If I had 600 Million Dollars…

March 30, 2012

Well if you’ve been living under a rock then you aren’t yet aware that the Mega Millions Lottery has a world record Jackpot.

At the time of publishing this post, it was up to

$640 Million!!

On Tuesday, when it was around $400 Million, I got a phone call from my mom. She asked me to go buy a few tickets. She typically plays but couldn’t get out to buy tickets before the drawing. So I wasted bought $10 worth of tickets for her.

And guess what…I LOST.

And so today, when the second chance comes to win a large jackpot, I will not be buying another set of tickets.

I am still mourning the loss of my $10. Do you know what that means in my budget?

$10 can be

- a 1/4 of a tank of gas in my car.

- a rare meal at McDonald’s for the kids plus dessert.

- a few pounds of apples, bananas and a week’s worth of spinach at the grocery store.

- a paperback that I’m dying to read!

- new domain registration that I am going to buy to start an idea I’ve been tooling around with.

I’ve already blown the $10 this week. I could go and buy another $10 worth of tickets today if I wanted to waste money a chance to win! But I don’t think I will be doing that.

Instead I’m imagining what $20 could mean to my budget.

- a year’s membership at the local children’s museum.

- a 1/2 of a tank of gas which is good for a full week when I don’t have the kids.

- about 4 meals worth of food purchased at the grocery store and made at home.

- an extra payment on my MasterCard that is sooo close to being paid off.

Dreaming Big

I admit that I have spent time dreaming about what money like that would mean to me. I even had a chat with my kids. I didn’t like what it made me do. My mind immediately went to “stuff.” All the things I would buy for myself and my kids. I wouldn’t turn the money away if it were offered to me but I fear the person I could become if it was something I had.

Maybe I’m not quite ready to be wealthy.

 

I also blog at A Five Star Life. I write about anything that comes to mind but try to focus on finding the good in daily life.

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9 Responses to If I had 600 Million Dollars…

  1. MommaStar on March 30, 2012 at 5:19 pm

    Oman. You make me horrible for spending 20times that amount :) in the last few weeks. I hate putting out money for the dang lotto every week, but there’s that feeling of what ifs. LOL. Let’s just hope something win soon so this whole chaos can be done with ;)

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  2. Andi @ MealPlanRescue
    Twitter:
    on March 30, 2012 at 10:27 pm

    I’m exactly where you’re at. I think those things are fun, but it has to be a line item in your entertainment budget, and I’m way to compulsive to play the lotto. My $10 would escalate quickly.

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  3. Lenore on March 31, 2012 at 12:25 pm

    We absolutely love your blog and find many of your post’s to be just what I’m looking for. Do you offer guest writers to write content available for you? I wouldn’t mind writing a post or elaborating on most of the subjects you write regarding here. Again, awesome web log!

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  4. Kecia
    Twitter:
    on March 31, 2012 at 10:05 pm

    We wasted $5…and now that loss seems much worse if I think about it like you did! I will not be buying more tickets.
    Kecia recently posted..Spring Cleaning with Natural House Products {Review & Giveaway}

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  5. Michelle on April 1, 2012 at 10:19 pm

    We didn’t buy any tickets. It is nice to dream but the chance of winning is so small!

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    Reply
  6. 101 Centavos on April 3, 2012 at 6:51 am

    A colleague asked me if I would match his $5 bet on the lottery, then we could split the winnings. I offered him to just burn or rip up the five dollar bill. More convenient than driving down and buying the tickets.
    101 Centavos recently posted..Weekend Reading and More China Watch Stuff

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