[Closed] It could be you!

I think you need to be in it to win it... I wasn't. 🙁

I've just slapped in an order for a Colnago C64. Only joking.

You'd be able to buy 2 Santa Cruz bikes with that money!

It’s not.

It wasn't me either.
I did win £2.60 though (2 numbers). You cannot imagine the plummet from wild hope and dreams to a resigned "oh, OK" when my phone pinged the notification that "I had won a prize" this morning.

...yeah, but it wouldn't make you happy would it! 🙂

Not me.

The Wife mentioned it this morning, how great it would be. I'm pretty sure it would end in tears and suffering. It's just too much for me. I can imagine the arguments at home already.

Not me either.

At a 1 in 140 million chance it was never likely to be, but we set realistic expectations and have a punt on those pot odds...

It's probably me, I haven't checked my ticket yet

It’s just too much for me. I can imagine the arguments at home already.

It would be the perfect amount. Make anyone that you actually like rich, help some good causes, dream house, dream garage, dream holidays, the perfect retirement, without having to worry if you were being TOO frivalous. I'm sure knowing Mrs STR, we'd end up setting up an animal welfare centre

It sounds like it would be great to have so much money and no worries ever again, but there are few stories about happy endings.

Wasn't me either.

Hypothetical pondering that even if you "spent" or saved £34m to make sure friends and family were comfortable, you could do a lot of good with £150m. Is there a charity for needy custom frame makers?

£15 here. Better than no 15 quid 😆

But imagine winning such a sum and the impact it would have.

You've been doing up the spare room/kitchen/shed with an idea in mind, thought of the future of how it will look, do a good job of it and suddenly £184m drops in your lap.

Everything then changes. The room becomes unimportant. The property, fixtures and fitting of your life, the small treasures you savoured, like a fancy bean to cup coffee machine you saved up for, or the bike you built, saving for each part or hunting it down for the cheapest price again becomes meaningless.

Sure it means a lot to win such a sum, and you can do a great deal to help others, family,friends, charities etc but theres also likely to be a cost, possibly spiritual or even to your personality.

It sounds like it would be great to have so much money and no worries ever again, but there are few stories about happy endings.

Theory: If you're the sort of person who would take the publicity option, you're the sort of person for whom it would end badly...

You would have to be insane, very dumb, or very poorly advised to leave the 'no publicity' box unticked on your claim form.

a lot of very insane, dumb and poorly advised people have won the lottery...

... makes for good headlines in the red tops though

I think for some people, they are too thick to comprehend what has just happened, so getting their mug on the front page of the Sun is the icing on the cake for them. Unfortunately these cretins seem to oft be the winners of such amazing piles of dosh

It sounds like it would be great to have so much money and no worries ever again, but there are few stories about happy endings.

As always, those are the stories you hear about, winners who just squandered vast amounts of money on stupid playthings, not unlike some pop stars. You never hear about those who lived a happy life free from stress and worry about rising costs and how they’re going to get through the rest of their lives.

Ring-fencing a significant amount to provide absolute security, then using the rest for helping others would be the ideal - I’d give set amounts every year to certain charity organisations, like RNLI, my local air ambulance, I’d help young aspiring musicians and other artists like dancers with furthering thei careers, health organisations, etc.

I woke at 1:30 to a text alert from the Lottery on my phone that I had forgotten to mute.
I had won something and needed to log in to check.
As usual the Lotterty website was down in the night, checked on the BBC and saw the fact that the winner was from the UK so went back to sleep deciding to work out how to spend it in the morning.
Right guys, how much coke and hookers can I get for £3.60?

Not me

This is how it should be done https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-61241436

This isn't https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Carroll_(lottery_winner)

Wasn't me. 🙁 I remember reading years ago a book called Living On The Lottery by Hunter Davies, a really interesting read not only about a handful of peoole who'd scooped the jackpot but also Camelot, how they came to run it and the support winners get. It was from only a few years after it started, and the numbers seemed incredible then - they're mothing compared to a big Euromillions win!

^^^ That's the article I was looking for. A pretty inspirational story really and I love these quotes from her...

"I'd have been a millionaire anyway if I took back all the money I've given away over the years."

northernmatt
Full Member
Not me

This is how it should be done https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-61241436
/blockquote>

Absolutely spot on. We're conditioned to remember the numpties that have had lottery publicity over the years but not the nice folk. The Hunter Davies book was an interesting read too.

Love, Chrispoffer. Not a winner. But kindly jealous of those that do manage to win, not snarky xxx.

 

Theory: If you’re the sort of person who would take the publicity option, you’re the sort of person for whom it would end badly…

Agreed, but, even trying to keep it secret, most people/families would have some problems. I'd imagine that you'd have to be very, very careful about who and how you tell.

Security would be an immediate worry if kids went to school announcing that they were multi-millionaires, and there's a point where small children won't keep a secret. Most of my family are very grounded and close-knit but I'd still foresee relationships becoming fairly poor with parts of the family who expect more than they get. And what about close friends who suddenly need money for this emergency? And more money the next week/month? People will know you've made lots of money unless you barely spend your money on visible things like houses, cars, holidays.

As an example, I'd want to travel to lots of places to ride bikes. Preferably with friends, who mainly won't be able to afford all the trips I've just planned. So, do I offer to pay for them to go? Do I go solo? Even if I went solo, they'd start questioning where I got the money for the new superbike(s), the new van, the 6 holidays, the lack of any obvious job...

Still, I'd take the millions in a heartbeat!

We had a version of Michael Carroll where i lived in the mid 90's, nasty little shit with a criminal record as long as your arm, won a few million (4 or 5 IIRC), spent the next few months being an even more insufferable knob until he got sent down for 2 or 3 years for various assaults and burglaries etc.
By the time he came out his family had spåffed the rest of the cash up various walls in and around the area and he was never seen or heard of again. Except when his name appeared in court records for various shop lifting, drunk and disorderly, the usual...

The only other lottery winner i've been in contact with was one of the apprentices, his mum and dad sent him back to work for the last few weeks of his apprenticeship to make sure he got his tickets...

Not me sadly, I was going to buy you all new bikes too!

I love the way a lot of folk only do the lotteries when the jackpot gets silly, cos 10 million’s not worth bothering. 😂

Apparently there have been three lottery winners in the village (over the neatly 30 yrars)

One is supposedly one of the Scout leaders, who still works, but has a decent sized property- I've never actually asked him if it's true.

Another supposedly bought the village pub which his son ran successfully for 10-12 years before selling due to ill health.

Another bought a run down 1930s bungalow on a big plot and replaced it with a good size 1990s bungalow, but sold up and moved a couple of years ago.

I also used to deal with a wonderful lady at a local council through work. Mentioned her to a counterpart at another council who was gobsmacked she was still there - he'd worked with her a few years before and she'd had abig Lotto win a few weeks after he'd moved to his new post.

It would be a nice problem to have. Beyond all the usual stuff I would look to try and replicate golfie in other parts of the country. Because of the winnings you could buy the land and then set up local groups to run it

I'd be dead long before the giant golden statue of me naked astride J36 of the M6 was completed.

I really enjoy seeing wealthy people having to find more and more expensive ways of making themselves unhappy. For example - Vardy v Rooney.

On the other hand I know two or three multi-millionaires. Solid, grounded chaps. Don't do anything a lot different from the rest of us and almost seem to have lives as happy as mine. (I'm not wealthy)

Agreed, but, even trying to keep it secret, most people/families would have some problems. I’d imagine that you’d have to be very, very careful about who and how you tell.

I would just spend the rest of my life traveling, as quietly and anonymously as possible. It's just that wherever I'd been, deserving people would wake up with their debts paid or their house repairs sorted or the local air ambulance getting their running costs paid for the year.

I'd like to do a series of massive rewilding projects - it'd be very satisfying to buy a load of grouse moorland, turf off the aristos and shooting parties then have thousands of trees planted.

I’d imagine that you’d have to be very, very careful about who and how you tell.

Definitely. I have two brothers (who I love dearly). I'd tell one as I know he would never utter a word to anyone. The other brother would blab it all over within minutes.

I think staying secretive about it on your travels is easy enough - some tough calls on family, friends and neighbours. Saw a documentary some years back - one big winner bought a relative, say, a £70k house, and another one a £78 house, then had to deal with all the "well, why did you spend more on them?" fallout.

It’s just that wherever I’d been, deserving people would wake up with their debts paid or their house repairs sorted or the local air ambulance getting their running costs paid for the year

Great idea! Rember chatting whdn it first came out with a workmate, he planned to keep an eye on the neighbourhood and do reverse burglaries - if someone went on holiday, he'd break in and fit a new telly, dishwasher, solar panels etc etc. 🙂

Euromillions tickets are sort of a version of Schrödinger's cat - until you check the ticket you both have and haven't won; checking the ticket just confirms you haven't.. 🤣

^^ 😆

My enemies would soon know if I won. Last time I won a whopping £75 which bought a lot of Glitter Revenge.

A friend of mine came into a significant amount of money (not Lottery-winning money but still into the millions) through a business success and within days of him outwardly showing this (new house, two *relatively* modest new cars) the whole village was awash with rumours of him winning the Lottery. The worst bit though was people coming up to him in the street and just outright asking him 'have you won the lottery', 'where did all this money come from', 'how much have you got' etc etc and is already finding himself being asked for financial help from friends. It's all a bit shocking really.

And the tight sod wouldn't lend me any either.

You’ve been doing up the spare room/kitchen/shed with an idea in mind, thought of the future of how it will look, do a good job of it and suddenly £184m drops in your lap.

We've all been there.

I’d like to do a series of massive rewilding projects – it’d be very satisfying to buy a load of grouse moorland, turf off the aristos and shooting parties then have thousands of trees planted.

I like your style.

There is certainly some truth in the idea that having to struggle to get somewhere makes getting there all the more rewarding - even on our little hikes up in the mountains here we notice it. The view from the top, looking back down to where you started, can be very satisfying . . . .

However, there has to be a way to feel satisfaction without having to (as the cliche goes) spend 9 hrs a day in a factory for 45 years of your life.

I've never understood people who say they wouldn't know what to do with it, or they'd keep working. GET A GRIP OF YOURSELF!

I know that winning a fortune as a youngster would not have been good for me - I'd have wrapped my first supercar around a lamp post or similar. But now, being older and (a little) more sensible, the thought of being in a position to for instance buy a load of land and have yourself a super-size and permanent "no mow May" would surely make you smile? Let people walk on it and enjoy it. Or help fund a couple of trail centres? Or an orphanage? The list of good things you could do is endless.....

I would use the money to start businesses that help the disadvantaged and don't exploit them. That can then grow and develop skills that will improve as many lives as possible. Then you could occupy some of your time by working for/with those businesses and not get bored, but whilst still doing good.

I’ve never understood people who say they wouldn’t know what to do with it, or they’d keep working. GET A GRIP OF YOURSELF!

TBH, I have this feeling about anyone who continues working after the point at which they no longer, financially, need to. I'll be stopping work the nanosecond I can afford it.

As I keep banging on about how many of societies ills are related to lack of good quality, affordable social housing, I'd be keen to put my money where my mouth has been.

Absolutely no idea what my drop in that particular ocean would do mind.

Well, it's been claimed.. That's the end of my dreaming 😭

Then you could occupy some of your time by working for/with those businesses and not get bored

With that amount of money, believe me, I would never be bored. EVER

As I keep banging on about how many of societies ills are related to lack of good quality, affordable social housing, I’d be keen to put my money where my mouth has been.

I've thought about this. I'd buy properties to let out but rather than just pocketing the income I'd put it in a holding account. 2yrs down the line hand that 24months worth of rent back as a mortgage deposit and sell the house to the tenant. Repeat to fade/death/lack of money.

Well, it’s been claimed.. That’s the end of my dreaming 😭

Alas it's not a ticket I'd forgotten about and left in my bag :(.

Of course there's still hope its a close relative or friend 🙂

idiotdogbrain
Euromillions tickets are sort of a version of Schrödinger’s cat – until you check the ticket you both have and haven’t won; checking the ticket just confirms you haven’t.. 🤣

I love the "Schrödinger’s Lottery win" theory. I think I operate on that between getting the email and the winner being announced. It's quite a delectable thought that it could indeed "be you" no matter how improbable.

It's not me by the way. Sorry

Yep - I occasionally buy a ticket and when I do I deliberately don't check it for a few days. It's a nice feeling 🙂

Not me.

The Wife mentioned it this morning, how great it would be. I’m pretty sure it would end in tears and suffering. It’s just too much for me. I can imagine the arguments at home already.

We frequently have the "what if" discussion, my ideas on how to use £150m+ are a bit more mundane than hers, and the conversation usually ends with me saying something like, "The most sensible thing would be to put a big chunk in a trust for the kids, a few tens of millions in a rainy day pot, then we can divide the rest in two and piss it away in whatever way we each deem fit without judgement from the other..."

She'd just give 75% of the whole pot to whichever "good causes" caught her eye, and spend the remainder on one mega holiday.

I would still like to tackle the "problems" that come with having excessive, unearned wealth 🙂

I never even won on the "EXTREMELY LOW ODDS!!" days on the Dream Bike Competition, so there's no way I'm chucking money away on the bleeding lottery.

Yep – I occasionally buy a ticket and when I do I deliberately don’t check it for a few days. It’s a nice feeling

Yeah, i'm bad for this, i do a ten week ticket. Rarely check the results until i log on to do the next ten week ticket. Doesn't help that the site is blocked at work and i can't be bothered to do it at home.

One day i'll win, and carry on working for another 2 months, completely oblivious.

I think if the euro millions gets up to £150m they should drop the single ticket win to other money maker numbers to create 150+ millionaires.

We frequently have the “what if” discussion

There are some serious questions that need answering. For me it always boils down to:

Where do we move to?
What car?
What bikes?
Where and how do we go on holiday?

I’d buy properties to let out but rather than just pocketing the income I’d put it in a holding account. 2yrs down the line hand that 24months worth of rent back as a mortgage deposit and sell the house to the tenant. Repeat to fade/death/lack of money.

We don't need more home owners, we need a permanent stock of affordable rented housing

*Lottery fantasy warning* I quite fancy the North Wales coast if our numbers came up - on a corner of the many hundred acres plot of land I would buy, I would build budget, green, low-cost, high efficiency homes and sell them below cost to people from within the postcode. If I can get a clause in the deeds that they can only ever be sold to local folk, I would. I'd do some kind of co-operative business stuff too.

The trick with friends and family, is apparently to tell them you’ve won, but not how much. Just phrase it as you’re now comfortable. Indicate it’s enough to buy a house, some nice cars and holiday, but not enough to give away to anyone who asks for some.

Then be discreet.

I’d do a Musk, buy Singletrack, and migrate it to some AWS instances that actually have some power.

Then you could occupy some of your time by working for/with those businesses and not get bored

With that amount of money, believe me, I would never be bored. EVER

Things to do list:

Learn to sail.
Learn to dive, again.
Buy boat, obviously once the above two are accomplished and after many hours of research and training. Use boat.
Tour French vineyards buying wine.
Tour Scottish distilleries buying whiskey. Drink it. (Some of it.)
Many bike holidays.
Foreign rugby trips.
Plant an orchard after hours of research. Rewild the many acres I'll have bought. Spend time watching the wildlife.
Have time to surf again.
Buy a big telescope and get into astronomy again.
Cook lots of nice food.
Have time to watch lots of old films.
Buy lots of guitars and play them lots. Learn other instruments.
Get drunk in the middle of the day for no reason.
Ride lots.

Now, this is just off the top of my head, far from exhaustive and doesn't include time spent buying cars and houses, and the things my family would want to do. I'm fairly sure it would take me a long, long time to get bored, but to start with I think I'd just enjoy eating biscuits and drinking tea while lying on my sofa in my pants at 2.30pm, listening to loud music. Only for a few days. I haven't got time to waste.

I'd spend half on coke and hookers. Then I'd probably waste the rest.

We don’t need more home owners, we need a permanent stock of affordable rented housing

Why? When the post you are commenting on actually helps people get on the property ladder? Renting is dead money and this idea gives people who would never be able to afford a deposit a leg up

I see divorce in your future

I quite fancy the North Wales coast if our numbers came up – on a corner of the many hundred acres plot of land I would buy, I would build budget, green, low-cost, high efficiency homes and sell them below cost to people from within the postcode.

The problem is that there's no industry there so the locals don't actually want to live there as there's not enough jobs.
But it's a nice idea anyway.

idiotdogbrain
Euromillions tickets are sort of a version of Schrödinger’s cat – until you check the ticket you both have and haven’t won; checking the ticket just confirms you haven’t.. 🤣

I love that! When I do the occasional lottery, it’s online, that way I don’t worry about losing a possible winning ticket.

What would I do with a ton of money? Well, I wouldn’t move far, in fact I’d keep my current house and spend money properly upgrading it, with a nice shed/summerhouse with power, and find a plot of land somewhere near/on the coast and have something built, maybe using recycled shipping containers, rather than take an existing home from a local - I’d hate to be a part of the holiday 2nd home problem.

I’d contribute to charities like Air Ambulances and the RNLI, mountain rescue and local search and rescue teams as well.

Surprised they've gone public but I don't know how you'd keep it quiet really, other than waiting a few weeks before discretely collecting the money, work your notice and pretend it was just a couple of million.

I see divorce in your future

Harsh - they actually appear to be a nice couple from how I read the article – the sort of people that might actually do something good with the money.

Well this explains why I've had a meeting next week randomly cancelled!

I bet gangsters everywhere have been making notes.

Still rather see 184 people become millionaires, than one person getting more money than most could responsibly manage.

Harsh – they actually appear to be a nice couple from how I read the article – the sort of people that might actually do something good with the money.

got nothing to do with them, the going form for +100 million winners going public is 100% ending up in divorce and about 80% for sub 100 million winners. It's common in all lotteries

They've got two primary school aged kids, so guessing they'll stick around for a while, most of the divorces have been in the 50 something couples, or childless couples, so these two have a chance of staying together for a few more years.

They're just up the road in Gloucester as well, i'm sure they'll do well with their money and life from now on, but going public means they'll have to get used to the begging letters for eternity, i know a few other big winners used to just get their mail shipped to solicitors to vet all the begging or nasty letters, hopefully they get some advice on this!

the going form for +100 million winners going public is 100% ending up in divorce

Wrong...

My neighbour won the lottery, 25mn, spiffed it all away on supercars and a stupid footballer style mansion which he never actually moved into. His wife didn't like it and it's been empty for 5 years.

Now sold all the cars and moved back into his old house. I suspect his kid got loads of hassle at school. The cars really were bad taste tho, salesman must have been hiding his smile with a mask when he did the deal.

They’ve got two primary school aged kids, so guessing they’ll stick around for a while be hiring a security detail,

FTFY

Surprised they’ve gone public but I don’t know how you’d keep it quiet really, other than waiting a few weeks before discretely collecting the money, work your notice and pretend it was just a couple of million.

Going public at least you break the news on your terms in a friendly news story. It would likely be impossible keeping that sort of step change in wealth secret for long.

A cousin or something would no doubt start blabbing off and before you know it you'll have the gutter press interviewing a "friend" from school who apparently knew you as "Stoner Steve" as you once took a toke on a splif behind the bike sheds aged 17 or some other bullshit story to discredit you.

is "gangster" a euphemism for "Leggy Blonde" ?

Why? When the post you are commenting on actually helps people get on the property ladder?

Because cheap social housing keeps other rentiers honest and drives down the cost of renting allowing many more onto the housing ladder if they wish. There's nothing wrong with renting for all of your life, someone else has the joy of maintaining the property because if you're on a low income the boiler breaking in your own home (other maintenance disasters are available) could put you out on the street.

I know people would work out that something was up when the boat and supercars turn up but there is no way in hell I'd go on the news to announce it.

It could be you!

I am not a winner.

Bu at work we are donated £1m from Postcode Lottery players this year....
https://www.postcodelocaltrust.org.uk/apply-for-a-grant/local-school-nature-grants/

I see they are going to fix their leaky roof and can now maybe go on their dream holiday to Hawaii.

Their apparent dullness about wanting to go public is reflected in their aspirations.

I'm so glad they won so much money - if they can't think of anything to do with it, I hope they at least give a good chunk of it away