Possibly random question...

[fightingthecage]

This isn't a meme or anything, I'm just curious.

Here in the UK, we have - like a lot of countries I think - a national lottery. We're also part of a Euro lottery which is the same as any other lottery only people from all over Europe buy tickets, so the prizes are bigger but there's also a hell of a lot less chance of winning.

Anyway, that aside - the prize this week is a rollover and it's currently at £85 million. And I was wondering, basically...what would y'all do if you won that much money? Bear in mind that it is possible for a single person to win the whole lot - about a year ago, a woman in Ireland won £74 million off a rollover.

Personally, I'd take great pleasure in buying a lot of things for friends and family. My close friends would all get a house and car. I'd buy the house I'm living in now (gorgeous Victorian thing) and do all the maintenance it needs...that would have the added bonus of helping my housemate out, as she owns it but is moving to Australia in a year so will have to sell it.

I'd buy a funky place on Venice Beach in LA, and an apartment in New York that my mother and I could use when visiting my sister that lives there. Sister would get a new house too and if she wanted to go back to college, I'd pay her tuition. My mother would get her dream house built, wherever in the world she wanted and she'd never have to see another bill in her life.

As for me personally - I wouldn't work. A lot of people say 'It wouldn't change me, I'd stay at my job' etc. Fuck that, says I. I'd write, all the time - and travel. Winters would be spent skiing and snowboarding on the best slopes in the world, the rest of the time I'd just go wherever the hell I felt like. I'd probably use NYC as my base because that's the place I love most - but probably eleven months of the year would be spent round the world. I'd fly my mates out to the places they'd want to go and meet up with me, I'd write all the time...it'd be cool.

But I hasten to add - I'm not the sort of person who hopes to win things to get somewhere in life. I've only bought one regular lottery ticket in the last year and have never bought one of the Euro ones. But it's nice to think about sometimes, y'know? So - well, I was just curious. What would y'all do with that kind of cash?

Comments

[piobaireachd.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I don't buy lottery tickets because I know I wont win, because I don't get any sort of thrill out of gambling, despite having won small ammounts on a few scratch offs. That aside, if I did...

Well, I have very little family that I associate with regularly and they are well off. I'd give some of my cousins funds for college, pay off my student loans and go back myself. That would be primary, because money only goes so far, and should it run out, or should something come up, a carreer would be nice to fall back on. Once that was all arranged, I'd fucking travel, mate. Everywhere. I want to do it before I get old. Screw traveling during retirement and cruises. I want to fucking do it now while I'm young and can enjoy it.

I've always said that when I'm rich I'll own horses, a jet, and a tall ship. That's next. After I've travelled and decided the country I want to take up residence in, (not the US) I'll buy a house and own these things. A car, eh, if it's necessary. Presumably I'll have a license by then.

Perhaps sometimes during this I'll take care of a few friends, but I don't have many that stand out as closer friends than any others, so I'd be disinclined, honestly. Brian would benefit, because he's been my best friend for 4 years now, I can tell him anything, though he'll never understand. I'd probably take each of my friends on a trip, buy them gifts because I'm generous, but I'd be hard pressed to choose a few to support, or buy a house for. Maybe I'm greedy. Then again, I'd find charities I strongly support and donate, before I'd be able choose any one or two friends. I try to be fair and would be paranoid that I wasn't. I'd always hold on to some in case one of my friends needed help, but supporting them? what does that do for them really. What if I suddenly no longer could.

Then again I am weak and would probably not be strong enough to stand by that. More than likely I'd buy them everything I knew they ever wanted and forget to do anything for myself. My family is all well enough off, except my mother, perhaps, but fuck her, she'll get buy. She has this long, and done little enough for me.

Dear god I'm rambling. Honestly? I don't know, besides travel and go back to school Those are the two things I really really want to do with my life just now. I'd be happy with anything, so long as I can manage those two objectives. If I were rich, I'd stop bloody caring what everyone else thought. Or you know, not, but it's a nice thought in itself.

[fightingthecage.livejournal.com]

Nothing wrong with rambling mate - whenever I think about this (which isn't often, but happens occasionally, like now) I ramble terribly because hell, there's a lot you could do with that much money.

And you reminded me - I'd get my degree too. But I'd come to an American university and probably do it over a few more years that it would normally take because I'd be travelling too much to do it all in one shot. Hell, I can barely stay in one place when I'm skint, if I was rich I doubt I'd be able to stay anywhere for more than a month at a time.

My friends would get helped out, but not supported. They'd still work and everything, I'd just buy their houses so they have a headstart (most of them have kids) and make sure they could come and have cool vacations with me. My mother would get pampered to hell because she's helped me out so much and put up with a lot of shit from me, despite the fact we don't get on that well.

And oooh, you'd have horses? Horses rock everything - I'd love a couple but I'd be away too much for it to be fair to own any, not for a long time. I'd just borrow my housemate's whenever I was in Australia, she has two.

I have to admit, it's pretty nice to dream about it. I would prefer to earn the money but hell, I wouldn't turn down a windfall like that either.

[piobaireachd.livejournal.com]

See, I'd love the be independently wealthy, just because, but I'd enjoy work too, if I could do it on my own terms. Languages and Architecture, that's what I want to do. I cannot do the writing thing, too self conscious and I don't enjoy it, but I can design your friends houses for them, or something. XD

I'm just lazy, but I'll go back, someday, when I have money saved. I just... gah. It feels like it will never happen at this rate. It's been 4 years nearly. But! Someday! And maybe I can design an awesome building or two and earn the money fairly.

But!! Must travel before 35! I'm never gonna make it, but it's a nice dream.

Also semi-randomly. Saw serenity tonight, finally. (the icon reminded me of it. *odd*)

[fightingthecage.livejournal.com]

Dude, you must travel. I've done it when I was too skint to eat - hell, I ended up living in my car in LA for a week while I waited for emergency funds to show up from my credit card - I'm not a sensible traveller but I can tell ya, it's the most fun in the world. I highly recommend the practice of finding a cheap airline ticket, booking a place in a youth hostel and scraping up enough spending money for a month or two - and just going. There's nothing stopping anyone if they want it bad enough.

I think that's the key to working even if you've got money - doing it on your own terms. If I had enough money, I'd set up a few businesses - hotels mainly, and a youth hostel or two (because done right, they are so much fun) - but I wouldn't run them myself. I'd have good managers and then use them as somewhere to stay when I was in whatever country they were in.

You saw Serenity? I never have - dunno if it's even on over here yet, or if it has been etc. I've never seen Firefly (that's what it's based off, yes?) and couldn't tell you a single thing about it. Is it any good? Lol, my icon reminded you of it? That was taken from the Petrified Forest in Arizona - the little white blip near the centre of the icon is the van my buddy and I drove from Virginia to LA in. Fuck, that's almost two years ago now. And that photo was taken the morning after the COLDEST NIGHT I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE OMG!! I will never forget how cold the desert is in February again, Jeez. Seriously. It was still awesome though. :D

[piobaireachd.livejournal.com]

Yeah, getting the time to do it is important too, and I'd need someone to travel with. :/ Still, sounds like a blast.

Man, a bed and breakfast would rock. I'd open a restaurant, though I hate to cook. I'd study law too, for the fun of it, and have a pet Giraffe, I think.

And yeah, I just spent 15 mins analyzing it with a friend and I had a lot of complaints. It was good, just not as good as I hoped. I've heard too much about it, and was spoiled. But eh.

My biggest gripe was that I was told they were trying to appeal to the notyet!fans and they failed. It would have done better were it able to stand alone a little more. They tried too hard to tie up all of the show's loose ends and not to explain anything to the newbies. I mean, not everyone is a browncoat going into the movie. Cool that you can please the fans, but it would not have encouraged me to see the show, id have just been like, ok that was interesting, and now I know how it ends.

[peruvianflavor.livejournal.com]

I'd buy a fucking island somewhere in the Pacific, a kilo of every serious drug, 20 kilos of pot and a whole fucking shitload of Chivas. I'd never wear socks or shoes again in my life and only let other people on my island when I feel like fucking. The rest of the money would go to my parents, uncle and aunt, goddaughter, friends and doctors without borders.
I would get high every day in my little hut at the beach and wait for the world to end.

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

Best. Answer. EVER.

[halfwest.livejournal.com]

After doling out a rather large percentage to my extended family, I'd buy my parents a new house -- somewhere huge in the suburbs with a big garden for my mom -- give my siblings a bunch of it, and get the hell out of here. I'd travel until I found a place to settle, likely in another country because I've always wanted to live in England. I'd stay there with a bunch of dogs and my friend Mouse. We'd maybe have a second house because she likes hot sunny weather and I prefer cool and rainy. And I'd write and do whatever the hell else I want to do until I figured out what to do with the rest of it.