should i start playing the lottery? anybody here play it?
hey just wondering. im not gonna go nuts and have to go into gamblers anonymous, but i just started my diet....and im addicted to starbucks coffee and i drink it everyday and i dont want to anymore.. so i thought instead of buying a 2 dollar cup of coffee...maybe i can buy a 2 dollar scratch ticket? or maybe do pick 3 or pick 5? i dunno. maybe i could win something? they say in the scratch tickets there's like a 1:4 chance of having a winning ticket (most of the time the same price of the ticket), but still. what's the most you ever won playing the lottery?
I have a slight addiction to scratchcards, and there is a huge history of gambling in my family, so I really limit myself.
I've won loads of times, but never more than $120 on a single card. I usually get lucky with those win for life ones, and have small wins on a full card (i win every game basically). That's happened to me 1 or 2 times in the past year. Then again, I've spent less than $20 on the lottery in the past year.
I never allow myself to "splurge" on tickets anymore, I've stopped playing completely because it really is a waste of money. For what you spend vs what's won, you'll most likely come out in the red.
I would suggest taking those two dollars a day, and putting them in a real live piggy bank, maybe label it "vacation fund". Its almost like a swear jar. $14 a week doesnt seem like a lot of money, but in a year, that's $728, which is a lot to go towards a vacation. Or maybe after 6 months, treat yourself to a spa day, and put the rest in the bank! ^_^
You could spend that same amount a year playing the lottery and everyone knows the odds of winning are very very slim!
Right now, I just put 15% of my monthly paycheck into my savings account, and use the rest for bills and the like, so I dont have money left over for treats. I've frozen my assets by taping my savings account card to my freezer wall. I'd have to defrost the whole freezer to get at it now!! I get tempted really easily, so I prefer to be safe than "overdrawn".
Sure but life needs a little spice or fun. Just like the Starbucks the Lottery tickets would be a great way to do it, you also won't be giving up anything, it's an even exchange. It might help you miss the coffee less.
I could never trade a Starbucks for a lottery ticket, (I buy 4 of them every year and still have their coffee)
Good luck!
DH#1 played religiously...never really won anything but he enjoyed doing it and it was just a few dollars a week.
Current DH also plays twice a week. He gets the lotto tickets and not the scratch offs. He wins a few dollars once in a while but nothing big. Again...it's something he likes to do and we probably waste more than that on other stuff so why not take a chance. Who knows...all it takes is one ticket and someone's gonna win it.
I play $4-$6 week on Powerball tix; I won $28 on one several months ago, and I haven't hit anything since...but you can't win if you don't play!
The best place to gamble is Las Vegas.....because you can sit in front of a nickel-slot machine and the waitresses will keep bringing you free drinks (as long as you tip them, and keep gambling away your nickels).
Here's what you don't want to do (I've seen this happen in my corner convenience store): don't have your utility bill in one hand, while scratching off a lotto ticket with your other hand, hoping you'll win enough to pay your bill. That is not being fiscally responsible. Only gamble what you can lose, because you will.
Once in a while I will buy a lottery ticket. I don't do the scratch-its. If I buy a ticket it is for the big lottery, the one that has about 16,000,000 to 1 odds against winning the Big One.
There was a strange month, about 6 years ago, in which I had a period of psychic dreams. (hasn't happened since.) But during that time, I had a dream about the winning numbers, and the only number I saw clearly was 16. Turned out that the "mega-number" for the next two drawings was 16. Weird. So if I play, I don't do a quick pick, but I will fill in my own numbers, try to think about it, try to pretend I am going to know what the winning numbers are. I KNOW that is silly but it gives me about 5 minutes of entertainment value. Five minutes of entertainment value for a one dollar ticket is not so bad. Then I get to anticipate winning for another few minutes. Stretches out the entertainment value. But that's as far as it has ever gone.
The most I ever won was on a $10 ticket and I won $500.00 big ones Havent won anything since, but I never really play, and the second time I bought a $10 ticket.. I lost and felt sick that I lost $10 lol
My mom wins all the time. Nothing life altering, but she wins, second chance drawings too.. she won 4... 500.00 Harley Davidson gift packs, which she distributed among us kids, so I got a Harley Fleece Blanket, Wall Clock, its a bar clock and it has Harley orange neons, lol, 2 coffee mugs, a tshirt and a hat The clock alone is valued at 300.00. Then recently she won 4 tickets to an Atlanta Braves game, vip parking, and a 100.00 gist card to the concession stand, which she gave to me. So yeah.. I get lots of hand me down lottery prizes. And my moms boyfriend.. actually one the lottery in N.J. before he met her.. and he is set for life. I dont play because I dont have much luck
Last edited by Ready2ShedLBS; 11-10-2007 at 11:35 PM.
Reason: cuz I had something else to add
My philosophy about playing is that your chances of winning are the same if you play or not. I can relate to the physic number pick, but I'm so lazy I'll imagine I am buying a ticket when its the perfect time for a quick pick winner
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suzanne 3FC
I agree with saving it. For an excellent reason why, check out the Latte Factor
should i start playing the lottery? anybody here play it?
(I buy 4 of them every year and still have their coffee) 
I can relate to the physic number pick, but I'm so lazy I'll imagine I am buying a ticket when its the perfect time for a quick pick winner 
