If you won the lottery, what would you do with it?

[GreenPartyVoter]

If I won a LOT of money, I would:

I'd build a sweet little "green" passive/active solar home with enough land to support a nice sized garden.

I'd buy hybrid vehicles for my family and friends.

I'd pay off the outstanding debt in my family.

Sock $ away so my kids have something for their future.

Donate to liberal churches with excellent programs to help the needy.

Maybe set up a scholarship fund of some kind, perhaps to send left-leaning kids to law school to counteract the new Jerry Falwell school of law. :eyes:

Adopt some kids. (Hubby might fight me on this, but I think it is the right thing to do, plus I just love kids and he still owes me a girl. *g*)

Donate solar panels to the local municipal buildings.

If I had LOTS and LOTS of moolah, I would develop "green" housing to rent out to needy folks.

[ScrewyRabbit]

1. I would buy a house in Europe somewhere

Just in case I get fed up of the US.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. I would pay for college

for every kid I know.

[UrbScotty]

3. Pay off the debt and give some to DU

...and some to charities.

I would also do some remodeling and adopt a couple dogs.

[Scrooge]

4. fun question

I would do alot of the above, but I would also be joining Bono, financially, at least in his fight against Aids. Id also donate tons of money to nonkill animal shelters.

[Lady Effingbroke]

A friend and I were discussing this subject a few weeks ago,

and our ideas were similar to yours: housing for the poor, scholarships, help our families, etc.

[Jack_DeLeon]

5. Become a Republican...

J/K

[phaseolus]

6. stash a little bit of it away

...for me & my wife to live on the rest of my life, & make sure my kids' college is taken care of.

The bulk of it would endow a charitable foundation to fund scientific research -- some of it for "basic research" which isn't particularly sexy, some of it for things that won't get funded by government money in a world run by right-wing wackos, like AIDS research to name one thing...

Wish me luck. My $1.00 investment is supposed to win me $110,000,000.00 tonight...

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. I'll wish you luck, and if you can spare $100K, I'd like to get my kids

out of this single-wide and into a double-wide on our own land. ;)

[gollygee]

8. OOOoooooh

I would give a lot of charity

But I'd also let my husband quit his job and just work on cars all day long.

I'd do some work to the house - expand the kitchen and put a mudroom upstairs to hold the washer and dryer.

That's about it.

[lpbk2713]

9. Don't go to Merril-Lynch.

It's like being in the Witness Protection Program. They will take your money, invest it poorly, and then forget you are alive.

Talking from personal experience here folks.

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. I will only invest in solid Green/Blue businesses, if I invest at all. R.

Murdoch et al can kiss my big green butt if he thinks I would give my money to their EE. *lol*

[blue sky at night]

10. I would buy up some abandoned warehouses.....

and build housing for the homeless, where they could get out of the weather, get a hot shower, a hot meal, a warm bed, and respect from fellow human beings. Is that too much to ask from our society?

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. I'd paint Gore Vidal a rather brilliant shade of Pthalo Blue

[Left Is Write]

12. Ah, yes, my fantasy money.

I would:

Pay off my parents' mortgage. They are retired, and the stock market stuck it to my dad just as he was retiring in early '02.

Pay off my car.

Set up college funds for each of my two younger children.

Pay outright for my oldest child's college education (she's a senior in high school right now).

Arrange educational funds of some type for my nieces and nephews. If possible, I would also try to eliminate or help alleviate any debt my siblings may have.

Choose a few favorite charities and distribute money to them.

Give to my church (a liberal denomination).

MOVE BACK TO MINNESOTA AND BUY A NICE HOME NEAR MY PARENTS. As the capital letters would indicate, this is a biggie.

Consult a financial advisor so we could set up various income-bearing accounts so that the money would make more money.

[loudestchick]

14. What if...

I'd build the "green house" and a greenhouse...definitely need the garden space..

I'd quit my job and help people in the city to set up sustainable inner-city gardens (you'd be amazed at how many low-income people feel they cannot afford fresh food)...

Get the new Ford Hybrid--for hauling capacity:-)...

Set up a fund to offset costs to provide Montessori teacher-training for public schools...I love Montessori!

Take trips w/ my kids so they can see the world and realize we're in this together...Egypt, Australia...S. America...

What else? HMMMM

[Metatron]

15. I would start a health insurance company

and give free coverage to every American who doesn't have any. And, then let small business owners buy insurance for their employees at cheap rates.
I would start a co-op type of car insurance company so anyone could buy in without getting screwed.
I would create a new media network.
And, finally, I would send all of the rest of the money over to Africa to finally end hunger.
(I would probably pay off my student loans, too.)

[wellstone dem]

16. this reminds me of the time

I helped my grandmother fill out a reader's digest sweepstakes form. I asked her what she would do with the $100,000 prize. She got a big smile on her face and said, "the first thing I'd do is give each of the grandchildren (14 of us) one hundred dollars each!"

I don't think she could even imagine how much $100,000 was back then.


Monday when I cash in my winning powerball ticket, I will pay off the bills, buy a house in the country, with solar energy. Put enough away for my daughter's education. Give tons of money to legal aid organizations, particularly those that sue the government or corporations. I'd set up scholarships for kids who have been in foster care. (In honor of my daughter.) It would be so much fun to go on a giving spree.

[Cerridwen]

17. Pay off debt.

Buy or build "greenest" home possible.

Replace current vehicle with Prius.

Help out family members as needed.

Take in abandoned kittens, dogs, maybe other critters, until homes can be found for them.

Maybe start a non-profit for helping abandoned and sick animals.

Donate to charities and favorite causes; I have a list of 'em.

Get a Ph.D. - possibly

Travel - some.

Try to meet DUers and other political activists around U.S. for fun and rabble rousing.

[gmoney]

18. A favorite song...

Great "liberal redneck" lyrics here...

When I Win the Lottery -- Camper Van Beethoven

Well I lost an eye in Mexico, Lost two teeth where I don't know
People see me comin' and they move to the other side of the road.

I robbed a liquor store or two, made myself at home a few times
Borrowed myself a car when I needed it.

I got me a shack at the bottom of the road
Fixin' cars and givin' tows
Spend all my money on the lottery.

When I win the lottery gonna buy all the girls on my block
A color TV and a bottle of French perfume
When I win the lottery gonna donate half my money to the city
So they have to name a street or a school or a park after me
When I win the lottery

Never run a flag up a pole
Like Mr. Red, White, and Blue down the road
But I never called myself a hero for killing a known communist.

Now I can walk into any old bar
Find a fight without looking too hard
But I never killed someone I don't know just 'cause someone told me to.

And when I win the lottery
Gonna buy the house next to Mr. Red, White and Blue
And when I win the lottery
Gonna buy Post 306 American Legion, paint it red with five gold stars.

When I win the lottery.

When the end comes to this old world
The rocks will cry and the rest will curl up
And God won't take the time to sort your ashes from mine.

'Cause we zig and zag between good and bad
Stumble and fall on right and wrong
'Cause the tumbling dice and the luck of the draw just leads us on.

And when I win the lottery, gonna buy all the girls on my block
Silver-plated six shooters and a quart of the finest highland scotch
'Cause when I win the lottery, the rocks will shake
their heads and say that
God is good but surely works in mysterious ways.

When I win the lottery.

[Branjor]

19. Build an animal sanctuary

And take care of family, friends and myself.

[yellowdogintexas]

20. pay off my credit cards and car note

do that kitchen remodel I have been dreaming of
drop a nice donation on my church's foundation
increase my annual pledge to my church (nice liberal congregation BTW)
$$ to my sisters for their kids educations
trust fund for my daughter
increase my pledges to all my current charitable favorites
fund some scholarships
arrange a once a year getaway for my sisters and me somewhere fun, with our daughters if we can also manage it (the husbands and boys can come too if they want to, they just have to give us some chick time alone)
underwrite some assistance for battered women/homeless women/etc.
enjoy having enough money to respond to a need that is identified.

do some traveling
season tickets to things I can't afford now

I would love to be able to provide housing to those who can't get decent place to live, esp if they have small children

fund "scholarships" to day care centers for women who can't work because they don't make enough money to pay for day care

I know there are others, these are just things I have fantasized about.

I am sure my husband would want to be certain his nieces and nephews have $$ to educate their kids.

[LiberalFighter]

21. Donate part to the local Democratic Party for a permanent hdqtrs

[peacefreak]

22. My favorite 3a.m. fantasy!

Give a hefty chunk to my daughter so she could make her dreams come true, some to my best friends for a art studio & a horse farm, find 10 charities to give 1 million each (ranging from Planned Parenthood, to Domestic Violence intervention, to books for any kid who wants one), find my old lawyer to be my money manager (the only lawyer I'll ever trust. He did right by me). I would rent a van & travel back roads to visit museums all over the US. The rest I would invest & live off the interest. Oh, and I would have my present 1990 VW Fox restored.

[2cents]

23. A fair share would go for medical bills...

...incurred from bouncing off the walls after realizing I won.

After that, get good legal/accounting advice on the best way to share it with family and friends.


(spelling edit)

[pig.]

24. 1. buy a shit ton of gold

2. buy a gun

3. move

[hyphenate]

25. I'd buy a house

and a car. Pay off the debts of some friends and family members. I would donate a scholarship fund specifically for women over 40 who want to return to school but can't afford to because they need a job to survive.

I would set up a foundation to support animal rights and welfare causes, including far more education to the population on pet overpopulation, and the need to spay and neuter. Also, a veterinary fund for people who love their pets, but can't afford to have a vet see them because they are in poverty.

I would consider buying a really huge place--with something like 10 bedrooms--in Gloucester or Rockport, which I would then redecorate and set up as a B&B.

I would definitely make sure people I owed money to got paid back--to help them as much as I could.

My nieces and nephews--and grandnieces and grandnephews--would all get a trust fund. Seeing as two are already in their twenties, they would be paid a monthly annuity out of that fund, enough to keep them comfortable, but not so much that they could blow the whole wad in one setting. The others (under 21) would have incentive to go back to school--for those who are willing to go to college, all their expenses would be paid, and a generous living amount would be given. If they decide not to go to college, they will instead be given the same amount as their older cousins/siblings. If the older ones want to go back to school, they will also be compensated.

My mom would also get an annuity that she could spend, and all her bills would be paid on a regular basis.

My best friend and her mom would get the paved driveway they've always wanted, and landscapers to clear out the sumac that is strangling the woods behind the house. I'd also give them a couple of weeks away, with all the pets, so that demo and renovation could be done on the house while they were away.

If my alcoholic sister could be inspired to stay clean and sober, I would give her money to start her own business. If she needs help to do so, I'll pay for it. If she decides not to, she will get a minimal living amount with an apartment paid for that she can't try to sell.

I'd pay off my brother's house for him as well, and set him up as an electrician on his own if that is what he wanted.

After all that, if I still had any money left, I'd go on a few vacations to my favorite cities and enjoy life for a change. Oh--and I'd have lobster and fried clams (WITH the bellies!) every Friday from now on.

[lapfog_1]

26. I want to buy a bus

a very special bus.

I want a fuel cell powered bus, converted to a "live aboard".

They currently have a range of about 500 miles.

In the main living area, I want to create a research station, complete
with a number of work areas. In the luggage area, I want to build
a small supercomputer (I have some experience with this part),
something with 8 nodes and 128 Opteron processors, 256 GB of memory
and some TBs of disk.

In addition, I want to add a large fold out array of solar panels
so that I can create my own fuel when parked.

My mission is to drive to high schools and colleges around the West
Coast and stay for a week or two at each one, allowing students to
use my computer and data (I want all of the DAO products from NASA
plus a number of climate modeling programs).

Cost will be in excess of $1 M, maybe 1.3 or so. But I think as
a research tool and teaching tool, this would be invaluable, plus
the demonstration aspect would be very impressive.

[MissMillie]

27. Quit my job

pay off all my debt

buy a solid car

build a beautiful house

give a heap of $$ to my son's NJROTC unit

pay for my kid's college tuition

take care of my parents (maybe even move them into my new house)

give each of my brothers and sisters a sizeable gift

fund all the extra curricular activities at my son's school

INVEST for the future

[Robeson]

28. Quit job. Retire. Buy nice little home in Europe.

[SarahB]

29. Build a self- sufficient home on a warm island to go to whenever....

...I want to escape. Set up trust funds for my children. Throw some bones to my parents and soon-to-be ex. Give out environmental research grants. I'd still finish nursing school just because I want to. Perhaps start a clinic on the warm island helping provide the local people with medical care. Live quietly, but travel a lot.

[jmowreader]

30. After doing the usual stuff...

you know, bills, car, house, relatives, all that...

I am going to divide the rest of the money four ways.

Chunk one will go to my wife so she can invest, spend, whatever, in any way she pleases. (Her intent is to buy some good commercial real estate, then open a yarn shop.)

Chunk two will become the Freedom Restoration Foundation. This will support and promulgate programs to restore and extend the freedom and liberty of every American by doing everything within the limits of the law to remove the Republican Party from power.

Chunk three we're burying in the back yard. Okay, we'll invest it in a wide range of vehicles ranging from very safe (passbook savings) to more-balls-than-brains vehicles like high-yield bonds. (MBTB schemes will comprise maybe three percent of my portfolio.) This is our nestegg.

Chunk four will be the most important one: I am going to work on the threat of recidivism. One problem the American people are faced with is the high recidivism rate--people who commit new crimes after they get out of jail. I believe that a major contributor to recidivism is that no one will hire an ex-con. Therefore, I'm gonna start a series of companies which will employ a workforce largely comprised of ex-cons and the economically disadvantaged. With five million dollars in the bank, I can safely start two or three companies. I will build a barracks for the workers to live in; I will provide jobs that pay good wages; I will produce quality products that Americans want and need. (My first company will make custom-size doors. Go to Home Depot, attempt to purchase a 57-inch-high door and you will come up empty. No one makes a 57-inch door, but 57-inch doors are popular for use in bonus rooms. We are going to get a contract with Home Depot to make special-order custom-size doors for them, which will make our company rich.) My intent is threefold. First is to turn a profit. Second is to help rehabilitate ex-cons, and third is to prove that you can manufacture in the United States without losing your ass.

[fortyfeetunder]

31. Live an even simpler life, if that can be done

Request anonymity (yeah, right).
Get an attorney to put my loot in a trust
First, pay myself
Pay off bills and the house.
Retire early
Do charity work.
Keep the old car.

[ridgerunner]

32. Probably nothing

since that would be the same day that I was struck by lightning, twice

[ridgerunner]

35. also, the lottery is too Orwellian for me

'Can't you bleeding well listen to what I say? I tell you no number ending in seven ain't won for over fourteen months!'

'Yes, it 'as, then!'

'No, it 'as not! Back 'ome I got the 'ole lot of 'em for over two years wrote down on a piece of paper. I takes 'em down reg'lar as the clock. An' I tell you, no number ending in seven-'

'Yes, a seven 'as won! I could pretty near tell you the bleeding number. Four oh seven, it ended in. It were in February -- second week in February.'

'February your grandmother! I got it all down in black and white. An' I tell you, no number-'

'Oh, pack it in!' said the third man.

They were talking about the Lottery. Winston looked back when he had gone thirty metres. They were still arguing, with vivid, passionate faces. The Lottery, with its weekly pay-out of enormous prizes, was the one public event to which the proles paid serious attention. It was probable that there were some millions of proles for whom the Lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. It was their delight, their folly, their anodyne, their intellectual stimulant. Where the Lottery was concerned, even people who could barely read and write seemed capable of intricate calculations and staggering feats of memory. There was a whole tribe of men who made a living simply by selling systems, forecasts, and lucky amulets. Winston had nothing to do with the running of the Lottery, which was managed by the Ministry of Plenty, but he was aware (indeed everyone in the party was aware) that the prizes were largely imaginary. Only small sums were actually paid out, the winners of the big prizes being non-existent persons. In the absence of any real inter-communication between one part of Oceania and another, this was not difficult to arrange.

http://www.literature-web.net/view.php/1984/8?term=freedom+is+slavery

[lgardengate]

33. House in Italy (Rome maybe),and a house here w/ indoor pool

and a greenhouse for veggies all year round.Nice yard with big organic garden.Chickens and other farm animals raised with no groth hormones or massive antibotics to pass on to humans.Pay off all family debt.Make sure ALL my extended family has good helth care and needed meds.Solor power and/or back up generator for all my homes.

Fund Christian charitys/churches that care foor poor and for needy children.Programs etc for inner city kids.Contribute to funds for needy children to attend private schools if there parents choose.
Fund home for older foster kids with live in "parents" that share my values.Kids would be those who really try in school and just need a chance.

This is if i got LOTS of money.

[DrZeeLit]

34. Set up a trust. Live off interest. Buy a home on a beach. Write.

Take care of my family.
Fund the arts.
Travel.
Build a retreat center for writers.
Be creative and
have lots of fun!!!!

[MrSlayer]

36. Become a Republican and mock the little people.

Well not really. I'd like to build a compound somewhere for my family and friends to live while we grow the money into a mega fortune. I'd do some charitable and political things as well. So much can be done with that kind of money.

[lizzieforkerry]

37. Start a liberal media company

In five years people will be asking "Rush who?"

[Tsiyu]

38. Oh, wish in one hand and.....

This part of Appalachia needs real help.

I'd continue my alliance with some Grassroots types here, and start my own camp for outcasts, recovering folks, kids with nothing to do. maybe open a skating rink, drive-in, and definitely start some training programs.

Of course, help I'd help those babes of mine get edumicated and transported, but I'd still live in the woods and wear hand-me-downs.

[flvegan]

39. I'm with Branjor, animal sanctuary

It'd be Best Friends meets Farm Sanctuary with my own little twist. We'd take the abused and downtrodden. We'd run the animal underground railroad 'round here. Oh, wait...

[mitchum]

40. Stage "A Streetcar Named Desire" with an all dog cast...

build a pentagram-shaped swimming pool
walk around with a Demerol IV drip
commission a Tweety Bird cartoon where Sylvester rips him from limb to limb ( a present for my wife. She HATES Tweety)
pay the Rolling Stones to just STOP
establish a huge cat and dog rescue preserve

[Lone_Star_Dem]

41. How much are we talking here?

If I hit a HUGE pot I would...

1) Put money in a special account for my daughter's future.

2) Pay off all mine and my famlies outstanding debt.

3) Invest in a media source, i.e. radio/newspaper.

[Book Lover]

42. Buy some face time with some highly

placed Dems and get them listening to what I've got to say.

Plus all the other usual family and personal stuff. I'd set up a real library in my enviro-friendly home, and I'd hire a librarian and start collecting.

[Baja Margie]

43. I guess we're talking alot of money here,

I think I'd like to live part of the year in a little cottage in Sennen Cove, Cornwall.

I'd like to get a Motorhome and travel across America and see everything.

I don't like airplanes, I know, that's dumb. So, I'd like to get on trains with sleeper cars and travel everywhere I could in South America, Canada and Europe, Ireland.

I'd like to see Cuba, I read that it's the last place on earth that still looks the same as when the explorers came over.

I used to want to go to Malaysia, I don't think so anymore.

I'd like to go to the Seychelles and the South Pacific and Australia, New Zealand and all the Soloman Islands.

I'd probably invest it and live off the returns, and give a shitload of it away.

You can't take it with you.