2014 Summary

The 31st December is here again! This year has a been a bit of weird one, my total is HUGE but I don't actually feel like I've won very much. The amount of prizes in comparison to last year is under half - my highest value wins were from 2013 but I didn't receive them till 2014 so I think my actual total is probably a lot less. I've had some great wins this year too though - like an ipad and over £400 in various clothing vouchers, but month-to-month there have been less little wins to keep me going so some of the time I've been feeling a bit dejected about the amount of hours I've been putting in for not much back! Still, I absolutely cannot complain, because I've been delighted with what I have won and it's not going to stop me trying in 2015!

2014 Total: £9808.63

Lifetime Total: £13630.85

Downton Abbey Boxset

I didn't get a chance to watch this on tv so this a great win for me - a copy of all five series of Downton Abbey on DVD.

Value: £49.99
2014 Total: £9808.63

Bundle of Books from Titan Books

Very pleased with this win - it came from the Mugglenet Advent Calendar, where you had to hunt for a hidden page and solve a really hard trivia question, so it took a lot of effort to even enter! I won a bundle of books from Titan Books, and am very pleased with the selection they've sent; they all seem like my cup of tea so it seems they've put some thought in as I think any Mugglenet user would appreciate them.

Value: £32
2014 Total: £9758.64

Pack of Christmas Cards

A free pack of Christmas Cards, thanks to o2 priority.

Value: £3.99
2014 Total: £9726.64

It's in his kiss by Jill Shalvis

This was a win from August that finally turned up at the start of December!

Value: £8.99
2014 Total: £9722.65

£50 Office Giftcard

Oxford Notebooks were running a giveaway to win a pair of converse, but you had to buy a promotional notebook. They were only £1.50 but it means better odds of winning so I thought I'd buy one - and I got lucky! The prize came in the form of a £50 Office Giftcard.

Value: £50
2014 Total: £9713.66

Penny Dreadful Bundle

Been meaning to watch this show since it came out so this is a fab win! A copy of Penny Dreadful on Bluray, plus some classic horror novels.

Value: £36.92
2014 Total: £9663.66

Green People Gift Set

After waiting two years for a House & Gardens win...two come along at once! This lovely giftset contains a body wash and body lotion.

Value: £19.95
2014 Total: £9626.74

Burt's Bees Foot Cream

This came from the House & Garden Daily Giveaway. It runs everyday just like the Glamour one, so it's weird how I've won from both them within a month of each other, after a year or so of trying!

Value: £12.99
2014 Total: £9606.79

The Prophecy of Bees by R.S.Pateman

Another goodreads win - a copy of The Prophecy of Bees. I've heard good things about this so I'm excited to read it.

Value: £11.80
2014 Total: £9593.80

You can read all my book reviews over on goodreads

The Raven Sonata

Another goodreads win - a signed copy of 'The Raven Sonata'

Value: £11.85
2014 Total: £9582

Hobgoblin T-Shirt

Hobgoblin run an instant win competition every October, and this year I finally won! A T-shirt just in time for Halloween.

Value: £14.99
2014 Total: £9570.15

TIGI Styling Cream

I finally won something in the Glamour Daily giveaway that runs all year round!

Value: £12.50
2014 Total: £9555.16

1966 Mini

Nope, not a figurine. I won a car. An actual car! A 1966 Vintage Mini.

This prize has actually turned out to be a huge amount of hassle, and the company I won it from ending up having to buy it back off me. I'm not going to go into detail or name any names because I think many of the faults with the car were due to the garage who were supposed to have done the car up cutting corners, unbeknownst to the company who I was actually dealing with (and they're quite a big company) but overall it's been quite a headache getting everything sorted, and everyone involved was dragging their feet. Eventually I got an offer for £4500 to take it off my hands, and after another month of waiting we finally got the piece of paper today saying we no longer own it which is a huge relief. Still, I can't complain though, because it's £4500 I wouldn't have had otherwise, and a bit of stress is worth what is going to be a huge help in life.

Value: £4500
2014 Total: £9542.66

Top from Goddiva

I should stop trying to photograph clothes, it never goes well.

Anyway this pretty top came from Goddiva. It arrived super quickly and it looks nice although I have to admit it has a bit of a 'cheap' feel to it so I'm not sure I would ever buy from them myself.

Value: £22
2014 Total: £5042.66

Mr. Kipling Cakes

I was very popular after this one - a delivery of Mr. Kipling to my office! They also included some bunting to decorate the place!

Value: £6
2014 Total: £5020.66

The Rosie Effect

Really pleased to have won this! An advanced copy of the Rosie Effect, which is the sequel to a book a won and loved last year :)

You can read all my book reviews over on goodreads

Value: £11.99
2014 Total: £5014.66

Case of Moscato

More Moscato!! I'm doing well with wine at the moment - these aren't quite as sweet as the Pink Moscato I won before, but for some I think this will probably be a good thing! This case of six was won on the Bargain Booze facebook page, and I was able to pick it up from store the next day.

Value:  £41.94
2014 Total: £5002.67

Spotty Dotty Jolly Ginger

A year after winning my first Jolly Ginger...I've finally won another from their instant win game! I love biscuiteers, the gingers are so yummy!

Value: £6
2014 Total: £4960.73

Marc Jacobs Hairbands

my-wardrobe.com were offering £25 off with no minimum spend, so I got these (very expensive!) Marc Jacobs hairbands for free - they're lovely and colourful. I received them just two days after I ordered and they were packaged really nicely as well - they offer luxury packaging for free so it's a nice place to buy a gift for someone.

Value: £25
2014 Total: £4954.73

Divergent Goodie Bag

A Divergent goodie bag containing a hoodie, flask, wristbands, soundtrack and dvd! The prize came from Prezzybox, and it was also supposed to include a giftcard which didn't arrive. I've emailed them about it but not had a response so I'm guessing it's not coming. I don't really have the energy to take it further but I'm not that impressed with Prezzybox as a company after this, because as nice as the goodybag is they shouldn't have advertised it as coming with the giftcard if they weren't going to bother sending it. Sigh.

Value:£30
2014 Total:  £4929.73

Pack of Appy Drinks

My first rafflecopter win of the year - a pack of Appy Drinks, containing 4 cartons of fruit juice. They taste lovely!

Value: £2.00
2014 Total: £4899.73

£50 Amazon Voucher

Yippee! Another Amazon Voucher! I won this from a competition Sudocrem have been running daily and they sent it super quick :)

Value: £50
2014 Total: £4897.73

Pom-Bear Picnic Hamper

There has been loads of competitions to win one of these, I'm so glad I won one because I love pom-bear. Inside the picnic basket is 2 multipacks of pombear, a pombear rug, a teddy,
and a flask.

Value: It's advertised as being worth £50 but I'm not sure I believe that. I'm going to call it £30
2014 Total: £4847.73

Liberty Silk by Kate Beaufoy

Won this from a book blog last month and it arrived yesterday :)

Value: £3.50
2014 Total: £4817.73

Spare Brides by Adele Parks

An uncorrected proof of Spare Brides arrived out of the blue last week :)

Value: £10.49
2014 Total: £4814.23

Bottle of Pink Moscato

The first 50 people to enter this competition automatically won a bottle of pink moscato and I was luckily quick enough to be one! I am a big fan of moscato wines, and this did not disappoint - it's lovely and sweet!

Value: £6.99
2014 Total: £4803.74

Kimono from Yumi

Back in February I won twice with Yumi in two separate competitions, so I stopped entering for their stuff for a while because I felt embarrassed about it...then as soon I entered again, I won first time! It's weird how you can win so often with some companies and not at all with others. Now I'm going to wait another six months to enter again in case they recognise my name! Anyway, I won another item of my choice so I got this gorgeous kimono jacket (I couldn't photograph it for the life of me so had to use a stock photo). It's a lovely fit and feels super silky.

Value £20
2014 Total: £4796.75

Maoam Pinballs

A limited edition pack of tropical flavour Maoam Pinballs - they are lovely and tangy!

Value: £1
2014 Total: £4777.75

£53 Amazon Voucher

This was a cashback offer that paid off rather well! Gala Bingo were offering a massive £50 cashback when you deposited and played with £10 - always the risk that it may not pay out, but I thought I'd have a little gamble and see what happened. I managed to win back my £10 so no loss there, then the cashback came through today! Topcashback top it up when you receive it as an amazon voucher, so all in all I got a £53 amazon voucher for free :)

Value: £53
2014 Total: £4776.75

Below the Belt goodies

Some men's grooming freebies after completeing various challenges on yourvine

Value: £16.35 per kit! (£32.70 total)
2014 Total: £4723.75

The Wrong Todd by Donna McDonald

Another goodreads win - the author sent a signed copy all the way from America and put in lots of bookmarks as well, which I thought was a nice touch.

Value: £5.88

2014 Total: £4691.05

One Night in Italy by Lucy Diamond

Signed up for another free trial of sun perks and managed to win another book!

Value: £3.50
2014 Total: £4685.17

Sleeping Beauty blu-ray

My disney blu-ray collection is coming along nicely thanks to this surprise win :)

Value: £12.99
2014 Total: £4681.67

Hyperglide Razor

This was a competition on a female-centric website but now I've got the prize I think it's actually for men??

Oh well, I'm sure it will work well enough on my legs all the same!

I also picked up a free bottle of Evian from WHSmith the other day, courtesy of o2 as always!

Value: £9.99 + £1
2014 Total: £4668.68

£250 House of Fraser Voucher

Yippee!! Although I haven't been winning as much these days, I seem to be getting a few high values one to make up for it!

Value: £250
2014 Total: £4657.69

We are all completely beside ourselves by Karen Jay Fowler

Another surprise win from waterstones - this was from a lucky dip selection of books, so I've gotten quite lucky in receiving something that looks like my type of thing!

I also picked up a free bottle of coke in town yesterday courtesy of o2 again :)

Value: £5.99 + £1
2014 Total: £4407.69

Because you are mine by Beth Kerry

A book win from goodreads :)

Value: £3.85
2014 Total: £4400.70

Cooking the Weight Watchers Way

They were giving away 1000 of these but given my current win streak I was quite surprised to get one in the post! Apparently I am not invisible after all ;)

Value: £14.95
2014 Total: £4396.85

Kallo Rice Cake Tin

An instant win prize - a rice cake tin from Kallo. It's very decorative and could be used to store all sorts of things!

Value: It's limited edition and not for sale anywhere, about £5?
2014 Total: £4381.90

Assortment of Freebies

I may not be winning much these days, but I did have a good freebie-day yesterday! I picked up:

•  Free Bottle of Coke Zero (£1) from an o2 offer.
• Free Father's Day Card (£2.49) from an o2 offer.
• Free Pack of Salted Caramel Puddle (£3.85) from an o2 offer. These were delicious!
• Free Pack of Vimto Squeezy (£2.49) Received in the post yesterday after sending off were one. It's a fun idea, squeezing it into the water is good fun, although it's hard to get the balance right as it went from too weak to too strong with one squirt. Still tasty though!
• Free Sample of Mars Ice cream (25p) - no photo of this one as they were giving them out in town so I had to eat it straight away! It pretty much tastes like you've stuck a mars bar in the freezer, so if you like Mars then you'll like this!

Value: £10.08
2014 Total: £4376.90

£20 Cash

An instant win on the Peachy Loans facebook page! The winnings were paid direct to my bank account a few days later.

Value: £20
2014 Total: £4366.82

5 Night Trip to Orlando

My biggest ever win :)

I won this last year and booked the trip for the start of May, so I've just got back :)

The prize included flights, accommodation,  £250 spending money, plus a speedboat/dolphin spotting ride.

My favorite part of the trip was going to Universal Studios and experiencing the magic of Harry Potter Land!

Flights
We flew with Virgin Atlantic in Economy Class. I've not flown with Virgin before, and it was quite a treat experiencing an airline where the food and drink is complentary! I loved the on flight entertainment, there was a huge choice of films to watch on your individual TV. That being said, it got quite cramped in Economy and for a nine hour flight I think I would always choose an upgrade from now on!


Accomodation
We stayed at the Wyndham Grand Orlando Bonnet Creek. It's a lovely hotel overall, very clean with spacious rooms. We did have to pay an $18-a-day resort fee on checkout though, which we were made aware of at the time of booking, but I don't think the fee was worth it as it basically covered things like wifi which would have been free in a lot of hotels anyway! I wouldn't stay there again as I felt like they tried to overcharged on everything (the fee, the food in restaurants, even more fees to park in garage etc). Locationwise it wasn't great either, pretty much in the middle of nowhere so you are forced to rely on either car hire or taxis which isn't ideal. I feel like I'm moaning a bit too much now, because it is a nice hotel, I just wouldn't choose to stay there if I went back to Orlando, and I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone else either because of a few little niggles.

Speedboat Ride
This was a daytrip booked for us on Viator. Florida Dolphin Tours run the trip (I think they do quite a few different daytrips around Florida). They have set pick up points near Orlando hotels, and they arrived at ours pretty much on time to take us on the hour long ride to Clearwater Beach. The Coach was good, clean and cool and they played us a film to watch (some kind of straight-to-dvd film from the 90s, it was weird) before making sure we knew all about what times we had to be at the boats for our various excursions. We spent the morning on the beach, which was very pretty, before heading to to a local cafe for a free lunch, which was also included in the trip. The lunch was very tasty and they had a large variety of options. Then we went down to the marina for our boatride, which was excellent! We got drenched when the speedboat picked up speed, which was great fun, and then a couple of wild dolphins came up behind the boat, playing in the wake the boat had made, which was a fabulous experience.

Overall we had an amazing holiday, the prize was handled very well by IMS who organised all our bookings and kept us informed the whole way through.

Value: Approx £3000
2014 Total: £4346.82

£10 Cash

A cheque for £10 - This win came from a code on the back of a bag of doritos!

Value: £10
2014 Total: £1346.82

Ipad Mini

Yippee!! Had a phone call from Capital FM the other day to say I had won an Ipad mini! Had to go down to the station to collect it and voila, a day later and here it is! (Apologies for the terrible photo, apparently I am rubbish at photographing boxes?)

Value: £319
2014 Total: £1336.82

Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch

Do you know, I think my dry spell might be breaking. Received this in the post out of the blue from Waterstones today, an advanced copy of Summer House with Swimming Pool.

Value: £10.39
2014 Total:  £1022.82

Benefit They're Real! Mascara

The first 3000 people to vote in The Times Beauty Awards all received a free Mascara - I've wanted to try this one for ages so it was a lovely surprise in the post! :)

Value: £19.50
2014 Total: £1012.43

Sanctuary Spa Body Butter

I'd forgotten about this one - I had an email from Sanctuary Spa aaages ago saying if I filled in a survey they'd send me this body butter, and the sample finally turned up today!

Value: £2
2014 Total: £992.93