Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Day 324- Nope, No Lotto Here

Just pasta, and a bag of chips.

I know, I know, should have picked up veggies. By the time I dragged myself out of the house yesterday, it was chip time. It just was.

Then I did the pasta thing from Monday again.

So, I know the lottery is a big bad way to waste money. And I know the chances of winning are slightly worse than getting struck by lightning while *not* acting as a human lightning rod, or roughly on par with getting caught in a tornado and landing in a magical now land.

The thing that interests me about it, though, is that at some point (and I get that it's totally un-American to even *think* this) there's such a thing as too much money. Really. I'm sitting here, in my bed, in my rat-shack-hovel (it's not *quite* that bad...) and I really have no idea what you do with that much money.

Well, other than invest it in dividend bearing stocks and property, and personal security and whatnot.

Really, once you've got more than you need, you've just got more than you need. Would I like an authentic pre-revolutionary mansion downtown in Charleston? Sure.

Do I need one? Would I even ever use something like that? Probably not. It's cool to think about, but just the idea of a house so big that it requires a live-in staff gives me hives.

Plus, most of the stuff I enjoy, like travelling to developing countries, is just plain safer when you don't have the better part of the GDP of the country you're visiting in your bank account back home.

I spent, I'm pretty sure, less than $8000 all last year. Half of that (give or take) was on rent. Some was food, some gas, some insurance and car. If I had no debt I could live pretty much forever on $10,000 a year.  Who needs millions, I'd be happy with enough to pay off my student loans.

Back to more normal food stuff tomorrow. Promise.

Today, though- How much money would it take to change *your* life?

11 comments:

  1. I bring home enough a year to put me in the "poverty level". $250 a week. haha. If I made $500 a week, it would seriously change my life. I would not know what to do with all that money. It's so funny that I have EVERYTHING I need and some of what I want, and I'm classified as being in the poverty level. Strangeness.

    One lottery is up to $300 million or something, I heard. Who in the world really needs that much money? I'd be donating the hell out of it, that's for sure.

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  2. One lump sum of $16,000 after taxes would be amazing. I wouldn't turn down more (I could put 300 mil to such good use), but 16k would be enough to make a real difference.

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  3. Yeah, I did some mathing with the cash value of last night's jackpot. There'd be thousands of dollars a day in income if it was invested even half-way sane.

    Problem with *winning* 300million, I suspect, is that you'd have to hire bodyguards to keep from getting kidnapped. Otherwise... You could totally give away thousands of dollars *a day*.

    Alyse- $500 a week would be an amazing income.

    Kim- 16k in student loans, huh? I spent last night thinking "you know, if I could just match enough for the 250k, it'd give me enough to pay off all my debt, plus enough to live on for 5 years while I build a business or something". But no, no numbers here at all...

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  4. Oh no, my student debt is waaaaay more than that. That's just my credit card debt.

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  5. I thought it sounded a little low for student loans, but thought maybe you'd been the single most awesome-ist scholarship-finder ever to live.

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  6. If you're going out to eat I vote for Virginia's on King. They have the BEST mac & cheese ever. Ate there about 3 yrs ago when on vac and got a veggie plate with the mac & cheese and other stuff. Yummiest meal EVER!

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  7. I play the lottery with a few people at work twice a week. It is fun to dream about spending all that cash! I also have student loan debt...and medical bills (the wonderful % that insurance does not cover, my husband and youngest child both broke a bone this year). I have a nice middle class life and the mortgage and vehicle loans that go with it but we are a double income household so we do fine. BUT if money were no object I would definitely be very generous and try to make a difference in other people's lives. I would also travel and start my own brand selling things I design. It would take minimum of $10,000 for me to just have small bills paid off...

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  8. About the bodyguards: I think that is the beauty of being rich and not famous, maybe you could fly under the radar. Move to a place where people don't know your are a millionaire. Unlike those people you see that win the lottery and try to stay in the same town. People never leave them alone and they give it all away...

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  9. $10,000 would leave me debt free and happy for quite some time. I currently make about $200 a week. I only have $6,000 in student loans, but on $800 a month that is quite a lot of money. I would just like to be able to pay off my loans so that I had no accountability. I'm graduating from college this spring and I am seriously considering just taking off and backpacking around the world. I could do this super cheap by working as I went and couch surfing and stuff. The only problem is that as soon as I graduate my loans are no longer in deferment and I have to figure out how I'm going to pay them... I can't see myself sitting at a desk job all day, no matter how much money I would make. So yes, the lottery would be a wonderful beautiful thing. But I guess I will just have to figure something else out for now.

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  10. Cyndee- I checked out the menu. I'm sure it's amazing, but I kinda want more for my birthday than a plate of sides or pasta with veggies. I think Alluette's Cafe may just win.

    tiff- People stay in their hometowns when they have no job and no money, why would they leave when it's tasty magic money all day long.

    Sierra- there's always forbearance, income dependent payments, or another deferral. Not all jobs are desk jobs. Alternately, with a degree, you could always go teach english in korea for a year, pay off your loans, save up some cash, and travel. I know *a lot* of people who do that.

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  11. I don't know much about student loans, but I will definitely look into those things you mentioned. My passion is German language and culture. I have a minor in German to go with my degree in Visual Communication Design. I'm working on being accepted as an Au Pair next year so I can at least get to Germany. And maybe with my degree I will be able to do some telecommuting type stuff designing web sites and advertisements.

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