That's what I spent time doing from Thursday when I bought the Mega Millions tickets to Saturday morning when I woke up and checked my numbers. While I didn't win, I think it was worth the $10 just to think about how I might spend $1,280,000,000 (Billion with a B!) or if I would be satisfied with the $747,200,000 million lump sum.
I think more than $740 million dollars would be plenty, and the first thing I would do is call the guy who did our taxes last year and ask him to set up an arrangement to pay the taxes on our windfall. Then I might pay the property taxes for the remainder of the fiscal year on our house (we pay them quarterly in NJ), on Justin's house, and the same for Ryan in PA. Then I would immediately call an AC contractor and have him come install mini-split AC units in our house. We could use units in seven rooms and eight would be ideal, so let's go with eight (since money is no object).
Once I've got central AC units in the house, I might re-do the bathroom and have the porch painted. Maybe I would even think big and have the whole house painted (all the exterior woodwork and the interior) along with the barn.
John would probably want to buy an old truck since he sold his a few years ago and I think I could go along with that.
So how much have we spent so far?
$179,328,000 taxes
$28,000 property taxes
$22,000 AC
$15,000 re-do bathroom
$28,000 painting house and barn
$30,000 old truck for John
Oh yeah! Our dreams are very similar. I might set up a Foundation and a trust fund of sorts for Colin & Mailing. I heard that one person did win which just blows my mind - hard to imagine that much $$$.
ReplyDeleteImagining how to spend imaginary money is such fun, isn't it? I think I would likely pay off our mortgage (and perhaps those of family members), set up a trust for our daughter so she'd be able to pay for college/grad school/a house down the line, and then set up a charitable foundation of some sort. I like your idea of a big gift to PBS -- my husband is on the board of our local PBS station, so he'd approve of a gift like that!
ReplyDeleteAs much fun as it is to spend this theoretical money, I can't help but think of how much money people collectively spent on lottery tickets and how much good that money could have done had it been spent elsewhere.
oh to dream the dream! I admire the people that buy the tickets on the chance, sadly I am such a skeptic that I do not buy them...I guess I definitely am not winning by not buying!
ReplyDeleteSteve and I were just talking about that yesterday. We both said we really wouldn't want the stress that that kind of life-change would entail. I would definitely have to spend some of it on higher strength blood pressure pills.
ReplyDeleteYep, you got your money's worth on the ticket in the form of dreams and wishes. I love the Masterpiece suggestion! I have always wanted to have enough money (cue Darlene Shiley) to spend to promote programming on PBS. If you haven't read up on Darlene, you should. It's an interesting story. I would also like to set up a charitable foundation to lift people out of poverty, promote womens reproductive health, college scholarships, etc. It would be the best feeling in the world to have enough money to live well and help other people. I'm sorry you didn't win the lottery, Bonny, but I will keep a good thought for you next time. :)
ReplyDeleteLast week I was on call with a volunteer group that helps people with rent, utilities, and food. The purpose is to prevent power/water shut off and eviction. Our money comes from generous people who give to various fundraisers throughout the year. Sadly, by Tuesday, we were out of funds and had the difficult job of telling desperate people we couldn't help them. So, I would use some of that money to set up some kind of endowment fund for our group, so we don't run out of money between fund raisers. Of course, I would use some of that money to help younger family members with education and housing costs.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this, I'm sorry that I didn't win because this group would be on my list of charities that would receive funds. Can you share the name of the group or a way I could donate? I'm afraid it wouldn't be billions, or millions, or thousands, but maybe a small amount would help a recipient.
DeleteI would give to those causes as well and help fund donating to help animals. My ranch would be for rescued animals. I'd love to hear your name before Masterpiece. I'd buy homes for my boys but I would stay right here in this cozy house with Little Buddy.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame we couldn't all win something because I think many charitable organizations would have benefiited!
DeleteI love your lottery dreams and I think your list is excellent. My list would include a trip to Scotland... especially All.The.Islands! Also Sweden, Norway, Denmark... I have never been and would love to go.
ReplyDeleteGosh, what a fun exercise. With that much money, you can really do it all! Pay off debt for family, set up a trust for my own and my children's security moving forward, travel for a good long time, and donate to some key causes (I would give a nice endowment to SCCAP, the local anti-poverty organization that runs the homeless shelter, food pantry, and much more, so it didn't have to scrape so much for grants and funding from the state). I would probably quit my job and try something new, too. Maybe open up the yarn shop of my dreams!
ReplyDeleteI love that kind of daydreaming. I've always said I'd make a big donation to PBS so that the beginning of every show would say . . . this broadcast made possible by a grant from the Dale and Carole Julius Foundation :-)
ReplyDeleteThis is a fun exercise and you have a most excellent list. After helping out our family, we have a few pie-in-the sky dreams. I'd also be giving a big chunk to my favorite charities.
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