If I Hit the Lottery: 52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose

Linking up with Becky again for a fun topic- what I would do if I won some cold hard cash.

 

 I'm just going to go ahead and pretend we're talking a good chunk of change- and for that reason I would take the cash up front option. I don't exactly trust the fact that I would get payments over time. Call me crazy, but Ill budget it on my own and know that the money is there.
 

First and foremost? Student Loans? BYE! I would pay those bad boys off in a hot minute.  I may actually personally drive the check to AES just to photograph that amazing and momentous occasion. Both me and the hubs have student loans, and together we pay more for them than I ever care to think about.

  

After I was done doing the "WOO MY DEBT IS GONE!" dance I would go out and get myself a financial planner to invest the money.  I remember playing the stock market game in eighth grade, and I'm pretty sure I picked my stocks by the eney-meanie-miney-mo method. Not exactly the way I choose to handle my finances now. I'll leave that up to the professionals.

Id set up college fund for my kiddos- so they never have to deal with this student loan crap. That way, even if the money ran out they would still not have to worry.

 

I would sell our house and head out of the city for the burbs.  Something with land, an open floor plan and a pool. I also would like something with a little more space and a finished basement. I want my kiddo to have his own room and a playroom (that isn't where my dining room should be), and any of his future siblings to have their own rooms. A big garage for the hubs and a little quiet office for me. Then of course I would go decorating crazy. Oh, and I would build a few "guest houses" on the property- one for my Momma and one for my in-laws. Far enough away from the main house but close enough to send Grayson running to a Grandma when I need some peace and quiet.

Oh, and my Momma would be DONE working. I may keep my job, I love it that much. She, however, would never work again. The hubs would probably switch jobs, but I highly doubt he could ever not be working. He doesn't have the personality to sit still.

I would give my in-laws the money the need to retire, or at least the money to do with whatever they would like.

We would TRAVEL. Everywhere. The Caribbean, Hawaii, Europe, Australia, Alaska, everywhere in the continental US. I want to see it all. Id take my mom and my in-laws with us- because A) best baby sitters in the world and B) they took us everywhere they could as kids and now I'm returning the favor.

I would buy a place at the beach and a condo in the mountains so we have somewhere to go as a family for years to come.

I would give back. I know everyone says this- but I really do mean it. I try to give as much as I can now. I donate to St. Jude, I donate to the teachers scholarship fund at work, I give money when we choose students who are in need and buy Christmas gifts, I give to the church.  But I really don't feel like I give enough. Having disposable income would increase the amount of that scholarship for sure. I would also love to do crazy random things- like paying off the bills of a friend without them knowing it was me.

I don't know what else I would do- because its all hypothetical. I mean, I like to joke that I have all of these crazy occurrences in my life that are "one in a million" or only 0.01% of the population rarities but I cant for the life of me hit the lottery. I do play, I always try to buy one ticket when the jackpot gets up super high. I don't do it all the time because I usually forget and I'm too lazy to go back out once I'm home, but I figure it only takes one ticket to win.

 I know money can't buy happiness but it can pay off my student loans.
And that makes me happy.

What would you do if you hit the lottery?
Go link up and tell me!