First of all, let me apologize that it has taken me so long to announce the winners of the Future Couponer Contest. There were a lot of factors that delayed this post and I won’t go into all of it – but the biggest factor was we had some dishonest voting that needed to be sorted out.
For example, we had multiple instances of 7-10 votes coming in, within seconds of each other from the same ISP. This happened multiple times from more than just one person. Someone was obviously “voting for someone” and that’s not the point of the contest. I know some of you emailed me and said, “my mom is in town, so she is going to vote from our home computer, too. . . ” and stuff like that I can understand. But 10 votes from one computer within a minute, in the middle of a weekday afternoon, is obviously a little fishy.
I was VERY clear in my initial Future Couponer post that “I will track ISPs to make sure that there are not multiple votes coming from one particular computer. Please be honest and ethical in your voting.” And after the votes came in I was stuck with the predicament of counting the votes as they were, OR going through each vote and vetting it to make sure it appeared legit. I ended up verifying every single comment because I didn’t want to reward the dishonest behavior.
So when in doubt – I threw it out. More than a 3 votes per ISP per day were thrown out and I made the best decision I could about who the true winner was. One photo was completely disqualified due to blatant cheating. I feel confident about the results as I spent a good 2 hours counting the votes and looking at the ISPs and times votes were cast.
SO now for the fun stuff. . .these were the categories:
Best all around photo – $100 Amazon gift card
Selected by yours truly, this is essentially First Prize. I’ll pick my all time favorite photo and you’ll win a $100 Amazon gift card!
Reader’s choice – $50 Amazon gift card
Based on votes by readers – the photos with the most reader votes will win a $50 Amazon gift card.
Most creative photo – $40 Amazon gift card
How creative can you get in illustrating a future couponer? The most creative photo, as selected by me, will win a $50 Amazon gift card.
Random selection – $10 Amazon gift card
Using a random selection process I’ll randomly select a winner who will win a $20 Amazon gift card.
Drumroll please. . . the WINNER is. . .
Best all around photo – $100 Amazon gift card
#23 your concentration is fantastic. Couponing does take some focus and concentration – and your photo sums it up. Love your list, coffee and calculator, too. That’s a good set up to get you saving!
Reader’s choice – $50 Amazon gift card
Based on votes by readers – the photos with the most reader votes!
Way to rally the votes from your friends #23! You win a $50 Amazon gift card.
*Please note, this is calculated on most legit votes, from different ISPs as the rule was one vote per person (ISP) per day.
Most creative photo – $40 Amazon gift card
What a cute 2-for-1 deal. Love it! #34 wins a $50 Amazon gift card.
Random selection – $10 Amazon gift card
My son and daughter picked their favorite! #6 wins a $20 Amazon gift card.
I just had to add this honorable mention – #5, you win a $10 Amazon gift card for being so cute in your costume!
I’ll be emailing the winners so check your emails this evening. You’ll have 48 hours to respond and claim your prize.
THANK YOU to everyone who entered! I wish I could give you ALL a gift card, your photos and your kids are adorable. Although we did have some cheating, the majority of the votes were legit and lovely to read. It was fun to rally around such a fun, positive contest! Teaching our kids to be good stewards of their money is such a valuable skill – keep it up!
Erica says
It’s no surprise that couponing gets a bad name if people are willing to cheat for a $50 gift card. #23 was my fav too but congrats to everyone who posted their photos and participated honestly in the contest. Like you said, teaching our kids to be good stewards of money is important. Being honest is equally important 🙂
Carrie says
Cheating is pathetic – so glad you didn’t put up with it! Good for you. Thank you for keeping up this blog and all the fun giveaways. I was the lucky winner of a trip to Hood River and feel so grateful for the time away with my husband and all of the money I save because you find us great deals!
Misty says
Boo! to the cheaters! YAY to all of the winners! All of the submissions were cute as can bee. LOL.
Chels says
Congratz to the winners! This was such a cute and fun contest! Please do again soon! 🙂
Betsy says
Love the pics, and congrats to the winners!!
Sorry to hear that it took soooo long to get the winners due to dishonesty, but glad that honest people won.
Christa F says
Congratulations everyone!!!
Tina S says
These are hilarious and soooo cute! I have to admit that the winner’s photo made me laugh so hard!
Congrats to all the winners!
Maegen says
Heather,
I’m sooooo sorry you had hassles with this. That really makes my stomach hurt for you. I thought it was such a clever idea, too.
Congratulations to the winners. They were all darling, but #23 was my pick. I do that same thing with my tongue!