Have you caught the fever? The billion dollar Mega Millions fever?? While I have an actual horror of winning such an obscene amount of money, I still can't keep my $2 in my purse.
I mean if you win, you will have to change your name and move. Even if you give every penny away to your family, charities, needy folks and actual friends, people will camp on your doorstep with pitiful faces thinking you held back several hundred million. It would hurt to show them empty pockets.
I do enter the lottery only when it gets crazy but I pray that I will not win the BIG one. I am sure God smiles big time when he get my plea thinking, "Finally an easy one to answer."
I do not belong to any organized religion and I rarely ask Him for any favors unless someone I know is sick or in peril. But the night before the drawing, I sincerely ask the Big Guy to not let me win the top prize. So far He has faithfully answered that prayer as was asked. Amen.
I would be OK winning one of the smaller prizes. I am not opposed to money, only mind boggling amounts.
My brother also prays for me to lose. He says he does not want me to turn his children into bums. He makes a good point and if God doesn't hear me, he will hear Jim. Jim is in way better standing than I am.
So why do I bother?? Why not keep the two bucks in my pocketbook and not play period?? What can I say but that the fever creeps into my heart also and I can't resist. It is kind of exciting in a scary way. Like riding a world class roller coaster. Will I crash or survive?
Do you play when the pot gets huge and how would you spend over a billion dollars?
Our pots never get that huge, if I remember rightly, the highest we ever had on offer was $100 million. I'm greedy and want to win, to share with family and friends, but mostly I would like to win a smaller pot. This week's offer is $30 million and I have two tickets. It seems like a lot of money, but shared between about 17 people it would work nicely.
ReplyDeleteRiver,
DeleteTotally agree. There was a time when 30 million would be considered an obscene amount of money but after taxes and split 17 ways, just about right.
Funny - I've just started to by tickets to these huge lotteries but it hadn't occurred to me as a possibility that I could win the whole thing! I'd be happy with a simple million.
ReplyDeleteMarty,
DeleteThat is the amount I am shooting for also. The big one would be like going back to work again.
I have never even bought a lottery ticket for myself. I remember watching that show about the guy that handed out a million dollars to random strangers and mostly it did not work out so well. I have enough to be comfortable if I am careful and that's good enough.
ReplyDeleteI use to love that show. Like you, I have enough though a big catastrophe could put me in a bind so that is why I don't want a Billion to worry about. Though handing out millions to strangers might be fun.
DeleteI always have intentions to buy tickets, but I don't usually. I wouldn't mind winning a million, like you, but I sure don't want to win the big one. I bought three tickets last month as a birthday present. She didn't win, either, but we had fun thinking about what we would do with the money. :-)
ReplyDeleteDjan,
DeleteI like that idea and I have started taking scratch off tickets to friends in the hospital. They enjoy the fun of "maybe" rather than balloons or flowers. Works for birthdays and thank you's also.
Talk about great minds. Wait until you see my question of the week. I swear I didn't see your post before I posted.
ReplyDeleteAnnie,
DeleteNow I can't wait to see your post.
I never play, but this lottery sure makes me want to come up with some winning numbers. I don't even want the money (well not ALL of it!), but I like the crazy lucky challenge of just the right numbers. Still I won't play. Never have, never will. If I did win, I would be one of those people who gives most of it to charities, and the rest I would hide under my bed!
ReplyDeleterobin,
DeleteIt does have a certain pull doesn't it? Hope you have a tall bed:))
I am right there with you. I think I could handle 5 million, I could buy a nice summer home, help out a little for a few family and friends, without having to drastically change my life. I billion would be too much...yes I do enter.
ReplyDeleteJoe,
DeleteI know, when did less than a billion become chump change? A lot of people won't play till it gets in the hundred millions. Good luck.
I feel the same way, I'd hate winning that obscene amount of money. It would run my life. I only buy tickets for the lotto AFTER the big one is given out. I figure my odds are better because less people are buying then and the pot is smaller. Those big pots though are great dream material for a few days.
ReplyDeleteJean,
DeleteWe agree.
Normally I play the Natural State Lottery. Rarely does it get over $100,000. So far all I have done is break even some weeks but it is fun.
I play weekly so I'm one of those. I will be anonymous and sign it as a trust so I don't have to pick it up. Who will know I have won then - no one! I will only tell family I won a little bit in the lottery when I help them. They will never know how much. I will retire if I win. I have absolutely no trouble with the amount. If you win 5 million you'll only get 1.5 and that isn't a lot. At least not where I live. My family will all be set. And the thought of being able to retire is foremost in my mind should I win. :-) Ah, a girl can dream.
ReplyDeletePeggy,
DeleteI can see you have thought about this:)) I guess I am old enough to remember when 1.5 million was a fortune. I guess those of us all ready retired don't want as much. Before I retired I know I was much more eager for a Big one. Hope you or someone you know well wins. Dream well.
We don't buy lottery tickets. We did buy one or two in the beginning, but don't anymore. I do like the idea of someone winning all that money... and am really happy for the winners, but worry that it might ruin their lives. What would I do if I won the lottery?... probably share it with the kids and maybe buy a second home - somewhere to go to during the Texas summer heat.
ReplyDeleteRian,
DeleteHaving homes spread around the country would be a nice way to beat the weather. I always like it when a workers pool wins and it is divided among a bunch of people.
Hells bells! Y'all are nuts!!! I play because I want to win!!! Excellent doctors for my issues, a world class psychiatrist for all my family members, paying off the entire family's bills, UNLIMITED BOOKS!!!!!!, my own bookstore, travel, the BEST healthcare in the world, no stress paying bills, a chef, a maid, an accountant...I grew up very, very, VERY POOR. Dear God, PLEASE LET ME WIN THE LOTTERY!!!!! AMEN!! xo
ReplyDeleteMarion,
DeleteHa ha, since God is still laughing at my request, hope he hears yours and if you need a new best friend, I am available.
Marion, you sound just like me. "Please God, let me win a big one! Just once! I'm so tired of being poor." Although I am a bit past dirt poor these days, I still have to make every dollar count and there's no savings.
DeleteI accept, Patti! I have another friend in Arkansas & she's a keeper. I enjoy your blog. I'm forever 49 online. Ha! xo
DeleteWe once won $2,000. Our 3rd investor was our son, so we split the prize.
ReplyDeleteWhen we rec'd the check of $1,200, my brother had just died. We needed 2 fares and a new suit for my husband. Cost? $1,200.
God takes care of everything.
Susan Kane,
DeleteWow, that gave me goose bumps.
I occasionally buy a lottery ticket just so I can dream about what I would do if I won. I like the dreams so much I don't check the numbers for weeks after they've been drawn.
ReplyDeleteFun60
DeleteYes, the dreams and wild mental spending are the best part but I do check my numbers.
Yes, I am a silly girl. I play when the winnings are big. I play whenever someone invites me into a pot. I even play just because I stepped into a quick stop that day. I know some good lawyers. If you win and I don't let me know and I"ll hook you up with my lawyers. I think we represented about 6 over my working years.
ReplyDeleteBarbara,
DeleteYou are not alone. I don't play Mega Millions till it gets big and tempting either. I normally play a small state lottery that only rarely gets over a hundred thousand. I'll keep your successful lawyers in mind.
We don't buy lottery tickets. We have a few times in the past, but just don't get around to so I guess it's not important to us. I have thought about what I would do if I won millions, but billions is too big to imagine.
ReplyDeleteLinda,
DeleteI know. A thousand million is just too hard to comprehend. It is scary.
I haven't bought a lottery ticket in about 10 years, but wouldn't mind winning and sharing.
ReplyDeleteTerra,
DeleteIt isn't too late. Think you have till 10:45 ET tonight. Or just dream and save your money.
I play the lottery here in the UK but have never won more than £64 (that's about $82). We can opt for anonymity. A nice sum to do all the things you want to do like take a great holiday, get the house renovated etc would be good but, like you, I fear an obscene amount would be more trouble than its worth.
ReplyDeleteAround My Kitchen Table
Around my Kitchen table,
DeleteYes, I quite agree. $82 is about right. Just enough to do something you might not normally do. A Billion--that could be a curse.
GOD CAME THRU FOR ME AGAIN. I WON BUT ONLY TWO DOLLARS SO I BROKE EVEN. MAYBE SOME OF YOU WON SMALLER PRIZES ALSO?
ReplyDeleteHOPE THE S.CAROLINA WINNER NEEDED IT TO RECOVER FROM FLORENCE AND HOPEFULLY IT WAS A GROUP THAT WON.
Having that much money would ruin my life. I would love to have enough money to help a lot of people, but when people know you are rich, you are right, they would hang out on your doorstep begging. Even those who don't deserve anything. But If I could win and help people I know and love, I would not mind winning. I really don't need anything, at this point in my life, that I don't have already.
ReplyDeleteSnickelfritz
DeleteI feel the same way. I have what I need though it would be nice to help those who don't. Still that amount of money I can't see bringing any good.
I've never bet on the Lottery. However, at a Christmas party where silly gifts were given mine included a $5 scratch off ticket. I laughed as I scratched and then yelled as I won $50 !
ReplyDeleteGinnie
DeleteHa ha, you remind me of a friend that I got some tickets for to thank her and when she won $60--you would have thought it was a million. She ended up buying all our lunches.
Not me. I always lose. G plays and won a big Nine dollars tho.
ReplyDeleteMage,
DeleteHey, that isn't too shabby and it is nice to win something.
I, too, get a ticket when there’s a big pot, but only want a smaller prize. I don’t give much thought to what I’d do with it — something about not counting my chickens before they’re hatched. Will await that pleasure should it ever become a reality.
ReplyDeleteJoared,
DeleteWe think the same way. Would be interesting if either of us won.
No, I never buy a ticket. The odds are as much against you no matter how big the pot.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn
DeleteI know. Since lotto changed the rules chances are really slim now. Still I look at it as cheap entertainment.
So does my daughter. She loves to imagine what she would do with all that money. And she says there's no use imagining if you didn't buy a ticket. Like the old man said, "If you ain't in, then you can't win."
DeleteI won a package of Marigold seeds on in a national lottery. I gave up after that win...
ReplyDeleteRay,
DeleteI don't know that may have been the best prize ever.