Okay, I won’t lie, I sometimes very often dream about winning the lottery. I play on occasion (usually when the jackpot gets really high), but I'm not a big gambler, so it's very rate. However, if I did win the lottery or stumble upon a large sum of money somehow, here is what I would do.
Pay off all my debt
This would be priority number one, and the very first thing I’d do, even if it’s not all that exciting. However, financial freedom is a huge dream of mine, and to be able to pay off all of my debt in one fell swoop would be life-changing. I’d pay off the mortgage, my student loans, credit cards, and personal loan. Having no debt would really improve my life and stress levels.
Buy a new house and cars
Let me be clear, I don’t think I would ever live an outlandish, luxurious lifestyle, but I WOULD want to sell my current house and finally make my farmhouse dreams happen. I don’t think I would want a mansion, but I’d like a large house (2,000+ square feet) set on a lot of land with room to roam. I really want to have some acreage and get some goats and maybe chickens. I wouldn’t want to be a full on farmer, but I’d like to be farmhouse LITE (just live in a farmhouse, out in the country, and have some animals… ha). I’d love to update it and renovate it to my exact specifications and just basically finally get that dream house. As far as cars, I’d honestly just want to buy a brand new Jeep Wrangler. Nothing fancy... I'm not big car person and think that luxury, high end vehicles are a waste of money.
(Probably) stop working
While I love my career, I just think of all the potential free time I would have if I didn’t work any longer. I could read so many more books and tend to my new farm (and goats). I will say that being home from work during the quarantine and my maternity leaves ended up getting a bit boring for me, as I like to use my brain more and feel productive, but maybe I’d volunteer somewhere if I stopped working. Or maybe I’d just work really part time. Who knows?!
Save and invest
I’d honestly try to be as responsible and smart as possible. Of course I would want to splurge on some things, but if I lived within my means and didn’t buy a completely outrageous house, I would have plenty of money left to save, invest, and live off of. I would 100% need a financial advisor to help me out with my new wealth.
Help my family and friends
I’d love to pay off debt for some of my family members and friends. I know lots of people tend to come out of the woodwork when you win the lotto, but I know who my true friends and family are, and I would take care of them. I’d probably try to pay off their mortgages and student loans to ease their burdens. If I bought enough land, I would probably try to encourage my parents, brother’s family, and aunt to build right on my land too. It would be ideal for babysitting, family dinners, and just plain fun!
Travel
I don’t get to travel much because it’s expensive and I have kids, but if I won the lottery, I’d love to travel and vacation at least twice a year. I could take the kids to Disney, I could go on tons of cruises, I could stay in resorts and do all kinds of exciting things. I’d love to travel abroad and visit a variety of countries, too!
Set up college and house accounts for the kids
I wouldn’t want my boys to become spoiled rich kids, and I would still encourage them to go to college and work hard. I’d love to be able to set up college savings funds for them though so I could send them to college without them having to take on the burden of student loans. My student loans cost me over $500 a month, thanks to my MLS degree, and I would love it if I could pay for their education outright, without them having to take out any student loans. If they opted not to go to college, I would encourage them to use this money as a down payment on a house instead.
Donate (probably to animals)
I would donate a bit more than I sm able to now (which is hardly ever), and if it were up to me, I would likely make most or all of my donations to animal rescue groups. I would also like to volunteer with dog rescue again, which I’d have time for if I didn’t work, or worked less! I used to volunteer with a local animal rescue, and I also fostered dogs for a bit. It’d be nice to do some of that work again.
Dine out several times a week
Bahahaha. Okay, this one would be a little bit more luxurious than most of the other things I’ve listed, but I LOVE to go out to eat, and I hate to cook. It would make perfect sense, then, that if I had tons of money, I would go out to eat multiple times a week. My financial goals don’t involve a big mansion or fancy cars, but instead… the freedom to go out to eat whenever the heck I want.
And that’s it! I’d like to think I would be smart about my winnings, and immediately contact a financial advisor before making any big moves. Ultimately, I wouldn’t want to live like a rich snoot... it’d just be nice to live more freely without the stress and confines of work, bills, and finances.
What’s the first thing you’d do if you won the lottery?
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