I don't gamble, I don't bet on football games, I don't buy lottery tickets. I don't have much money and I really prefer to keep it for, oh, FOOD or my electric bill, rather than throwing it away on things that won't benefit me. Having said that, however, I just read that the Mega Millions lottery jackpot is now up to $290 million, which would mean a $205.5 million lump sum payment. The largest Mega Millions jackpot ever was in 2007 - - $390 million. Which would mean, oh, I don't know, maybe a $275 million lump sum payment?? Holy moly!! My imagination does not stretch that far.
I still won't buy a lottery ticket, even with a 1 in three zillion chance to win $290 million. But, it IS kind of fun to think about what you would do with $205.5 million cold hard cash. That's kind of a game I play sometimes. I imagine that some mega rich stranger leaves me all his money because once I was kind to him and he always remembered me, the stranger who was kind. Ridiculous, I know. But that's the way my mind works sometimes. Scary, very scary. But what WOULD you do with that kind of money? How could you ever SPEND that much money? With so many people in hard times these days, would you be benevolent and find ways to improve others lives? Would you buy a mansion on each continent? Would you BUY a continent?? I have a friend who wants to live in Disneyland. Literally. Set up house in Sleeping Beauty's castle. Maybe she could buy Disneyland. I wrote a post last year about what I would do with a sudden fortune dropping in my lap, because you know - - stranger things have happened. I don't think I'd change much from what I said in that post.
But . . . what would YOU do? What would you do with $205.5 million? Do tell.
Judy !! thank you so much for bestowing an award upon this is Belgium ! sorry I did not see this earlier;.have been running a bit ..
ReplyDeleteI will look in detail at your previous posting and try to figure out whether you require me to do something or not..; that is .;apart from me expressing my gratitude to you ! ! merci beaucoup et à bientôt
anni
First you get an unlisted phone #, a good lawyer, and a very trustworthy financial advisor. Then I would pay tithing and a generous fast offering. I would get my family members and loved ones taken care of. I would buy a brand new car exactly the way I wanted it, even if I had to custom order it. I'd get my husband a custom ordered truck. I'd give to some favorite charities. I'd save a bunch. I'd get my whole family together for a great reunion. I'd be a great secret Santa all year. I'd come visit you and pay for you to come visit me.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to go buy you a lottery ticket! You said a lot of the things I posted earlier!
DeleteWOW if I won that much money there are so many things I can think of right now, too numerous to mention. : ) Now I have on occasion gotten 2 scratch offs, but really don't play- I still think about it, and I am a dreamer. : ) BTW I love the new look for your page. : )
ReplyDeleteThanks, G_G :)
DeleteWell, like Tamara, I'd get a lawyer, pay my tithe, give an offering to our oversea missionaries, start a business, open up more jobs for people, take care of my family, and maybe, for a little fun, get a web designer for Papa is a Preacher.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I'm loving the look your blog is taking, Judy.
Thanks, Larissa - - change is fun! What kind of business would you start??
DeleteI'd build a new school for your husband, so he wouldn't have to worry about the walls tumbling down. Educators should not have to worry about that particular aspect of their jobs. Ant that's the truth.
ReplyDeleteThat is very kind of you, Mark, to think of my husband :)
DeleteOh my gosh Judy..I don't know. Let me first say I'm digging your new look! Ok..the $$$. I would give for sure. And just do what I love. And give!
ReplyDeleteWell, let's see. I'd pay off my house and bills. Put away a nice stash for retirement. Maybe buy a Stradivarius violin. And then donate a bunch to Smile Train and Plan USA. Oh yeah, and buy that new school your husband needs.
ReplyDeleteI'm a sucker for lottery tickets! And what wouldn't I do?? I would tithe - don't faint - but I'm not sure the church would accept gambling money as a tithe but I'd try. I'd take care of my family and friends, bills, blah, blah and THEN I would buy up all those vacant military bases and turn them into to homes for the homeless - the homeless who don't want to be homeless. Yes, sadly some people choose to be.. - And I would use the former CO club and various other "officers" bldgs. as classrooms to teach parenting, retrain people to enter the world again, employment apps., counseling, etc., etc., I'd also open a little mini store for kids called "The School House." Kids who's parents make too much money to get any aid but make too little to provide some much needed things.. Like NEW school shoes, clothes, back packs, lunch boxes, prom dresses, tux's, etc. And the kids could do all the shopping for themselves, everything would be brand NEW and I'd give them kiddie cash to check out at the registers and everything would be their height, the racks, the registers, the shelves. And not one child would leave the store thinking they got a hand out from someone, something second hand or picked out by someone else. It would be all about them. And I'd have another part of the store for teachers to go in and get all the paper and pencils and supplies they needed to run their classrooms FREE OF CHARGE - I would eventually do fund raisers to help out with this and get the name out for the teachers. - Hhhmm.. Then I would open a coffee shop! :D
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I bought a lottery ticket when we were in Idaho a couple years ago. My mom looked down her nose at us and said, 'You know you could't pay tithing on that.' True, but think of all the good we could do.
ReplyDeleteI have 6, possibly 7, missions to pay for, so that would be first on my list. So would taking my kids on a vacation. Then, I'd fly all my blogging friends to Hawaii so we could meet in person.
Aloha! Count me in!
DeleteWeird... I posted a response to this yesterday ... or at least I thought I posted it .... but it 's not here .
ReplyDeleteOh well, Lord knows, I likely screwed it up somehow --
but I don't do lottery tickets either but I sure know what I would do if I encountered a fortune. I would turn my energy from my current work to running a foundation that serves the needs of children . This foundation would offer grants to programs that address the educational, emotional, social, physical, creative needs of children - exclusively those children who do not have access to these services. I can see a broad range of children being served by this foundation. I would likely limit the geographic range of the foundation - perhaps limited to my own county or the NorCal counties - mostly just to keep the focus manageable.
Oh, and I would buy myself a new new Beetle :)
Hi Judy! Thanks for visiting my post on winning Tge lottery . I don't buy a ticket very often either but it good to dream. Loving your blog.
ReplyDeleteIt's a crazy amount of money, but my brain tends to go to all the comfort and necessity things--safe, fully paid for homes for those closest to me, reliable vehicles, etc. rather than to the luxury things, most of which don't appeal at all. A second home near the ocean is really the only big ticket thing that comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the odds: I often talk about how I "need" to win the lottery, but only buy a ticket once or twice a year. When I mentioned winning the lottery the other day, Hubby said a little sarcastically, "Your odds increase signficantly if you actually play." But, as I said to him, they actually DON'T. It's the difference between ZERO in whatever gazillion or ONE in whatever gazillion. Doesn't sound all that significant to me. :)
I think I may have told you that I once wrote about this for an entire month Did it as a daily writing challenge for myself writing about one aspect of my "new life" every day.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that most of what I wanted wasn't really extravagant. Which I thought was kind of pathetic! No mansion, no jewels, no private jets... I wanted a 3 br, 2 bath home with one or two storage spaces. A lawyer and a few other emergency services. Safety. A few gadgets but most were less than $300. Mostly, I used the money to buy comfort and safety and help when needed.
Once I was certain I'd have what I wanted and needed, I looked towards creating an educational program with classes that *I* think are essential in our schools but that are not part of the regular curriculum. First Aid and CPR, for starters. Exposure to a variety of different cultures and disabilities so there'd be no discomfort or awkwardness around people they viewed to be different from themselves. Ideally, they wouldn't view them to be vastly different at all! Just people with different lifestyles. Applied logic to keep people from being taken advantage of by tricky wording in legalities and/or advertising. Teen pregnancy prevention with the crying baby dolls... Several other courses too. I had a list.
This may sound harsh, but I didn't provide much for other people in my immediate life (bear in mind, I have no kids or spouse.) In my fantasy, people around me wouldn't know. I'd be generous, but not overly so. I wouldn't want them to know I was rich. There are only about 3 people in my life who'd treat me the same. Others would become unbearable, so they'd never know.