I have one rule when it comes to buying lottery tickets. I only buy them when the lottery reaches $100M. OK, sometimes a little less, but generally only when I am drunk. So, with Mega Millions having drawings twice a week and being over the $100M mark for what seems like a month now, I have bought a lot of lottery tickets. Usually when it starts getting to $200M, there are so many people who buy tickets that it is inevitable that someone buys a winner. There are just so many combinations to play and it is rare that it gets even that high. After no one won last night though, the winner, if there is one on Friday is expected to get $476M. That is a half a billion. That would put you in the top 1000 richest people in the US or really close to it. Of course if you take the lump amount and live in a heavily taxed state like I do, then your take home should be around $4.99 which can get you 20 piece chicken McNuggets and a great story. The previous record was $390M.
You Gotta be in it to win it!!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't play and the large $$ doesn't make me want to play.
ReplyDeleteBTAIM, if my dad were to win, I'd be pretty ding dang happy about it.
I sent my husband out to buy some tickets, and the cashier sold him the wrong kind. WHAT IF WE HAD GOTTEN THE WINNING TICKET?? Now I'll never know :(
ReplyDeleteIn the end, the cash value is about 35% of the jackpot, after deducting for taking a lump sum payout vs annuity, then for taxes, etc.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, I think I can live on 35% of half a billion dollars. Around $166 million cash. I think I'd have a lot of new friends. haha
Although we don't have this game in Florida, I do buy a few Lotto and Powerball tickets when I go to the grocery store on Fridays. I win $5 here and $100 there. If I didn't spend it on lottery tickets, I'd spend it on something just as dumb. I view it as entertainment, like going to the movies.
ReplyDeleteI never buy lottery tickets, maybe this is a good excuse to do so. A person should try it at least once, right?
ReplyDeleteMy friend sent his husband to buy tix yesterday. Told him to get the winning one. Guess he's gonna be in trouble now!
ReplyDeleteThe big one up here in Canada is LottoMax. It's maximum is $50,000,000, untaxed. I buy when it's that amount. I may buy this week as the grand prize is $20,000,000 and I think I could make due with that.
ReplyDeleteIf I can't win, let someone who loves me win.
my coworkers and i pooled our money and bought 60 tickets yesterday. we won $4.
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ReplyDelete$99 million not enough for you, Enty? ;)
ReplyDelete@anita_mark - I buy LottoMax too. The most I ever won was $50.
ReplyDeleteI like the LottoMax because you can play your own numbers AND you still get two generated lines. I used to play my own numbers in the Lotto 6/49, but stopped because I was obviously just wasting money. had I kept on playing the same numbers, I would have won close to $6,000 a couple of months ago.
I will NEVER stop playing the LottoMax...*L*
@Maja, that's why I always play Quick Pick. I'd lose it if I had numbers I consistently play and then forgot once..... We play at the office too and I always contribute my toonie because I don't want to be the only person here on Monday.
ReplyDeleteI got five numbers once. Won a whopping $120. Still better than ummidk's $4 win split between her co-workers ;)
Did anyone see The Office where the warehouse staff won the lottery and all quit and Darryl has essentially a total breakdown at work. Hilarious.
Anita_mark, that is the main reason I play at work too...wouldn't it be awful to be the one person left after a winning jackpot?
ReplyDeleteI never play but maybe I should...
ReplyDeleteSomehow, I ALSO think I can live on 35% of half a billion dollars.
Just one million after taxes. That's all we need. Pay off the mortgage, get a new roof and save/invest the rest. My husband and I are incredibly frugal.
ReplyDeleteOk - maybe I would buy all the books on my Kindle wish list. But we're just too cheap to blow it all.
I wouldn't even know where to spend it. I'd give a lot of it to my parents and keep the rest in a bank and live off the interest...after I took all my friends on a fabulous tropical vacation at a 5 star resort.
ReplyDeleteI am soooo buying a ticket. If I win, we'll have a CDAN party.
ReplyDeleteI would like to help my husband someday realize his dream of owning the Detroit Tigers so we bought a ticket and will be buying another one for the next drawing. Oh and I just also like money.
ReplyDeleteFL doesn't have it and I live too far from another state to easily buy a ticket, oh well.
ReplyDeleteI play Lotto Texas almost every drawing - 2 sets of numbers (my own + a quick pick). My own numbers seem to always be the better set. But I will be purchasing some Mega Millions tickets this Friday. Who knows? And I know exactly where the money will be going - I've built a spreadsheet complete with charitable donations, trusts, gifts and annuity. I'm set!!!
ReplyDelete@Popcorn - My husband is a huge Tigers fan - I expect season tickets! *L*
ReplyDeleteThe lotteries here in Europe give you 100% of the jackpot amount tax free. The US system always seems incredibly complicated to me.
ReplyDelete@Popcorn - even after winning, the Ilitch's would still have more money :(
ReplyDeleteMy current boy toy and I have an agreement (we had fun coming up with ways to split it last night)... He gets 17.5 mill plus 2.5 mill in a trust for his daughter from me..I get 16 mill plus a mill each in trusts for my 2 best friends kids... Works out good!
The Lottery: A Tax on People Who Are Bad at Math.
ReplyDeleteMy state doesn't have this particular game. They didn't even have a lottery until 2006. Damn Bible Belters. ;)
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