Saturday, March 13, 2010

What would you do if you won?





The Florida Powerball lottery is 200 million and tonight they will draw the winning numbers. If you won $200 million, what would you do? Would you keep your current job? Would you tithe to your church? Would you make a difference in a ministry like Mercy Street in Dallas or towards fighting cancer? Would you donate a large lump sum to a museum, university, or performing arts center so that you could see your name printed there? Would you quit your job or continue working? It is fun to imagine what you might do with the money. Sadly, most people who win that kind of money enjoy some temporary fun and often tend to lose it all. What would you do?

19 comments:

kay said...

Give it to my mother! She would be the only one I know that would know what to do with it.Haha

Lauren said...

I've thought about this a million times (even though I have NEVER bought a lottery ticket)! :) I would definitely stay in the town we live in. Build a new home, etc...yes! Everyone from the woodwork would give me a call though. May be more of a headache than what I wanted b/f my win. Oh, to dream! ;0

sevenalstons said...

Aw... to dream! I would for sure tithe, pay for 5 college educations (and maybe more... if I had that much money why not send a few deserving kids to college too!), invest, and do some things to our house. One thing that I know is that we wouldn't move. We love our neighborhood and our home and no amount of money would make me want to change that!

Love Being A Nonny said...

Hubs and I talk about this from time to time...I would first give LOTS to a camp near and dear to my heart: Camp Lurecrest (a christian summer camp on Lake Lure in the NC mountains). Then, my family members would be debt free. I WOULD quit working....and so would hubs. Travel would be our daily lives but in everything we did, we would try to honor HIM...our Lord!

Travelbugmom said...

Of course I would do what most would do...pay bills, travel, new furniture, some charities...BUT,
I would love to hand a nice sum to all of my children's teachers! Lord knows many teachers do not get properly compensated, especially those who teach in Catholic school. To have been blessed all these years with teachers who believed in the same values as us is priceless and we are grateful!

Jo said...

If only ...

I think I'd do the obvious of paying off the house, give to our charities of choice, pay the next few years of tution in advance and then I'd take an amazing trip with my family. I would continue to teach as I love what I do.

Thanks for the dream :)
Jo

Mrs. Expat said...

Living in Delhi, I would keep 10% and give 90% away. There are so many suffering, hurting people that the Lord wants His people to help.

Suburban Princess said...

I already have it all planned!

First things first...get an unlisted phone number.
Second...get a lawyer!
Third...plan a month away leaving exactly 4 minutes after claiming the money!
Fourth...while we are gone have the contracters come and get the house renovation finished - supervised by the Bestie.
Fifth...buy the houses on both sides of us and create a compound.
Sixth...hire a butler!

From there we would see where life takes us.

bevy said...

Mike and I were JUST TALKING ABOUT THIS!!!

We would tithe to our church and two charities in our area.

Then, pay off some things with the store.

Pay off our two cars. (We owe very little.)

Build the sunroom addition on the house.

Pay off the house. (Yes, this IS the best thing to do fiscally. I promise... see DaveRamsay.com)

Set aside money so that I would have someone to come wash and style my hair 2-3 times a week.

Have maid every week instead of every two weeks.

Put away for boys' college.

Go to Greece. I have always wanted to go...

Invest the rest.

We live pretty comfortably and don't want for anything. Oh... maybe some more oriental rugs for the entrance hall and dining room!

Henley on the Horn said...

I love what you all have written thus far!! I would tithe first to our church and I would also want to help some other ministries that are doing great things. It would be nice to not have to worry about college for our five children. I may just have to have another baby since the financial side of raising a child would no longer be a concern! I would try not to drastically change my lifestyle, but I know it would be a struggle. I love the idea of giving nice gifts to family or to teachers and others who have made a difference in my life. It would be fun to leave a waitress a $100 tip as a surprise and things like that. Oh, to dream!

Beth Dunn said...

I would donate a portion but more importantly I'd go shopping and teach my children the real estate market, me being the guinea pig LOL
xoxo
SC

Seersucker Scrapper said...

I would put most of it in the bank. First would be enough for the little ones to go to the college of their choice and the medical school and law school of their choosing.

We would definitely move and may quit my job and dontate to our favorite charities. I'm not really sure.

How does a 55 foot sailboat in the British Virgin Islands sound? We would home school and just sail. Ahh that's the life.

Lipstick said...

I love dreaming about this!!! Buy a house I've had my eye on forever and give, give, give. I would keep working but my goodness, I would get off work in time to pick up JBB from school! Makes me want to start playing the lottery!

Jessica Ryan said...

I would finish renovating this house... then maybe move! LOL I'd put in a pool for sure. I would donate a very generous amount to my children's school so that they may have the moneys they need for their endowment and renovations... I would find a charity and before putting the rest away to savings i would definitely go shopping for myself!

The Aiken ite said...

This is crazy but the first thing I would do (before I started acting responsibly!) would be to go to Target and just fill up the cart with whatever I saw that I wanted. You know how you are shopping and constantly making deals with yourself..."well, if I get this I'll need to put this back, etc." I've always thought it would be so much fun to just say "I'll take that, and that, and that, and that too!"

MilandDil Designs said...

Thanks for stopping by. It's nice to meet you and follow your blog. Wow, I hope I'd be frugal and wise if I won the lottery. Interesting question.

JDB said...

I know most people say they would to donate to charity. But as we donate on a regular basis anyway, I would build our dream home with all of the bells and whistles that really are SO unnecessary. But hey, with $200 million, why not.

Actually, I don't think I want to win that much. Maybe just enough to hire someone to come in and do our laundry every week. That would satisfy me. :-)

Hopsy said...

We had the same jackpot and I have to admit I bought a ticket. I would give at least 20% to my high school and then another 20% to a favorite charity and then some to church of course. I would buy this fabulous condo in Highland Park and then buy a round trip ticket to India nect week!

PS- The starter of Mercy Street spoke at my JLD provisional meeting last week!!!

The Mrs. said...

I would do great things! I would help so many people and bring fun to everyone!!