A Car?! For me?! Oh. Not for me. Never mind.

So a member of my family has been wanting to buy a Ford Fusion, and is the type to love a hybrid one. I hunted down a contest for one of those, with the thinking that I could sell it to said family member, should I win.

Who here is thinking, "that selfish jerk! Why not *give* it to the family member, instead of trying to sell it to them?!". Here is the thing. Our lovely government feels that they deserve lots and lots of our money. They don't just want some of the money that people earn. They want some of every single source. So if your parents work hard and save money (that they have been taxed on), and then give it to you when they die, the government doesn't think of that as already taxed money, they think of it as a revenue stream. Here is the real secret. Our government officials, on every side of the aisle, do not think of your hard earned money as "your" money. They think of it as "potential future revenue".

Mini-rant over.

At any rate, something to always keep in mind when entering a contest of any sort, is that there will be taxes on anything that you win. Between federal, state, and local taxes, they might be as much as 60% of the value of what you won. So, unless you win cold hard cash, (in which case be sure to sock away 60% for end of year tax surprises), be prepared to pay around 1/2 the value to Uncle Sam come April 14th.

That is why I am only entering contests for cash or things I want or can sell easily.

Yay!