John and I don’t buy lottery tickets. Except of course when the prize gets to over $500 million, at which point every other human in this country is buying them too, and our chances go from “nil” to “same as getting hit by lightning a bazillion times at once”. But we did have plans on how we would spend it. Inspired by Lee Ann’s post, here are mine. Were, not are, I guess. Oh yeah, somebody else won.
1. Buy all the yarn I want. Right. I already do that.
2. Pay off the house, remodel the bathroom.
3. Travel. Oh, right. I already do that, too.
4. Change the locks on the house. There are too many people out there that have keys and codes to the garage door.
5. Get an unlisted phone number.
6. Get my 1998 VW Beetle to the body shop and have the dings repainted. What can I say, I like driving an ancient car.
7. Like Lee Ann, say “I quit”. I’ve always joked that the first thing I would buy if I won enough money would be a fax machine so I could fax in my resignation.
8. Figure out which of our relatives would get to retire, too. đŸ˜‰
I guess we’ll survive without the lottery winnings. We have a terrific house, even if the bathroom makes me want to take an axe to it. I have a great job to dream about retiring from, as do most of my not-already retired family members. And my beater car is paid for, dents and all. And I have more yarn and fiber supplies than I will ever use up in any imaginable lifetime.
Your turn! What would you have done with it? Let me know in the comments or on your own blog!
We obviously didn’t win, either! We don’t usually buy lotto tickets, and didn’t even realize this jackpot had gotten so big, until a group of friends all wanted to go in together, so we joined it. We hadn’t made an actual list, but it would probably include some of the same things yours did, other than retiring. I already did that, and love it. I like the fax machine one! Travel more, for sure, to see all those things and places we’ve never seen, and to see family more, too. And help others, first family, and then those who need it in our community.
We never buy tickets either, but for some reason, Bill bought one on impulse yesterday. To tell the truth, I was terrified he would win! It would be the end of life as we know it – our privacy would be gone and our lives consumed by handling that much money. We decided if we could keep under the radar, we would give most of it away. If we couldn’t avoid the publicity, we would mail it anonymously to Doctors Without Borders of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. We aren’t able to travel that much and our house is terribly humble ( and not paid off), but those things would not be worth it if we would lose our privacy!
Wes and I talked about it and frankly we’d do probably all the things we do now but I want a housekeeper who can deal with glitter and dye spatters and I also want grocery delivery. I would not quit my job because if I don’t get the colors out of my brain I would probably need anti-psychotic drugs. It’s much easier to paint and dye than take drugs.
The Corgis had other ideas…. They want an RV just for them so they can travel and see all their progeny. They also wanted king sized beds, one for each. Taffy wants another puppy and Agatha wants a kitten. I told them they puppy was a probably but the rest is a no.
Hmmmmm! I am pretty happy with my life. I am not sure I would even retire, but one day a week less might be nice. I think the main thing I would do is stop worrying about earthquakes. I would know that I could get another house and hire someone to rescue all my valuable junk. I am to attached to my lovely clutter. Unless, of course, the house fell on my head during the earthquake.
Hmm. I’d love to retire, but I’d need to train someone first, since I coded the whole damn billing system. I wouldn’t want to fuck over my coworkers. I’d get a slightly bigger condo with a balcony. I’d get my 1997 BMW 318ti all fixed up. Travel more. Set up college funds for some certain young relatives of mine. And… yeah, that’s about it. I’m almost as wild as you and John! đŸ˜‰
We don’t buy lottery tickets either, but we did yesterday. If we had won we would have paid off the house and done some traveling. Portugal, Japan, Ireland… one day I hope to see them all.
And then we would have figured out what to do with the rest: help out a few people we like, donate to our favorite charities, etc.
Well, for the first time EVER, my husband said he would quit his job. He’d work at something else just because he wanted to, not because he needed the money. And if we had won Friday, the house would have been listed Saturday…LOL. No more rainy weather for me! If I could figure out some way to move my entire house and property to a drier location, I would but that’s just not practical so sell it and move we would. My son’s education would be paid for, my parents would be moved out of their crummy old house, and we would travel the world. Oh, to dream…
My DH bought a ticket on a whim not realizing how big the jackpot was going to be. We had fun dreaming about what to do with all those millions he won: Pay off his student loans; finish nursing school; quit his current job at the hospital and work there as an RN instead; maybe move our kids closer to us; buy and move into a condo with halls wide enough for my wheelchair; buy a new car. Then, with what’s left, take 10% of our original winnings and divide it among our 3 favorite charities. Then the balance would be put in trust for our grandchilren’s college, our “old age” expenses (assisted living, nursing home, etc.) and yearly vacations. In other words, we would have to get a financial advisor FAST!!
Isn’t it fun to dream?!?
Cowboy boots, a house on the beach, yarn. (I’m a simple girl.)
An apartment in Chicago. We love the opera and symphony orchestra in Chicago and we have family here. I’d also get an apartment in Portland, OR. Family there as well!
AND a place near a ski area in Colorado. That’s where I’d spend a large part of winter and most of the summer.
These don’t have to be fancy, just pleasant and livable. My tastes are simple. Also I’d travel 1st class when visiting my various homes.
A car WITH a driver.
BF said to me – “I know what you’d do. You’d give half of it away immediately, and the other half you’d give away over time!”
He knows me so well.
; )
My first phone call would be to hire a house cleaner. I hate cleaning, mostly because it cuts in to my knitting time. Then I’d get a new well drilled, after 6 months of scrimping on water and saving bathwater to flush the toilet. Oh, and a condo in Hawaii and one in Cozumel to which I’d fly first class. The rest would have to be given away!
I’d open a yarn store, and I wouldn’t care if it made a profit.