Today when I made a deposit at a Wells Fargo ATM, up popped a message about our Someday Stories^SM promotion, which runs through July 25.

Now, I realize should've brought this cool contest to your attention earlier, so my apologies. You've only got a few days left to enter!

The Someday Story^SM contest is all about you and your someday. Someday you'll go to medical school, someday you'll pay off your student loans and start that nonprofit organization you've been dreaming of — you get the idea. All you have to do is tell us the true and aspiring story of your "Someday" dream, and your winnings could help make it real.

Here's how it works:

Share with us your Someday Story hopes for a chance to win $100,000. Each week a story will be selected to win $1,000 as "The Story of the Week." On September 17, we'll narrow the submissions to the top five, whose story will be filmed for the website. Once the videos are up, it's in the hands of the visitors to the website who will vote for their favorite story.

Visitors to the site also will get to vote for one of three worthy causes — Boys & Girls Clubs of America , Habitat for Humanity , and Junior Achievement  — to give them a chance to win too. Wells Fargo will donate up to $250,000 for the cause that gets the most votes.

Check out the contest rules for all the necessary legalese, including how to enter online or by mail.

What are you waiting for? Tell us your "Someday" today!

Posted by Staci at 10:48 AM |  Contact Staci |  Permalink  |  Comments (4)
Found in Paying, Sweepstakes, Wells Fargo Bank

Calling all closet performers, The Music Man  fans, and karaoke lovers: The Wells Fargo wagon is a-coming down the street!

Only a week remains for you to enter our Center Stage in the Rose Parade®  music video contest! Make your own video for the "Wells Fargo Wagon" song, and you could win the grand prize — to have an excerpt of your winning video air during the television broadcast of the 2008 Rose Parade®. Here are the official rules .

Take a look at the competition and get your entries in today. Not feeling creative enough to make your own video? Vote for your favorite entry instead!

Separately, you also can enter the 2008 Rose Parade® Sweepstakes, where the grand prize includes a ride in the Wells Fargo stagecoach during the Rose Parade®, Rose Bowl Game® tickets, hotel accommodations, and air transportation provided by American Airlines® from any American Airlines® destination to Los Angeles. Check out the complete set of prizes and sweepstakes rules. I've been to the Rose Parade once — my sister's high school marching band was invited to perform in 1998 — and it was definitely worth the trip!

PS: If the "Wells Fargo Wagon" song is permanently stuck in your head now, I'm sorry. I sing it in my sleep!

Posted by Staci at 10:05 AM |  Contact Staci |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Found in Sweepstakes, Wells Fargo Bank

Yesterday we asked: What does your first car say about you? Well, if you are what you eat, and you are what you read, one could make the assumption that you are what you drive. The only problem with this logic is that it's much easier to choose what we eat and what we read. And what we drive, especially for those just starting out, may just be a matter of happenstance.

I'd like to give a quick shout-out to my fellow drivers who rock their hand-me-down Hondas and Volvos with names like "The Beast." Your car—regardless of year, make or model—may not define who you are, but it will help build your character.

The great news is this year Wells Fargo will be giving one lucky student an opportunity to make a statement of their own—with a chance to win a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid!

We call it the MPG3 Sweepstakes:

MPG = Miles per gallon
MP3 = iPod®

Here's the deal. When you open a Wells Fargo College Checking® account, you're automatically entered to win:

• Grand Prize: 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid with an 80 GB video iPod loaded with the top 25 college albums of 2007.
  
  
• First Runner-Up Prizes: Five winners will be awarded an 80 GB video iPod loaded with the top 25 college albums of 2007.
  
  
• Second Runner-Up Prizes: 20 winners will receive free music for one year to be awarded via 30 free downloads per month from eMusic.com .

You can also go straight to http://backstage.wellsfargo.com and enter on your own. (Maximum of two entries per person; see the complete rules here.)

So keep reading your choice of books (or those selected by your professors), eat well at your dining commons, and enter the Wells Fargo MPG3 Sweepstakes for a chance to win!

Posted by Rachel at 09:14 AM |  Contact Rachel |  Permalink  |  Comments (5)
Found in Cars, MPG3, Paying, Preparing, Student loans, Sweepstakes, Wells Fargo Bank

The Student LoanDown wants to know: What does your first car say about you?

My first car was a 1981 Honda Accord hatchback, pretty close to this . Turquoise blue with a racing stripe and an AM radio—hot. My mom bought it for me after my sophomore year in high school, but I had to wait until I completed Driver's Ed that summer before I could drive it. Twenty years later, I'm still driving a sensible Honda.

Pam's first car was far cooler than mine—a yellow and black 1956 Ford convertible with rolled leather interior. It was a 16th birthday present from her parents in 1963 . Gas cost 27 cents a gallon, so her weekly gas budget was all of $3.00. Once a convertible gal, always a convertible gal—Pam tools around in a Mercedes now.

Arriving during her sophomore year of college, Caroline's first car was a 1976 Caprice Classic in a lovely powder blue. According to Wikipedia , her car was 19½ ft (5.9 m) long—longer even than many modern full-size pickup  trucks, which probably explains why to this day she still pulls WAAAY too far into the garage and parking spaces.

Rachel's first car, which she shared with her mom, was really more of a bus: a 1987 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia. She'll never forget the look on the DMV guy's face when she showed up for her California driver's exam. But it was functional—it even had a kitchenette and slept four people. The family in "Little Miss Sunshine"  should've been so lucky!

A 1987 Oldsmobile Regency was Barbara's first set of wheels. She and two friends christened their boat-sized automobiles the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria  (Barbara's pretty sure she was the Pinta). Unfortunately, the Pinta had some health issues—fading paint and rust—so she didn't last long.

Why do we ask? Tomorrow we'll fill you in.

Posted by Staci at 01:42 PM |  Contact Staci |  Permalink  |  Comments (2)
Found in Cars, Looking back, MPG3, Parents, Remember, Student loans, Sweepstakes, Wells Fargo Bank

I have some great news to share: We just launched our Wells Fargo College Scholarship Sweepstakes, which means we're giving away money for tuition!

This summer, Wells Fargo Student Loans is giving away $25,000—a grand prize scholarship of $10,000 and 15 scholarship prizes of $1,000.

Just complete an online application for any Wells Fargo qualifying student loan by Aug. 21, 2007. You're automatically entered when your application is approved (no purchase necessary).

One last thing: If you haven't checked out our other scholarship resources, now's the time. Every little bit helps to fund the most important investment you'll ever make—your education!

Posted by Staci at 12:08 PM |  Contact Staci |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Found in Financial education, Paying, Preparing, Scholarships, Student loans, Sweepstakes, Tuition, Wells Fargo Bank