Is it possible to have too much of a good thing?
These people responded to the AskReddit thread, “Redditors who’ve won a lifetime supply of anything, what did you get, how much of it did you get, and how has is affected your life?” These answers will make me think twice the next time I enter a contest!
[Source listed at the end of the article.]
“I won a year’s supply of canned fish. Tuna, sardines, etc. Three years later, I got divorced, and I left 90% of the stuff at my ex’s and moved on. Who knows if she still has it.”
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“My father won a lifetime supply of mayonnaise from a company that is now out of business. It was really a shame because he named me the same exact name as his own, in an attempt to get me free mayonnaise for life.
While I appreciate the effort, I’d rather have my own name, no matter the amount of mayonnaise.”
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“My wife won a year’s supply of groceries from a big supermarket chain.
It came in the form of about 26 $500 gift cards, which were also valid at an electronics chain and various bottle shops owned by the same company.
Not much got spent on groceries, but we ended up with heaps of nice entertainment gear and champagne.”
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“My grandmother won a one-year supply of milk.
It was something like 52 coupons but they threw in a bunch extra so it ended up being closer to 100 coupons each for a free gallon of milk.
She lives alone and doesn’t drink a lot of milk, much less a gallon a week, so all of her kids and grandkids got coupons for free milk.
It was nice not having to buy milk for about a year. We ate a lot of cookies.”
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“My girlfriend and I won free wings for a year during a Super Bowl raffle at our local wing spot this past year. It sounds awesome until you hear the rules that apply: Only 6 free wings a week each–recently bumped down to 5 because of price changes–and no carry-out option, so you have to sit down to eat. We’ve used it quite a bit, but I was still hoping for a little more than 5 wings.”
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“In college, I won a years supply of some new type of energy drink. I basically got a coupon emailed to me each month. Id take it to a local store and theyd give me a 30-pack of the stuff.
Which I promptly turned around and sold in the dorms.”
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“My parents bought this liter drink cup from a major pizza chain that had unlimited refills each time you ordered something and brought it in. It’s been used for 20+ years with no issues.”
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“My friends college had a raffle where you could win ‘a year’s worth of textbooks!’ Sounds great right? Turns out the winner of the raffle got a $100 gift card to the book store. They shouldve advertised that you could win ‘one quarter the cost of your books for one semester!’
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“My roommate in college worked for the apartment complex we lived in. One day he came home with like 300 coupons for free chicken sandwiches at a local chain. They were supposed to be distributed out to the residents of his complex but had accidentally been delivered twice, so he was given the extras. Turns out that you can in fact get tired of those things.”
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“I got a lifetime supply of CD-R labels, back when people actually used CD-Rs. At least several hundred of them, probably more than a thousand.
Since I probably only ever burned a hundred CD-Rs before they died an unceremonious death, the main effect is that nearly anything that needs labelling gets a CD-shaped label, and Ive still got hundreds upon hundreds of them in a drawer.”
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“My local frozen custard shop had a charity contest, and I won. That was 10 years ago. I go once a week, and they’ve made a killing off of me because I still pay for toppings, and I bring my friends. It’s really good frozen custard, though.”
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“The closest I’ve came was a year’s supply of chicken bites from a sandwich chain.
It came in the form of 52 coupons.
It’s effect was that college me got a free breakfast once a week.”
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“I won free pizza for a year, which ended up being 12 coupons for one free pizza every month. Also, the coupons were specified for each month, so you only had the 30-day window to get your free pizza.
It was free pizza, from a place I liked, so I was happy. Still, when you hear ‘free for a year’ you don’t think one pizza, once a month.”
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“I won free oil changes for life from an auto shop, but it was only valid on the car I had at the time. The car I was in the process of selling because it was terrible. I’d hoped to get at least 1 oil change done but they were only open 10am-4pm M-F and I worked those hours.
Never got a single oil change. Had they let me transfer it to my new car… I would have been able to use it about a dozen times by now.”
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“I won a year’s supply of toilet paper from a raffle. It’s lasted me two years, and still going strong!”
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“My cousin got a lifetime supply of burgers at a burger chain, at the rate of one per day. He won it by randomly sitting on a designated seat on some particular day–their anniversary or something. Well… He sure would go for his daily burger, but who would just go and get their free burger only? He would buy other things to make it less awkward. After about a year, he had gained upwards of 20 pounds around his waist, and had joined a gym in the hopes of slimming down.
Gym memberships are expensive. I’m not sure if he ultimately saved any money.”
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“I got a year’s supply of detergent powder as a deal when I bought my washing machine. It came in the form of 12 boxes. Turns out, Im so stingy with my powder, its lasted me nearly 4 years and Im only halfway through the supply.”
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“My dad won a lifetime supply of Graham crackers. We eat them with everything. One day he went through the cabinet and spread whatever he thought would taste good onto the graham crackers, then dared us to eat them. We had so many Graham crackers, so why not! Anyway, after trying a whole variety, he puts peanut butter on one. Oh man! It was delicious!
Basically my dad claims to have invented graham cracker and peanut butter sandwiches, all because a cookie company gave us a lifetime supply in 1991. A great family life hack right here.”
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“My mom won a year’s supply of bread products from Sara Lee in the form of 52 free product coupons. It did not last a year.
I’ve also won $900 worth of Airheads and Mentos products. That also did not last a year.”
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“I won free pasta for a year from a local restaurant. When I actually got the paperwork it turns out it was buy one, get one free for a year. Not as exciting as I had hoped. I never ended up using it.”
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“After my parents saved someone’s life by pulling them out of a burning car, our fire department awarded my parents a lifetime supply of fire extinguishers. 20 or 30 years passed without ever using one until this summer, when the grill caught on fire. My dad decided to just buy one from a wholesaler, as the fire department probably had forgotten.”
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“I won a year’s supply of calendars in a Christmas raffle last year. I didn’t realize the joke they were making until I went to pick up my prize, and realized it was just one calendar.”
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I gave up soda after that. I gave away at least a dozen of those coupons as well because there were extras.”
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“I won a years supply of leggings. One pair per month. I wear leggings almost every day, and these were very comfy, so it worked out well.”
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“I won a years supply of ginger ale once: 12 cases of the stuff.
I love ginger ale. Needless to say it didnt last a year.”
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“I won a year’s supply from a major burrito chain back in 2009, delivered in coupons. I took all my friends out. I took all my dad’s friends out. I bought a lot for myself.
It turns out that there are only so many mediocre triple-meat triple-guac burritos you can eat before getting sick of them.
I ended up selling the rest of the coupons on eBay for a healthy (er, unhealthy?) profit. I haven’t been back since.”
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“My parents signed me up at a local pizza shop to win a year’s worth of pizza right before I left for college. I ended up winning so my parents got 52 coupons for a free pizza.
I had to claim it on my tax return.”
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