Just because I like to think and live frugally, doesn't mean I don't like to dream a little.
Every once and a while when I stumble across the amount of the lottery in my state, my mind drifts off to planning how I would spend the money if I got won it. Given I would have to be a VERY lucky person as I don't buy lottery tickets. I've always said to people that if I'm lucky enough to win the lottery, then I will be lucky enough to find the ticket on the ground! Right?
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| Flickr/CC - Lisa Brewster |
I can give multiple examples, here's one: I was planning on ways to spend a lottery on the way home from picking up the milk from the store and when I got home and opened the mail I had an unexpected medical bill for a few hundred dollars that was due since the insurance company didn't pick it up. Or how about the time my partner and I were out exploring the back roads of Colorado and daydreaming about the lottery, then the next day we found out the car was leaking because a rock busted a hole in the radiator. I rest my case!
Eventually the weird bad luck has disappeared and I still dream of a lottery win. What would I do with 190 million dollars? I can't even wrap my brain around that much money. Sometimes I would say, I would settle for 1.9 million. HA! Settle.
The first thing that I would do with that money is to pay off any outstanding debts, and since I don't have a house or car payments - those would be small. But now that I think of the cars, I have two, and they are getting on in years, 11 and 15 years, it may be time to update to a new car. Of course I would pay in cash and make sure I researched for the good ones out there.
I'm not really found of owning a home in one place, but I would love to travel the US and the world. A nice class C RV to cruise the continental 48 and still be comfortable traveling miles and miles. Small enough to make stops at the grocery store and park outside relatives homes while we visit.
The best part of the RV, it's heaven to the minimalist in me. Donate all the furniture and stuff we have now and take off - towing the new "used" vehicle behind us. Then we could use the money to collect experiences and photos instead of things that take up space.
After site-seeing the US, then store the RV and go off on a worldwide site-seeing tour for a year from Russia to Asia to Europe, through Africa and South America and finally top it off over in Canada, then back home.
And if I still had some money left in my pocket I would put a down payment on a house in a state that had appealed to me from my earlier trip. Sound good to you?
Of course I could just keep 10% of the winnings and donate the other 90%. That option is on the table as well.
Now all I need to do is found a winning lottery ticket lying on the ground and I'll be the luckiest woman around with one of the biggest decisions of my life! ☺
Have you daydreamed about winning the lottery?
Would you do anything different with 1 million, 10 million or 100 million?
When the Lotto (California) goes over $50 million, I am willing to buy one ticket ($1), because that is all I am willing to lose. Sure every time I buy one I fantasize for a little while of what I would do if I won. Then I get back to reality and continue with my life. First, I would take the lump sum payment so I could invest it for the long run. I would invest about 95% to make it grow so it would last. The 5% would be for fun! The usual new home, cars etc.
@Krantcents
It is amazing what you can live off of when it comes to invested wealth.
ooh la la
lots of happy fantasies of warm, balmy locales
do gooding too
@ The Zoo
Good to hear someone wins on those 2nd chance tickets. I've watched those TLC programs as well... always bummed for the winners when they get caught up in drugs and deterioration of their life that money gained them access to.
I think I'm the only person who doesn't want to win the lottery. Sure, I want money. But I actually want to earn the money. However, I do want to win those raffle promos with prizes like cars and small amount of money.