Do You Play the Lottery?

I have never bought a lottery ticket of any kind. But my guy buys the winning ticket once a week, then somehow the clerk screws it up every time!

:)

Dang it! You just reminded me that I forgot to get a ticket last night!

(My answer is "sometimes", which is why it's easy to forget to grab O. on Powerball nights. ;-) )

No way, I don't do any type of gambling, I would rather have the money in my hand then to buy into the chance at winning the lottery.

I NEVER do. It like playing russian roulette with 5 chambers filled with bullets and O. empty.

They don't do all that advertising because everybody wins. There are more millionaires in charge of the lottery that those that win millions.

I invest in the stock market. Much better chance of winning or at least coming out ahead. $10 per week "invested" in lottery tickets over 40 years will win you less than $2500. $10 per week invested in the stock market invested over 40 years will make you a millionaire.

BTW, I won once "playing" the lottery. I was in the grocery store buying a loaf of bread and a package of cheap bologna. When I lifted the bread off the shelf, there was a lottery ticket. It hadn't been played/scratched off. I read the instructions so I wouldn't void the ticket and scratched it off. I won $2. I went to the cashier with the ticket and my bread and bologna. Imagine my surprise when the food and lottery ticket were exactly (!!) the same. The cashier was amazed I didn't want another $2 lottery ticket with the $2 I won. I figure the Good Lord was standing beside me watching over me. And that was my first and last time playing the lottery.
Good luck to you and yours.

The lottery is a tax for people who are bad at math. ;)

You can't lose if you don't play. ;-)

No I agree whole heartedly with Betsy C and 8kidsdad on this O..

This question could easily branch off to - Do you play Bingo and or go to the casinos and gamble?. We have friends that do both and tell us how "successful" they are and have won "lots" of money. I just smile and congratulate them. I often wonder just how much money they "invested" to win and do they realize the odds are NOT in their favor. I often notice they also have the mentality 'easy come easy go'.

Sorry I didn't mean to highjack your question but my favorite book in the whole wide world ;-) is "Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes - and How to Correct Them" I think it should be required reading in high school :-)

i think 8kidsdad is secretly dave ramsey :) he has similar things to say about the lottery...and i will never play. my aunt bought me a ticket on my 16th birthday (i think because that's the age that you can start buying them? not sure lol, it was awhile ago). it was a bust and i have never had any interest since then. i like to think that if i was smart (and we are only on baby step #1 of dave ramsey's plan, if you are familiar) then if i felt the need to buy lottery tickets, i'd invest that money instead and it would be a lot smarter. we are working on it... :)

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Rarely. I've gotten scratch off ticket coupons in the mail. Buy O./get O.. The best I've ever done there is to get my money back. Then, every once in awhile we'll play power ball. Only a couple of bucks & only when the pot is really high, like right now it's in the 100 mil range. Don't expect to win, but wouldn't it be nice? Plus, it's fun to dream up all the ways we'd spend/invest/donate it.

Only if I stop at a mini mart for something and I have a lucky feeling and my change is 2 dollars, then I'll buy two scratchers or a quick pick depending on my mood... it's pretty infrequent tho, however, I KNOW that this would be the only way for me to get some big bucks before I croak :(

No, we already pay too much in taxes.

Of course I do. It is okay for those who don't. IF they don't believe in it, then they don't. I believe in hope, and I like to win, and dreams do come true. Does it really matter that some do and some don't ? It's what people like to do.

By the way, I buy lottery tickets only when I am in a good mood.. always be happy first before doing anything...

I have told my hubby..once we are not so much in the RED...we will start playing...After I had my surgery...TLC was running a marathon of Lottery changed my life....I was sold! So, for like ten bucks a week...heck yes!!

We dont play right now.....We will when we can afford it though!!

Ha, my state has legalized gaming, then the counties decide whether they want to let it in or not. But the state will not approve a lottery because some counties do not want it - these are also the counties that will not allow gaming. But, they do partake of the gaming revenue that the state uses for education and other programs.

Gotta' love it.

With that rant out of the way -
I occasionally by a lottery ticket when I go visit family in Louisiana - I figure a $2 "investment" with a return of, what, 10 million %.

I have only done it once and that was on my 18th bday b/c my mom and sister made me.

I do sometimes, but rarely. I bought a scratch off in 1987 and won 5000. I don't want to ever waste enough money to lose the prize so to speak. So I haven't spent more than maybe 10 or 20 per year ever since and I've probably gone years without buying any.

I do every once in awhile. I play scratchers more than the lottery though--because I at least win on those :)

M

Almost never. Once in a great while I might grab a scratch off. I mean, like once every several months, if that? They even have a group lottery pool at my place of employment, and in spite of my intense fear of them winning and leaving me behind (LOL), I still decline to participate. I have better ways to spend my $5 per week.

nope, never have & probably never will........i don't mind working hard & saving up for 'stuff', I find it more *satisfying* , don't get me wrong sometimes it's not fun to have to wait but overall i think we are just fine ........plus quite a few of the people who have won it big have said they are more miserable having a ton of money & preferred their old lives

every once in a great while. usually after we've gone to look at a house and we've been daydreaming! I'd be just as happy with a little win!

Nope. Never. Unless you count that some family give those scratch off type with holiday cards. . .I like those but I won't buy them myself!

I should, because *you never know*, but I dont. I think I should start

In my years before marriage, 15 year ago, I only did scratch tickets. I have never played the real lottery or invested in the scratch tickets since.

occasionally, I figure it is a game, and I can play for fun and a dollar twice a year is not much to have a little fun and some unfounded hope. But I play realizing I will never win and that it is just for fun. I have an uncle who plays religiously and he claims he doesn't lose money but typically breaks even with his winnings, and he is hoping for the big O. someday. I think he is delusional, but I guess if it makes him happy, who am I to argue. My grandmother bought a ticket every week her whole life and only won a few dollars here and there. I hope she did it for fun. I hate to think of the people who play with money they need and think they will win. It is sad to say the least.