I think this is a great idea and think that great minds think alike. Ha! I used to daydream about winning the lottery and that is all it was – a daydream. I never thought about putting those dreams into action without the lottery win. My thoughts were never about diamonds or big houses or fancy cars or owning a private jet. Mechanical horsepower does not interest me but I would happily own 1000 horses. Since I was very young I have dreamed about open a riding therapy center for disabled children and adults but with the way we managed our money I knew that was never going to happen. So all I had was the lottery daydream. Or so I thought. Once we got “Gailed” I suddenly found that there was some actual spare cash. At first I thought this meant we could spend again but then it occurred to me that maybe this was my daydream coming true. If I couldn’t own a riding therapy center I could contribute to one. So that is what I am doing. Still buying the lottery ticket and keeping the big dream alive but very happy with this redefinition of it.

I have purchased hospital tickets but not because I want to win…because I believe in the cause.

AND hey, to those non-believers, what’s it to you what my dreams are? It’s my money buying the ticket, and it’s my dream, so leave it alone.

Alos…if you want to put your name into those “free ” contests, knock yourself out. Guess how you start getting those telemarketing calls?? you guessed it, most of the time your name/address/phone number ends up on a call sheet.

With a lottery ticket I get a small thrill and end up creating some scrap receipt paper. With a Starbucks coffee you get a tasty treat and end up creating some wet toilet paper. Six of one. Ha! The fun is in the choice and we all choose to spend our fun money in different ways.

And Sweety, I actually do buy lottery tickets for hospital and other organization fund raising events but for that I have a special column in my budget – “Donations”. I didn’t win a thing on the last hospital lottery but I did win big because we were able to raise enough to buy a 129 slice CAT scan so now I can stay home instead of having to fly to Vancouver every five minutes and as an added bonus – we are saving the planet by lowering our carbon foot print and saving money by lowering the cost of health care. Sounds like a win win to me.

Here’s a calculator that will help you see how even a very small weekly savings deposit can add up over time: http://www.ingdirect.ca/en/tools/calcs/TFSA_ISA_Calculator.html Imagine throwing an extra eight bucks in there every now and then when you bring the bottles and milk jugs to the depot and you can see the savings grow even faster! Let’s say you throw $100 in there just to open the account. Now, throw in there $6 a week (pretty modest compared to a lot of lottery spenders I’ve seen), and in five years you have $1,721.04 at the interest rate ING Direct offers! In the grand scheme of things that might not be much, but it’s enough to buy yourself an awesome new TV, or a fantastic new laundry set, or a new computer, or a few nights in a fancy hotel with room service (and imagine the memories you and your partner could look back on with that one) or or or…

My grandmother has spent AT LEAST that amount on lottery tickets for as long as I can remember (I’m 24 now), and the most she’s ever won is $10. I can already hear you saying “$10 on what’s probably a $2 ticket? Not bad! You earned five times what you spent!” Except that she’s already blown at least $20 in the last two weeks, so she’s still coming up short.

Even as entertainment spending…come on. What do you have to show for it? Receipt paper. At least if you spent that $6 to buy yourself some Starbucks you can say you had a tasty treat. Or you could spend it on iTunes or similar music stores and get some songs or TV episodes you can enjoy again and again and again. Why not do that and do your daydreaming for free?

And remember that it’s called “the gambler’s fallacy” to believe that you’re getting closer and closer to your winning ticket with each ticket you buy. Every single ticket is likely to be a losing one. Your odds DO NOT INCREASE with each one you buy individually.

If you feel you MUST buy lottery tickets to do the sort of daydreaming you want to do, then how about saving your shekels until the local hospital home lotteries come about? Your odds of winning are usually A LOT better with those.

Another friend of mine worked at a major bank, in an area which helped people with larger accounts. They had one guy who had won a mega amount and banked it. Then he came in one day demanding a large sum from his account. They asked him what it was for, and he angerly replied that he found the perfect building to BUY so that he could turn into into a nightclub – which was a dream of his. He was ticked that they were asking what he wanted to do with HIS money. They sat him down and asked all the proper questions. Where is the building? Is the zoning ok for ‘clubs’? etc. He went blank and after some convincing, he agreed to check into all of these questions before paying for this building. They saved his rear end that day.. it was NOT in the right zoning, and he would’ve been stuck with a building that was no longer fit to be used even as a warehouse on poor property!! He was very grateful, but it shows that IF you do win big… be very cautious as to what your next steps are, or you may soon find yourself without a dime.

I play each week, but for me it’s Entertainment, and I certainly do not spend big bucks like I’ve seen others do. My brother, likes to say that he ‘won 2 bucks’ when we talk about it, as he does not play (unless it’s a big jackpot, and buys one ticket). lol

Danny – I’ve heard similar horror stories… I would hope your name was alos on the ticket, but by the sounds of it, it wasn’t. I pray that everything works out for you – what a hassel. How about that lady in the US a few years ago.. she went in on a big lotto with people at work… they all signed a paper saying that what was purchased by her was shared by them all. HER own husband bought his own ticket for the couple…and when HE won on their own ticket, the people at her work sued HER for part of the winnings, claiming that since *she* bought the ticket.. it was to be shared by all of them. What?? sheesh…. humanity.. thy name can be greed.

My Dh & I rarely buy lotto tickets. We just feel it’s a waste of money for us. Occassionally we buy one for fun, but not regularly.
I see my grandparents & my aunt spend so much money each week on 6/49 & scratch tickets. I think it’s sad that tickets are there entertainment, but who am I to judge if they wish to spend their money on tickets? They are responsible people and they enjoy scratching! lol!

On the other side, my other grandmother regularly plays the machines. It saddens me how much these machines have taken over her life. She’d never admit it! “Oh no, I just put a dollar or two in – that’s all”.
She lives off a reasonable amount each month that should leave her over $600/mth to spend as she wishes. She wastes it on the machines though and then tries to play it off that she’s so poor and broke and is always looking to “borrow” money. I would be happy to help her with money if I had it, and if she ACTUALLY needed it, but I won’t support her ‘habit’. These machines robbed her other grandchildren of a grandmother, because the machines come first. They will never get to know the grandmother that I once had. She doesn’t see this of course.

Suzanne, it sounds like your win was good timing for your family. It’s too bad it didn’t go further for you. Thank you for pointing out the different ways the “lotto tax” is spent. You make a good point.