.

Now, I know that if you win a cash prize (i.e. lottery) you have to pay taxes on that. Do you have to pay taxes if you were to win a tangible prize (car, trip, jewelry)?

Yes, at their fair market value.

What does that mean?

Hi, Momma!

Do you have any specific kinds of contests that you're trying to find?

Thanks!

That means like if you won a car, what would be its value in the market? Like what could you sell it for?

Technically, it has to be people who are reasonably knowledgeable about the item, not pressured in any way (i.e. you don't have to sell your furniture in two days cause you're moving and need to get rid of it)... just your basic old normal transaction that would take place when there's no special circumstances going on.

Note that fair market value is not the same as its retail value or what you might have to pay for it new.

And I'm not saying it's always easy to figure out what it is. :-)

Does that make sense?

Yes, that makes sense.

Hi, Momma!

Do you have any specific kinds of contests that you're trying to find?

Thanks!

Nope, I just wanted to enter a bunch of sweepstakes and see if I won any! Can't win if you don't enter!

Something to consider... or not... up to you...

I don't do a lot of contests like you are talking about, but I do have an email addy that is specifically just for business stuff, promotional stuff, ad stuff, and any kind of contest where you need to provide an email address...

Just get a free addy off hotmail or gmail or whatever... it keeps spam from cluttering up your "normal" email...

Yes... it requires me to manage an extra account. No big deal.

Thanks KP, I already have one. I just use my one that I made when I was 16 with the silly screen name!

I just want to add a note that I hope you are doing this as a hobby. You do realize you're very unlikely to actually win anything. If you find some place that is fairly thorough about listing all the sweeps & contests going on and you enter every one, more than once, and make sure to follow all the rules carefully -- you may actually win a few smaller prizes, and if you do this enough, maybe occasionally something good.

When I was doing this years ago, I got a newsletter that listed everything they could find. I only entered ones that had prizes I was interested in or where it specifically said you could sub a cash equivalent. The good ones I'd enter many times, over time. I basically had a budget for postage, the biggest expense, and preferred entering goods ones more often and leaving some others behind. (I defined good by the prizes, and also how many levels of prizes cause it was always easier to get those lower level ones.)

I never won anything big, though the people who did the newsletter did win some trips and such. (They had a bigger budget and entered way more often, and they still never won anything like a car.) I always got the little last place type consolation prizes. My favorite was my Mexican cookbook from El Paso. I still have it and love it. But it cost me a lot of postage. :-)

Oh of course its for a hobby!

I'm entering online, so no postage required :P

Just asking... I once dated a guy who did the lottery every weekend and was thoroughly convinced he was going to win big one day. He did it to win it and not for the sake of the hobby. He won $1000 occasionally, but spent way more than that entering, and never did get what I was talking about. (I think lotteries actually make people a little nuts.)

But then, he was kind of an idiot about money, and you can imagine how much fun that was for an accounting person like me. ;)

(And just as a side note, I played once and was quite literally one digit from the $1000 - I picked 38 and it was 39. I picked the numbers from a bowl, and the 38/39 came out stuck together and I chose the 38. So my little bowl did pick 4 correct numbers. Just bad luck that the 38 was stuck to the correct 39. :D)

I do play lottery, very very sparingly. I'll buy 2-3 $1 tickets for the big one a month.