OT: My friend just won $12500 in the...

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
OT: My friend just won $12500 in the...
8
Fri, 06-09-2006 - 1:00pm

pick 4 lotto. It was kinda funny...she actually played the same number three times on a ticket every day for a year. (So she spent almost $1000 playing, but whatever)

What would a $12,500 windfall mean to you today?

For me, it would mean freedom from car payments, freeing up $470/ month.

heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-10-2006
Fri, 06-09-2006 - 1:23pm
It would be a 20% down payment on the house (5,000) and almost half of the student loan paid off (7,500). I bet she is just happy as can be. What is she doing with the winnings?
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 06-09-2006 - 1:47pm

How exciting for your friend! And LUCKY--most people who play spend way more money than they will ever win on that stuff (that's how the lotto makes money for the state--subsidized gambling, but whatever... lol).

Anyway, if I had $12,500 today...

* I would split $1250 between Heifer International and our church.

* I would pay off all our debts including the car.

* With $2500, I would reserve a cabin in the mountains for dh's parents, siblings, and ourselves to spend this Christmas (or the week after, as that tends to work better for everyone) together. That would be a form of repaying dh's parents for old personal debts that they refuse to let us pay.

* The roughly $2k remaining I would put in a reserve while we saved money to pay my parents the $2500 we owe them. Of course, with all our other debts paid off, it would be a matter of less than a month to save the remaining $500, with which we would make week-long reservations of some sort in Colorado to treat my parents, brother (and family), and ourselves to a vacation together (again, as repayment for that debt which they also refuse to accept).

We would then have nearly $1k a month to use for building our emergency fund, retirement savings, college savings, and start working toward the investment property we dream of owning and turning into an eco-community.

That's what I would do. It's fun to dream. :)

But yes, please tell us--what is she going to do with the money? And does it get taxed? If so, how much does she end up with at the end of it?

Blessings,

Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-02-2004
Fri, 06-09-2006 - 1:49pm

For me, it would mean buying a house.

Congrats to your friend.

I don't ever buy lottery tickets...i'm just not the gambling type. But when I hear of people winning big like this, I think, maybe I should play some.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
Fri, 06-09-2006 - 2:09pm

I am sure the money gets taxed pretty good..she put a few thousand away for that. I don't play the lottery...but odds of winning something like the pick 4 are much greater than say the mega-millions. i do buy an occasional scratch-off. Anyhow, what makes her situation so unique is that she actually won three times since she played the numbers three times. I thought that was great!

My friend is going to buy a Hyundai Santa Fe. She was planning on doing this already anyhow, towards the end of summer, but this means much smaller payments for her.

What is sad to me is that my debt right now stands at $49,319.85...sheesh, $12,500 would hardly put a dent in it.

It is fun to dream, though. I've never actually known anyone who had won more than $100 in a lottery, so I am extremely happy for her : )
Heather

Avatar for endomagazine
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2004
Fri, 06-09-2006 - 2:45pm

Hello,


I would put away 30% in a savings account and apply the rest to paying off an auto loan we have. That would bring our auto loan payoff date to 2 months from now. =)


Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2006
Fri, 06-09-2006 - 2:53pm

After taxes, this would probably be just about exactly what I need to pay off my consumer debt (car and CC) so that's what I'd probably do less a few hundred dollars to do something 'fun'.

Congrats to your friend! This is a tidy little sum!

Peg

Avatar for mymartes
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 06-09-2006 - 5:19pm

heather,
that's great for your friend. btw...in the state of ny you can deduct all the money you spent on losing lottery tickets. just have to keep the losting tickets.

if i won that money, i would save $2k and the rest will go to debt.

MYM

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-13-2004
Fri, 06-09-2006 - 7:50pm
It would mean replenishing my emergency fund. I emptied out $10,000 to pay off my mobile home and credit cards. I had $12,000 in there to start with, and now its down to $2000, so I want to start working on replacing it.